AA in NL hold em can be the stuff of dreams or indeed (and often it might seem) it can cost you your whole stack. If you learn to play it well (and against it well) and judge each situation correctly it can be a big plus to your results.
If you have raised preflop with AA and been called you have to be able to judge where you are well. To be honest if I call a raise from someone and they have a deep stack of chips/money infront of them I would like them to have AA as my implied odds are so huge (most people cannot lay down AA very easily and as such that deep stack of money could well become mine if I flop a good hand). So in turn if you are the one holding the pocket rockets you have to be a little wary. A real bad flop would be something like KKx QQx or JJx. Basically any card in the playing zone doubled up for the board spells danger. If the action is multiway then I am certainly going to check that flop first man to speak. I am not about to put any serious money in the pot from there on in at all. I might call a small bet at the end but I am NOT about to get into a raising war with someone. The slightest hint of decent action and then I am folding. Heads up I would make a token bet at it on the flop but if the other guy calls then I am shutting down. Similarly the flop KQJ is horrible - even if noone has the straight then the chances of someone having 2 pair are high - just ditch your aces without anyone being the wiser. The flops you want are Kxx Qxx etc. A card (the king) that someone will make top pair with to give you action to your overpair which is winning. Beware of co-ordinated flops like 567s as if noone already has the flush/straight then someone certainly at least has the draw. Having two to a flush on the board is good however. You will get action from the draws and make sure to charge them pot sized bets for the privelige of seeing the next card Again tho, DONT pay them off if they make their draws.
Basically if you get serious action with your aces and there is no obvious draw on the board it is quite likely someone has flopped two pair or a set against you so you have to decide whether or not to go through with your rockets judging on the player. A very tight player giving you serious action is a definate fold in these cases. However if someone else put in some action preflop then you could well be against another lower overpair - get your chips in here for sure (you will probably be able to tell when this is the case).
I would never advocate getting into a raising war with just a pair of aces once the whole board is out, if you are unsure then you must call but JUST call - dont fall into a raising war as the times you are beat you will lose the lot.
As for the argument to if there is ever a time to fold AA preflop well I can say 99.9999999% of the times it is wrong to do this, bigstyle. It is certainly true that in a cash game you should ALWAYS be putting your money in when you are ahead - even a 50.2% chance of winning headsup you should be sticking all your money in there. This leads to of course never EVER folding AA preflop in a cash game. Indeed if you can then getting all your money in preflop is the
absolute dream, against as many players as you can. Of course this is not going to happen very often but it does present itself from time to time . You might lose, but it's gambling and you would be getting pretty unlucky as you are a massive favourite over any other cards preflop. Of course your chances diminish against multiple opponents, but your rewards for winning go up and you are always the most likely to win the pot.
Lets take a look at the % chance AA has against various hands preflop
AA vs KK (or just about any other underpair, the values change ever so slightly but it is near enough the same) - 81% to 19% (a great spot)
AA vs AK (a common one to end up all in preflop, especially in tournaments) - 93% to 7% - this is a TREMENDOUS spot to be in and infact just about one of the best in the whole of NL hold em it is a dream come true if you get it.
AA vs J10s (other suited connectors will be similar although slightly different) - 78% to 22% (another good spot)
As you can see we are pretty much a gigantic favourite over any two cards preflop. There is an argument above about if it might be correct to fold AA preflop in a tournament and wait for a better spot for your chips. Now the thinking behind this is good. Plenty of high stake professionals fold hands where they are the favourite (although marginal) in tournaments all the time for this very reason. If you lose in a cash game its no bother, you can just reach back into your pocket and buy back in again but if you lose in a tournament then thats it....you are gone no second chances. An example might be if you have a flush draw and are being paid slightly more than 2/1 on it to go all in and hit. Yes you have the value and would win a few chips in the long run by calling but whats the point? You will be out the tournament 2 in 3 times by calling and can certainly wait for a better spot for your chips - so do it. Also in the early stages of a tournament with low blinds you CERTAINLY dont want to be coinflipping AK v JJ all in preflop, a pro will fold either of these hands in a big tourney in a flash in the early stages. Indeed I have to say if I was playing in the WSOP during the first round (10,000 chips and 25/50 blinds) and someone just went AI in front of me preflop and I looked down in the big blind to see KK I would fold. However AA presents an
absolute massive advantage preflop. You will NOT get anywhere near such good odds for a long time if you have the chance to get it all in preflop with pocket rockets and as such it cannot be folded. You are a huge favourite and 1st hand of the WSOP Main event I would call AI with AA preflop in a F L A S H (as would any pro!) so I would have to agree with GETT1N on that one. As I would also call on the bubble with a short stack in the same situation.
The only time I can think of I would fold AA preflop is if I was playing in a satellite game. For example 3 places get put through to the main event and there are 4 people left, you are a middle stack. Everyone goes all in preflop and you look down in the big blind to see AA. I would fold here - you have nothing to gain and everything to lose, the prize does not change for 1st place over 3rd and you are going to get through probably after this hand so just muck em.
Jez