Early Position Pre-flop Exercises

Let's take a look at a few situations you might encounter at a site like Party Poker and see if you can pick the right play.

Early Position

AA Under The Gun (First to Act)

So you're the first to act and you're sitting on pocket Aces. What do you do?

Raise. This accomplishes two things: it thins the field because no one else will not want to put in an extra bet. It also gets money in the pot while you are a clear favorite.

AH-9H UTG +1

The under-the-gun player folds. What do you do?

Fold. There are two major problems with this hand. First, if anyone else plays, it's very likely that your hand is dominated (see PokerSavvy Key Concept: Domination).

Qh-Qs UTG +2

The UTG player has already raised. What do you do?

Re-raise. You may be behind -- the UTG player could have AA or KK. But this is too good a hand to fold without more information. By re-raising, you isolate the early raiser.

9H-9S UTG +1

The UTG player folds, and you look down and see a pair of nines. What do you do?

A fold is the usually the best idea here. Under certain circumstances, different action may be called for, but in a limit game, playing 9-9 UTG is not a great idea. Even if 9-9 is the best hand, pre-flop, there just aren't many flops that 9-9 would like to see. And any flop containing an Ace, King, or Queen is going to be really scary.

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