We all have our weaknesses. Some of mine are salty foods, classic Hitchcock movies, and suited aces. For those of us who love to play drawing hands, A-x suited is one of the most beguiling hands in hold'em. Aces can get cracked, kings are vulnerable if an ace flops, Big Slick frequently doesn't connect-and it's pretty much de rigueur to raise pre-flop with all of those hands.
But with a small-to-medium suited ace, I can limp in to see a cheap flop without feeling a whit of guilt for not raising, and if I make my nut flush, oh baby! It's better than eating a giant bag of Ruffles potato chips while watching a marathon of Notorious, Vertigo, and North by Northwest.
But overplaying suited aces is probably one of the most common and expensive leaks in hold'em. A-x suited is a drawing hand, which is to say it is an implied odds type of hand. It wants to see a cheap flop against multiple opponents. So suited aces don't play well from early position, because you can't know how many opponents will call or if the pot will be raised. The exception would be if you're in a very loose-passive game with lots of multi-way, unraised pots.
Otherwise, suited aces are best played from late position, for one bet, after you've already seen several opponents limp in. An exception is if you open the pot from late position. Now your best bet with A-x suited is to either raise for an attempted blind steal, or throw it away. This is all in reference to limit games, but in the big-bet games, a similar logic applies: If you can see the flop cheaply, suited aces are a great hand to call with because the implied odds are usually excellent.
Unless you're playing a big suited ace, the problem arises when the flop completely misses your flush draw but hits your ace. Now you have a top pair with no kicker, and a real conundrum. Few players have the discipline to throw away top pair on the flop, and after all, you might have the best hand. But, depending on the particulars of your circumstance it's extremely possible that you don't.
Against a mere one or two opponents, or weak opponents, with a ragged community board, you might be OK. To stay in against multiple opponents, the flop should have hit your suited ace very hard. Meaning, the flop gave you at least one of the following: Four-flush, two pair, top pair with a strong kicker, or multiple draws.
Four to the nut flush is obviously a wonderful result, and if you are up against three or more opponents you should play it very strongly. If you hit both your ace and your kicker, again you look to be in great shape, but depending on the texture of the board-such as a hand that contains a draw you have no piece of-you might want to narrow down the field. Top pair, strong kicker is also great for you, but this hand is even more vulnerable to being out-drawn.
If you hit multiple draws with your suited ace, that's often good enough to stay and see a turn card. An example would be spiking a small pair with your kicker, plus your ace as an overcard and a backdoor flush draw. Or hitting a straight draw with a backdoor flush-though this can only happen when you're playing something like A-10 for a Broadway draw, or ace-baby for a wheel draw. If you're playing acebig, getting any combination of three-flush/overcards/ gutshot straight draw is usually a good enough reason to see one more card. But if you whiff on the turn, you must be able to fold then and there. That's the most critical factor in playing suited aces-knowing when to let go.
