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I know that a novice move is to always overvalue your hand simply because it has an Ace in it, so I'm working on not doing that as often. I've learnt that an Ace with anything below a nine when offsuit should be thrown into the dirt straight away, but what about when the Ace and low card (anything below a9) are suited? Is it worthwhile trying to play and bluff it/hope for a pair and kicker/flush?
Any input is much appreciated.
Tricky
A problem is if you hit your ace you could be out kicked and lose a big pot.
Hit the nut flush is nice. You will hit a 4 flush or full flush on the flop about 1/7.
A 2-5 you have a straight draw.
As a beginner it is not bad to play as the decisions are easier.
Only from middle to late position.
As with playing any hand in poker, it's entirely situational. As a beginner or novice, though, you should be throwing away all but your premium hands. The times you will flop two pair or a flush draw aren't enough to compensate for the times you'll miss and have to throw away your hand.
Depends on lots of factors (number of players, stacks, opponents, your style etc.) Usually, in 6-max tables with an average of 100BBs, which is the usual setup online, it is a waste of money to defend with Ace-Rag (even suited).
You can mix your game by opening in late positions with it or make some bluffy 3bets from the blinds, but dont get too attached, even if you hit you Ace, most of the times it is a lose situation.
In extreme situations, it suddenly becomes quite playable, though. When stacks are small, like in late stages of a tournament (<25BBs), its value as shoving hand improves. Also, in deep stack cash games, you wanna get involved with such hands in a pot, in order to chase a flush over nut-flush spot and take a large chunk out of your opponent.
