Ace Rag - Weak Starting Hand Welcome to the first in a series of Poker Tomorrow questions and answers. Every week we'll post a new column answering your poker questions.

Q: I don’t understand why all of the poker books say that hands with an Ace and low card (Ace rag preflop) are so weak.

When I hit an Ace on the flop I have a pair of Aces. That is a pretty strong hand isn’t it?

And sometimes I hit two pair and usually win a big pot against someone with an Ace that didn’t hit a second pair.

A: The short answer is that your ace rag is a decided underdog pre flop against a very wide range of hands, which means that in the long run you will lose money.

You're an underdog against any Ace with a bigger kicker. You're also an underdog against any pair that is higher than your kicker. At best, you are only in a coin flip situation against a lower pair than your kicker.

In lower limit games, players tend to play almost any Ace so you will often start the hand behind.

When you're lucky enough to hit two pair, you're just as likely to lose a large pot to a set as you are to drawing out with a second pair against a better Ace.

You're better off playing a hand like KQs preflop. It's easier to get away from KQs after the flop.

If you start with A5 and get an Ace on the flop, you'll assume the pair of Aces is good. But with KQ, if the flop is A Q 2, it's easy to assume that someone has an Ace and make the right laydown.

Q: I am a pretty good limit Texas holdem player and have been thinking about trying limit Omaha 8. I get bored playing holdem and want to be able to play more hands, so Omaha looks like a good fit. Is this a good idea?

A: This is one of the things that attract so many Texas holdem players to the Omaha tables, and the main reason Omaha and Omaha 8 are so profitable to good players.

Winning Omaha 8 players tend to play fewer hands than most holdem players, not more. Even though you start with four cards instead of two, so does everyone else. You also have to learn a new set of hand values for Omaha 8. The best example is a pair of Aces. This is a strong hand in Texas holdem, but almost never wins a pot in Omaha.

You also need to understand how low hands are determined and what cards can counterfeit your low hand.

If you are looking for a game to expand your knowledge of poker and increase your win rate, Omaha 8 is a good choice. But if you want to play more hands, Omaha 8 is not for you.

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