Part: Part Five - Betting Before the Flop

Four-betting the aces

Pre-flop
Blinds 100 / 200Pot 2,600 (13 BB)COA♠A♣● 20,000 (100 BB)YOUyou opened to 500BTN● 20,000 (100 BB)3-bettor3-bets 1,800 (9 BB)SB● 20,000 (100 BB)posts 100 (0.5 BB)BB● 20,000 (100 BB)posts 200 (1 BB)D

You open to 500 from the cutoff with A♠A♣. A fairly aggressive button three-bets to 1,800.

You open pocket aces and the button three-bets to 1,800 (9 BB). Best?

WhyFlat-call here and the pot stays small while overcards and sets get to crack you cheaply - the last thing you want holding the best hand in poker. Reraising builds the pot now, charges his three-betting range, and gets the money moving while you're the favorite.
What happensYou make it 4,400 (22 BB) and he jams all-in. Your value four-bet worked - the pot is now enormous with aces in your hand.
Decision
Heads-upPot 17,000 (85 BB)COA♠A♣● 20,000 (100 BB)YOUpocket acesBTN● 20,000 (100 BB)3-bettorall-in 18,000 (90 BB)D

He jams all-in over your four-bet.

Facing an all-in with pocket aces. Best?

WhyThere's no hand you trail here - against everything he jams, kings, queens, ace-king, the odd bluff, aces are commanding, and even against the very top of his range you're roughly 80/20. Folding the best possible hand to a shove you invited would be indefensible.
What happensYou call, he tables K-K, and you hold. This is the payoff for betting aces for value - but note you were getting it in ahead no matter what he showed. The result confirms the decision; it doesn't make it.
You four-bet aces for value instead of getting cute, and when he jammed you had an easy call as a massive favorite. Big pairs punish action; they don't disguise themselves into small pots.

Aces and kings make their money by getting chips in while they're best, not by trapping - meet aggression with a value four-bet rather than slow-playing and hoping the board stays clean.