Pocket rockets (pocket aces)
A pair of aces as your two hole cards, the best starting hand in Texas hold'em.
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- What it means
- Pocket rockets is a nickname for pocket aces: A♠ A♥ or any two aces dealt as your hole cards. The two upright aces are said to look like a pair of rockets. Other names include bullets and American Airlines.
- How it is calculated
- There are 6 ways to be dealt two aces out of 1,326 possible starting hands, so you see them once every 221 hands on average. Raise or re-raise with them from every seat; the aim is to build a pot while you are far ahead.
- Worked example
- Before the flop, A♠ A♥ against K♣ K♦ wins about 82% of the time. Against a random hand it wins about 85%. It is still an underdog after some flops: on J♠ T♠ 9♦ against Q♠ 8♠, the aces are behind.
- Why it matters
- Aces are the hand that wins the most money, but they are one pair after the flop. Players lose big pots with them by refusing to slow down when the board and the betting say they are beaten.
See also: Hand classes, Hand rankings, Equity, Cooler, 3-bet