I know some of you don’t like AJ, especially the ace jack-off version, but sometimes you need to embrace the ace jack-off version. If you play it right, it has the potential to bring you to a very special place.
Going To Battle with AJ
Okay. Enough of that. What I’m trying to say, in a very strange way, is that you can’t fear AJo. There are people who fear playing it because they’re thinking: What if the villain has AK, AQ, or better? That’s like going to battle with one of the most advanced weapons in modern history and saying to yourself: But what if they have an even more advanced weapon? Then you turn tail and run home.
How many battles do you think you’re going to win if you do that? If you only go to battle with WMDs (Weapons of Mass Destruction) like AA, you will never have anyone to battle against. If you never have anyone to battle against, you can’t win any chips.
AJ = Just Another Hand
You can’t fear AJ. You shouldn’t fear playing any hand. The key is to remind yourself that it’s just another hand. Focus on maximizing your potential with that hand while also reminding yourself that minimizing losses as early in the hand as possible is one of the most effective poker tips on the planet.
I have written it before, and I will write it again. If you could only choose one goal in traditional poker games and poker tournaments and you choose: Minimize all losses as early as possible in all poker hands, you would be WAY ahead of the field!
The Key to Winning Relates To Losing
The funny thing about Texas Hold’em Poker is that it lures many people in due to easy wins. When some people win a hand, they think they’re an expert and that they can become a professional poker player, but it’s very easy to scoop a big pot when you have a full house and your opponent has a nut flush. I hate to break it to you, but you didn’t do anything there. You got lucky. And you got lucky in more ways than you know. Two ways in fact.
The first way you got lucky is with the cards, which is obvious. The second way you got lucky is with your opponent. Most players will go the whole way with a nut flush, even if the board is paired. You are fortunate that your opponent was one of those players. Now reverse it.
Pretend you’re the player with the nut flush. The board is paired and your opponent goes all-in on the river. Do you call?
We need more information to answer that question, and since this is a poker strategy article, we’ll take a look at that information. But keep in mind that the key point is that everyone can scoop a pot with the nuts, but not everyone can fold a big hand when they’re beat.
Ace-Jack Poker Hand
Let’s rewind that hand. You’re in middle position with A♥J♣ in a poker tournament. For simplicity purposes, this is the first hand of the tournament. The blinds are currently 100/100 (BB ante hasn’t kicked in yet). Everyone in the tournament has 20k in chips.
Here’s where the situation is a little different than any other poker hands I have written about. Since it’s the first hand of the tournament and we have never seen the UTG player before, we can’t peg him in any way. For example, we don’t know if he’s TAG, LAG, Maniac, NIT, etc.
The UTG player raises to 400. Remember, the BB is 100 and this is the first hand of the tournament. You call because you have position. You don’t want to raise because it’s super early and you don’t know what this guy is all about. All we know is that he’s wearing a baseball cap, a t-shirt, and blue jeans. He’s in decent shape and he hasn’t said anything to anyone. He doesn’t play with his chips, but he handles his chips smoothly. We know nothing else.
You are the only caller.
Flop: 8♥5♥K♥
Villain bets out 2k.
This is a huge overbet, which has you a little confused. Why would this player make such a large bet? Based on his look, comfort level with chips, and overall demeanor, it seems like he has a lot of experience at the poker table. It doesn’t add up. But you do your best to figure it out.
The only thing that would really make sense is AK and he’s trying to get you off the flush draw. We already know we’re calling. We have the nut flush draw, not goin’ anywhere! If this dude has AK, it’s possible that he’s one of those players that can’t let it go. Therefore, if we hit the flush, we could get all of his chips.
Turn: 5♠
That’s not necessarily a bad card (pretend you don’t know the answer already). Villain tanks, then bets 1.5k. This is a descending bet. Why would he bet less on the turn than on the flop when the pot is now bigger? This doesn’t make sense. It’s not proper poker protocol. He should be escorted from the building! No good player does that. Ridiculous. Absurd!
You’re upset because now you’re confused. But you’re more upset because you didn’t hit your flush. However … you’re not upset that he placed a smaller bet. This makes it more tempting to call in an effort to hit your flush. And if you hit that flush, you might stack him because now you have him on two pair.
River: 2♥
So the board is: 8♥5♥K♥5♠2♥ and you’re sitting with A♥J♣
Villain jams it! On the first hand of the tournament. You snap-call and table your hand with pride. He then tables 8♠8♦ for a full house. You just busted.
If we look back on this Texas Hold’em Poker hand, you will notice a few things. Or I will just tell them to you since I was the Villain.
First, a raise from UTG from a player that fits this description can mean anything. You’re going to have a tough time putting this player on a hand. The biggest threat is that pocket pair because sets are the most difficult to detect. The reason I placed that 400 raise from UTG with 88 was to disguise my hand. But it’s also not that much of a stretch.
Also, by raising 4x BB on the first hand of the tournament, I assumed I would only get 1-2 callers, with one likely being the BB (but they folded).
I overbet the flop to make it look like I was protecting AK (top pair/top kicker). Wanted it to seem obvious because of the three hearts on the flop. I wanted it to look like I was trying to get a fold so I could win the hand with top pair and move on. But things aren’t always as they seem.
