Aces occupy a unique place in poker. Against one opponent, and often against two, aces have a better-than-even chance to win unimproved. If you are the last man to speak before the draw, and two other players are in, and you have a pair of aces, you might consider simply staying in and drawing one card.

This is especially effective as the aftermath of two or three conspicuous cases in which you have drawn to a straight or flush possibility and have failed to fill. If both players before you draw three cards, you draw one and bet. You may get a suspicious call from one of the three-card draws, even if he does not improve. The odds against your improving aces on a one-card draw are less than 5 to 1, while the odds are 22 to 1 against you even on a three-card draw. Such a mathematical disadvantage can often be sustained in the interests of better tactics. (However, don't sacrifice this much of your improvement potential unless the "set-up" including past history-is perfect.)

Freak draws. In one sense, these should hardly be worth discussing. If you must make a freak draw, you shouldn't have been in there in the first place. Nevertheless, occasions do arise (some of them legitimately) when you have to make a freak draw, and the following general advice can be given:

A five-card draw is incredible, even when (as in many blind opening games) you got 7 to 1 odds to go in against one opponent. It is better to draw four to an ace (if the rules of the game permit a four-card draw) than to draw three to an ace-king.