Mike Caro

Hi, Kid –

Yes, that's too tight. You can't play that way in a cash game. A pair of aces to start in hold 'em is your biggest-profit hand, on average.

The reason you rarely might consider folding it in a proportional-payout tournament has to do with the distribution of the prize pool, not with the chip-making potential of aces in that given hand. The mathematics have to work out just right to make folding the appropriate choice — and that doesn't happen often.

In an everyday, non-tournament cash game, it's different. There you came to take chances, which is — remember — the nature of poker. Your objective is to get your money invested with the odds in your favor. You're unlikely to get a better opportunity than with aces against two opponents who have moved all-in. You definitely can't have the worst of it.

Risk? Of course, but that's why you play poker. It's a contest centering on taking better risks than opponents do. So, if your bankroll isn't sufficient to make that call, it isn't sufficient to play in that game.

Straight Flushes,
Mike Caro