The turn made me a full house, but I placed a descending bet in order to look weak. A descending bet looks much weaker than a check, AND you’re getting value! When you place a descending bet, most of the players at the table will assume that you don’t know what you’re doing.
If I were to check that turn, the possibility of a full house would have gone through your mind. The descending bet makes it look like I have two pair but I’m afraid of you calling and hitting your flush. This is even more so the case because it’s the first hand of the tournament. I wouldn’t want to risk all of my chips this early.
The river is the perfect card for me because it gives you a flush. Open-jamming here is bizarre, which is the point. It looks like I’m representing the flush. My thinking is that you will think your read was off that I was trying to get you off of the flush earlier in the hand and that I’m now repping the flush in an attempt to win the hand.
Nobody is going to open-jam with a full house in this spot because it could mean no value if you fold. But that’s exactly why I did it. I wanted it to not make sense. And I wanted all kinds of confusing thoughts racing through your mind. You called and I doubled-up.
The big question here is the following: Could you find a fold at any point during this hand? You obviously weren’t going to fold pre-flop so let’s scratch that. I guess it’s possible you could have folded on the flop, but that’s highly unlikely. You had a great spot there. The turn paired the board, which meant the potential for a full house, but the Villain misguided you so you wouldn’t detect it.
On the other hand, you didn’t hit your flush, you only have one card to come, and the board is paired. This is where you could have found your fold. When the river hit and gave you the nut flush, you were doomed.
The moral of the story is to never discount the possibility of a full house on a paired board. Some players will do everything in their power to disguise their hand, especially when it’s that big of an opportunity. I have been the victim of it many times, and it’s not a good feeling. Fortunately, I have learned from my mistakes and now pick up on it more often than not, but I still get suckered in sometimes.
Standard AJo From Middle Position
The above poker tips aren’t standard for playing AJo from middle position. I just figured it would be better to have a real example. If you want the basics in regards to poker strategy for AJo from middle position, you should be opening with this hand pretty much every time.
If someone raises prior to you acting, a lot will depend on that player and their betting patterns. The only way I’m folding here is if it’s a super-tight player. If that’s the case, I’m almost always behind. Super-tight players don’t raise from early position with worse than AJo.
If it’s any other player, I’m flatting. I know some of you would raise in this spot, but I already have an advantage by being in position and I prefer to control the pot. I’m a much better player with more information.
I probably shouldn’t write the following, but if you want to take my strength away, you should be building the pot as much as possible early in the hand. The deeper I get in a hand, the more information I have to evaluate. I do over-analyze sometimes and make errors, but I’m going to be correct more often than not if we get to the river.
If you’re short-stacked and you have AJo, you need to open-jam it. I would also three-bet jam it. You can’t wait around for a better hand than that. Even if you lose, it’s better to go out swinging and take pride in that than it is to go out soft and feel like a wuss. That is not a good feeling. Been there. More times than I would like to admit. I don’t enjoy losing when I go out swinging, but there is a certain inner pride that goes along with it.
I recently had a situation where I had planned on a stop-and-go all-in when short-stacked in a ring event. This was ridiculously stupid because the blinds (and ante) were high and all I needed was to scoop them up in an uncontested pot. This would have gotten me back on track. Instead, Villain checked the flop. I jammed. He snap-called. This was the flop: KJ8. Can you guess what he had? If you guessed KJ, you’re correct. I later sent him a message to ask if he would have folded if I open-jammed pre-flop. He had a massive amount of chips, so I wasn’t sure. He wrote: I might have folded. It would have been close.
What’s funny is that the next night, I finished in bubble-territory again (after being the chip leader) because I was too aggressive. So, on the first night I had one play where I was too conservative and it cost me. On the second night, I had one play that was too aggressive and it cost me. But both nights had something in common: both of those plays were out of character for me.
Stay In Your Zone
On the first night, I pretty much always open-jam there. I don’t know what came over me in that spot. On the second night, I put another player all-in without looking at my cards because the blinds were high, it was a SB vs. BB situation, and I had him covered 7:1. He called without looking and won the hand.
That second move was out of character for me because I bet too much. All I had to do to win the hand with minimized risk was put in a standard raise. I thought I was being slick by just throwing a huge stack out there to put him all-in. There was no reason to risk that many chips. I could still get a fold and scoop the blinds and ante with a standard raise.
Final Thoughts
I strongly recommend reading the above information as poker strategy for tournaments, not traditional poker games. Poker tournaments are more about chip preservation, which is why you want to control the pot more often.
I mentioned minimizing losses and folding losing hands as soon as possible. This is easier said than done, but if you can pull it off, you have greatly increased your odds of winning. Folding early when behind definitely fits into our poker rules for winning, and when it comes to poker strategy for tournaments, it’s probably the best poker tip possible.
As far as AJo from middle position goes, there are so many variables. If you’re looking for an absolute (not a fan of those) within our poker rules for winning, you should almost always open-raise with AJo from middle position. The only exception is when you’re deep in a tournament and staying out of the way to hit a pay jump. But this should only be applied when there are uber-aggressive players behind you. See you at the WSOP!
♠ pokerjournal.org
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