The best hand in poker. Played the worst.
Pocket aces show up once every 221 hands. The math says you win 84% of the time heads-up — and 31% of the time nine-handed. Most players make every mistake possible to drag that number from 84 down to 31. This page is how to keep the math on your side.
AA is 84% heads-up. And 31% nine-way.
The single most important number on this page. Every player you let see the flop cheaply costs you 5–10 percentage points of equity. By the time five players see it, your premium hand is a coin flip. Click through to see the math.
Heads-up · AA wins 84%
Heads-up, your aces are a massive favorite. This is the spot you want.
3-way · AA wins 73%
Three-way is still strong, but your equity already dropped 11 points. Keep raising preflop to keep it heads-up.
4-way · AA wins 64%
Four-way and you're hovering around two-thirds equity. Someone's drawing live to a real hand.
5-way · AA wins 56%
Half the table sees the flop. Your aces are favorites by name only — every coordinated board threatens.
6-way · AA wins 49%
A six-way limped pot turns AA into a coin flip. Someone almost certainly hits the flop hard.
9-way · AA wins 31%
Full ring, everyone in. You're now a 1-in-3 shot. AA without a raise is a disaster waiting.
Five scenarios. Five sizes.
The biggest sizing mistake with AA is making the same raise regardless of context. Five common preflop situations, the right size for each, and the reasoning. Stick to your normal range — but use the right number for the right field.
Size: 3–4× BB
Standard open. Stay within your normal raising range — don't telegraph by sizing up.
If you've been opening 3x all night, open AA for 3x. Sizing up to 5x with aces makes thinking players fold the calls you wanted, leaving you with the blinds.
Size: 6× BB + 1 per limper
You need to charge them for the multiway pot. Each limper adds an extra big blind.
5 limpers in front? Raise to about 11x. You'll fold most of them out, isolate the worst player, and play the pot heads-up the way AA wants to be played.
Size: 3× their raise
The classic 3-bet. Builds the pot, narrows the field, defines your strength against thinking players.
Don't worry about "giving it away" — at any stake below high-stakes, opponents will still call with AK, QQ, JJ, and worse. You want their stack.
Size: 4-bet
Re-raise to a number that commits them. Now you want stacks in.
At 100bb deep, 4-bet to roughly 2.3× their 3-bet. They'll call with KK and QQ thinking they're in front. Both are dominated. This is the dream.
Size: All-in
At any normal stake, never fold pre-flop with aces. Shove and let them call with the second-nuts.
The only exception is high-stakes against a known nit who has never 5-bet bluffed in their life — and even then, most pros call. Don't talk yourself out of the best hand in poker.
When to push. When to fold.
AA loves dry flops and low-paired boards. AA hates monotone, broadway-heavy, and wet-connected boards. Five common flop textures and what to do with each — including the boards where folding aces is the right move.
Action: Bet 2/3 pot
Three different suits, no straight cards, big card on top. AA still smashes — only KK and 77 ahead. Continue for value, charge their kings and queens.
Action: Pot-control
Three to a flush, three to a straight. The board smashes calling ranges — middle pairs flop draws, suited connectors flop made hands. Bet small or check-call and prepare to fold to big aggression.
Action: Bet for value
You crush this. The pair reduces villain's set combos, your overpair is still good. Make them pay with a pocket pair or a stubborn ace-high.
Action: Small bet or check
They have a king roughly 8% of the time — but when they do, you're crushed. Size small to fold out bluff-catches without bloating the pot vs. trip kings.
Action: Hero fold candidate
Monotone, four to a straight, broadway-heavy. Against multiple opponents or significant aggression, this is the spot where AA gets folded. Yes, really.
Five rules. Memorize.
Three things to always do, two things to never do. The whole page distilled.
Always raise or 3-bet preflop.
The single biggest leak with AA is letting too many players see the flop. Thin the field every time.
Size with limpers, not without.
5 limpers in? Raise to 11x. Open into an empty pot? Raise to 3x. Same hand, different size — the math comes from the field.
Bet immediately on safe flops.
Dry or low-paired flops smash AA's range. Bet for value, let opponents pay with their kings and middle pairs.
Don't slowplay multiway.
Limping with aces in early position invites 5 callers and a wet flop. You're now a 49% favorite with no information.
Don't stack off on monotone or broadway boards.
AA can fold post-flop. Three to a flush, four to a straight, a passive player suddenly going wild — these are the hero-fold cues.
If you only remember three things.
Raise. Every time.
The only way to keep AA at 84% is to thin the field. Never limp, never slowplay multiway. Open, 3-bet, 4-bet, shove — but always raise.
Bet for value on safe flops.
Dry boards and low-paired boards smash AA. Bet two-thirds pot and let opponents pay with their kings and middle pairs.
Fold when the board screams.
Monotone, four-to-a-straight, sudden aggression on a wet board — these are the spots where AA hero-folds. It’s correct, even though it hurts.