What are bad cards with an Ace in Texas Hold'em?

[Murasaki]

I always thought that if you have an ace in your hand, it's always a good hand, regardless of what your 2nd card or kicker is. But given that you're not guaranteed to pair your ace on the flop, turn and river, I have started to fold hands despite picking up an ace.

Positioning and how many others fold also depends on wherever I fold also, like if I'm closer to BB and someone raises and I have A2 off for example, I would fold as it's very likely they have a stronger kicker with an Ace if they have one or a pocket pair. If I'm UTG and low on chips, regardless of what my kicker is, if I have an ace I go all in, which sometimes works out, but not always.

Couple of factors I like to ask:
Does both cards in hand being suited make it better, even if it's a 2?
Does my position in a hand like UTG effect how good my ace is?

 

[Silversurfer99]

yes and yes

 

[Joe]

I always thought that if you have an ace in your hand, it's always a good hand, regardless of what your 2nd card or kicker is. But given that you're not guaranteed to pair your ace on the flop, turn and river, I have started to fold hands despite picking up an ace.

Positioning and how many others fold also depends on wherever I fold also, like if I'm closer to BB and someone raises and I have A2 off for example, I would fold as it's very likely they have a stronger kicker with an Ace if they have one or a pocket pair. If I'm UTG and low on chips, regardless of what my kicker is, if I have an ace I go all in, which sometimes works out, but not always.

Couple of factors I like to ask:
Does both cards in hand being suited make it better, even if it's a 2?
Does my position in a hand like UTG effect how good my ace is?

Hi Murasaki,

A6 - A9 inclusive are the 'worst' aces and (for the most part) want to be mucked in tournament poker.

A2 - A5 inclusive are better than the above combinations despite having lower kickers because you can make the wheel straight with them (A,2,3,4,5).

A10 - AK are obviously the best ace combinations (excluding AA of course ) as they can make the broadway straight.

Both cards being suited generally gives about a 2% equity increase but obviously given the choice between A5o or A5s, you'd choose the suited cards every time.

Positioning is very, very important and worth researching. The range of hands you play on the button is much wider than UTG for exactly this reason.

I'd reccomend checking out the CardsChat 30 day training course, it's free and will cover all of this and more.