Playing Ace Kicker

Knowing the strength or weakness of your starting hand (your hole cards) in Hold’em is one of the most important parts of playing Poker successfully.
As a new player correctly selecting which hands to play and which to lay down even BEFORE the flop is probably the single most effective way to minimise your loses.
Understanding exactly what possibilities your hand has will also gets you in the correct mindset if your faced with difficult decisions after you’ve seen the flop or when another player puts you to the test.

Ace Kicker

AK, AQ, AJ, A10 can all be playable hands and you should win money on them – but you can also get you into a whole world of trouble with ‘em too.
If they’re suited you’ve really got something worth looking at. AK is a good hand – 5th best if its suited, but it’s 9th best if it isn’t – remember that
going down to ace – small kicker (9 or lower) really these can be accidents waiting to happen, even if they’re suited – good hand if your disiplined – if your a bit of an action junky this is probably where your losing chips
a) you hit your ace – now you’ve got to be worried about your kicker b) you pick up a couple of your suit – your still 2-1 dog to make your flush
hands like these really do change their value depending on your position and on how many players are at the table / tournie.