There are certain hands which I like to play almost every time when I get a hold of them.  One of those hands happens to be A-10 since I seem to call just about anything with this.  But lately, I haven’t been winning a whole lot with this hand so I started studying up on what the experts think about playing A-10. 

When playing A-10, you’ve definitely got to look at where you are on the table before making any kind of move.  After all, if you play A-10 from early position then you’ve got to know a better hand is out there almost 70% of the time (on a full table).  This means that you’ll not only be behind the betting action the whole time, but you will also be an underdog to win the hand anyways.

Another thing to take note of is that A-10 will lose to pocket 2’s through 9’s at a 52%-56% clip.  Against better hands such as pocket kings, queens, jacks, and tens you’re only going to win about 30% of the time.  Think you’re going to hit a two pair or straight and beat pocket aces?  This only happens about 10% of the time.  So anyway you put it you’re at a disadvantage with A-10 in early position.

This doesn’t mean people should avoid playing A-10 though because it can be an effective hand when in middle and late position.  But it’s a hand that you want to wait to see the flop with since A-10 is definitely a drawing hand.  The best thing to do is to simply call in middle position if you expect others behind you to limp in while possibly raising in later position to get limpers to fold.

The key with A-10 is to exercise caution because it’s a pretty vulnerable hand and one you shouldn’t be raising with preflop if you’re at a full table or are playing with loose players.  After studying the subject, I definitely plan on reigning in my play with A-10 from now on.