What is Ace Rag?

Pocket Cards

Ace Rag, also known as a weak ace, is an ace with any card below a ten. For example an (ace 7) or an (ace 9) would fall into the category of ace rag.

From The Pros

For Players that make money and the pros, they will tell you ‘just don’t play them’.  The horror stories of beats after holding ace rag too long are voluminous.

If You are going to play them…

Position is key.  If you are in early position with ace rag, the suggestion is to fold unless you are short stacked and expect your hand to be the best you will get before you are blinded out. In the case of being short stacked,  use the push or fold philosophy.  Either push all in or fold.

If you are in middle or late position and no one has challenged the pot with a raise, then the suggestion would be to see the flop.  Be prepared to fold if raised.

The hard thing for most beginners is to let go of the hand with an ace.  Yes, the ace is the highest card in the deck, but with a weak kicker, you are looking at a good chance of losing  a lot of chips.

What Beats You?

Even if you hit your ace, you still have only a pair and can be beat by a miriad of hands.  The chances of some other player in a 9 or 10 handed game also having an ace is good and, most likely, you will be out-kicked. The best you are looking for is two pair with a weak kicker.  If you are looking to flop the two pair, your odds are about 2%.  Most of the time you will flop nothing.

Ace king or ace queen are better.  You have approximately a 35% chance of flopping an  king or queen which would give you top pair and top kicker.  With ace rag, if you pair your weak card, you are looking at a three outer to have a decent chance of winning.  Odds on a three outer are no better than 12%.

OK, Play Ace Rag

If you are not a beginner and you have used the strategies of position, information and patience, and you still feel that it is worth the gamble, then go ahead.  There is no set way to play ace rag that fits any formula so experience is the teacher.  Playing ace rag successfully requires a good grasp of all of the above.

1. Position

2. Information

3. Patience

4. Experience

The Best Advice on Playing ace rag

In a word.  Don’t!

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3. Sit Go Poker – Sitngo – In Poker Tournaments PATIENCE Is Required!
4. Sit Go Poker – SitNGo – Slow Playing a Monster
5. Sit Go Poker – SitNGO – Bubble Play – Bubble?