What I like the most about being dealt pocket aces is that they're hard to misplay. You can make a small raise before the flop and get a ton of callers, you can slow play them or you can push all in. Regardless of the situation, pocket aces are long-term winners which you should learn how to explot.
As I mentioned in the introduction, you can play pocket aces a variety of ways. I usually prefer to just limp with pocket aces when in an early position and wait for somebody else to raise. If nobody else raises, I can easily just analyze the flop and decide whether my pocket aces are good or not (they usually are). However, if you get too many callers and there's significant action post-flop, you should consider mocking your pocket aces. More about this later.
When I'm in late position and there are a few callers, I always raise with pocket aces. The reason is that you never want to play pocket aces against more than two or three players. Yes, you might flop a set or better here and there, but statistically you're likely to make your money if you limit your competition when you have a big pocket pair like aces.
There are cases when you should fold pocket aces. For this, however, you should study your opponent(s) well. Additionally, you should study the kind of flops. A flop like 10s Js Qs is terrible for pocket aces, while a flop like 2 2 2 is an unbelievable flop.
If there's a scary board and there's a lot of action, you should consider smooth calling your opponents or folding your hand.
Written by: Joaquin de la Sierra
