Anyone who has played NL cash games knows (or will soon find out) that playing baby aces out of position is a sure way to demolish your bankroll. Whether you limp or call pre-flop, when an ace hits, you often have NO IDEA where you are in the hand. And unless you flop two pair or trips (about 50 to 1 and 70 to 1 shots, see our odds of flopping), you'll never be comfortable in the hand. Best to fold those preflop and wait for a better spot.

A recent episode of High Stakes Poker highlights the downside of playing small aces out of position. Let's look at the following Hellmuthian train wreck at the hand of Daniel Negreanu.

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Now let's recap this bloodbath in slow motion.

Mistake #1: With the blinds at $500/$1000, Hellmuth raises $3,500 from early position with A 4 making the pot $5,200. Kaplan, one of my favorite announcers, calls it an "ambititious" which is player parlance for "boneheaded." Negreanu, behind him with A T, re-raises $3,500 ("A little teaser", he says) more, making the pot $12,200. Jennifer Harman and Barry Greenstein both fold.

Mistake #2: Hellmuth compounds the mistake by calling. At best, he's up against KQ or some trash hand. At worst, he's up against a bigger A (and he's an overwhelming dog) or a pair. Note that even a loose, aggressive player like Negreanu would be unlikely to re-raise with deuces or treys, and Hellmuth is at least a 70/30 dog to middle pairs or better. Despite favorable calling odds ($3,500 into a $12,200 pot), I think this is an easy fold. Hellmuth, though, chooses to continue, announcing "You might have jacks, so I just call." and puts in the $3,500.

Negreanu feigns surprise at the jacks comment and Hellmuth says "I check, I check" before the flop is dealt. Negreanu, in turn, says "I bet ten thousand." before the flop even hits--a fortuitous bet as the flop brought...A 6 T ...giving Negreanu, top two pair. In response to Negreanu's flop bet, Hellmuth says, "Wow!" in mock horror, rechecks his cards and calls the 10 grand.

Even though he's a 97 to 1 dog here (that's -$9700 of negative EV for those of you scoring at home), I wouldn't mind this call if he's in position. Negreanu could have 88-KK here and be betting the flop hoping Hellmuth doesn't have an ace. The problem is, of course, is that Hellmuth is NOT in position and will have to act first on two more rounds with more and more money in the pot and he has no idea where he stands. Given that he's in the hand (again, this is a fold pre-flop), the better play, I think, would be to re-raise here to see if his A is any good. If Negreanu calls or re-raises, Hellmuth can conclude he's in trouble and get away from the hand on a later street. As it is, he just calls the bet and they go to the turn with no better info on where he stands. The pot stands at $35,700.

Hellmuth checks in the dark setting the stage for mistakes #3 and #4. The turn is the 2 and Negreanu calmly bets $25,000. Hellmuth is noticably disturbed and calls, announcing "I think you have queens." The pot is now $85,700.

Mistake #3, I think, is just calling this bet. If Hellmuth genuinely believes Negreanu has QQ, he should raise here. Otherwise, this is a clear fold. Instead Hellmuth calls $25,000 dead (another -$25,000 of negative EV).

Mistake #4 is Hellmuth's announcement "I think you have queens." in effect telling Negreanu that he had an ace but he wasn't very happy with it. Kaplan comments that Negreanu now has a pretty good sense of where Hellmuth stands and Hellmuth has no idea where Negreanu really is. That's a problem when there's almost a hundred grand in the pot.

The river brought the 7. Hellmuth checks and Negreanu bets an additional 40 grand to give Hellmuth the opportunity to commit mistake #5.

Mistake #5: Hellmuth reluctantly makes the call. Horrible. Unless Negreanu is brain-dead and oblivious to the angst Hellmuth has telegraphed throughout the hand, there's exactly one hand (A3o) that Hellmuth can beat here. Now if Negreanu had bet 100 grand, I could see Hellmuth making the case that Negreanu was bluffing and pressing Hellmuth to fold, but 40 grand into an $85,000 pot? That's a bet that screams "Call me!". Put yourself in Negreanu's seat, Hellmuth has been check/calling throughout the hand. Would he really think that Hellmuth would fold an ace here getting 3 to 1 odds on his call? Of course not. Hence his "please call me" bet and the subsequent stream of bleeped expletives by Hellmuth.

In conclusion, whether you're a regular in the $1/$2 capped buy-in game at the Commerce or a 10-time bracelet winner, playing a nationally televised cash game, stay away from the baby aces out-of-position!

Still digging,

Edmond