Yes I have heard all of the stories and told a few myself but for my money Pocket Aces are still the hand I would most want to have. So how do you explain how they don’t always hold up? Well, that is simply a matter of variance. Time after time I have heard stories about how players Aces got cracked. Sometimes it was totally the fault of the player that lost the hand. Other times it was the dreaded one outer that lost that broke the camels back.

It happens.

One thing that I have learned and preach to players both new and old to this crazy game. There is no such thing as “always” in poker. If unpredictability bothers you then you are playing the wrong game. You may want to try a board game then. Those games have set rules that always apply no matter what the circumstances. Sans the die or dice being thrown for each turn the places on the board are always in the same spot and the rewards never vary.

Poker and the strategy that goes along with it is based on probabilities. This means that even if you are 99% likely / probable to win the hand variance can step in and steal you most brilliant poker move from underneath your feet. It will happen to you hundreds of thousands of times no matter what hand you are playing that is highly favored. You can be a pre-flop favorite, post-flop favorite or even a favorite after the turn but the key word is favorite. That means you are likely to win the hand but do not have a lock on it.

Understanding this will help you to overcome those bad beats and realize that no matter what the best hand, Pocket Aces, is still overwhelmingly the best weapon to take into battle with you. That’s why Pocket Aces are still the king in No Limit. That won’t be changing any time soon.