Im very new to poker, just recently got interested. I was playing last night, usually play against friends who dont know much, but my hand was an Ace 8. I was low betting until the turn when another A came on the board. at this point i was betting a little higher. The river came and it was another A. So i was thinking i had this for sure with 3 of a kind Aces. The other cards on the board were scattered so no straights nor flushes were in hand of the other person i was going agaisnt; every1 else had folded. So i wanted to rake in some chips and i bet more after the river. They called me and we laid down the cards. I had Ace 8 and she had Ace 9. So i lost to 9 high, were the chances probable that someone else might of had an Ace or was i right in thinking that this hand was going to win?

Wasn't sure what the prefixes were either for this thread. We just do a $2 entry fee and every chip is the same amount for us. Winner takes all the money entered in.

Hello Magicalpops, glad to hear you are interested in poker. It's a great game that keeps your mind sharp and can be beneficial to you in many ways. I don't want to load too much on you at one time but I will start with asking you what position you were in relative to the dealer. The reason I am asking is because when you are starting out playing poker, you want decisions to be as least complicated as possible. Playing A8 (Ace 8) is tough because you run into situations like the one you showed where someone has a higher kicker (side card) to their Ace. I almost never play Ace 8 except in certain situations which I will get into in another thread. You generally want to be playing hands like Ace Jack, Ace Queen, Ace King. By waiting for these hands, you are more likely to win the pot when you do hit your ace and win huge pots when you have your opponent "outkicked." WSOP Bracelet Winner TJ Cloutier said it best when he said "No Limit hold em is a game of top pair top Kicker." The problem with Ace little (card from 2-8) is that not much will call your bets that you have beat.

To answer your question, although it is unlikely someone has an Ace along with you in the pot, it is not a rare event when they do have it. You were right in betting your hand aggressively; however, if your opponent shows strong aggression you are beat the majority of the time, again due to the kicker issue and the unlikelihood of someone bluffing such a dry board. My best advice to you would be to fold that Ace 8 preflop unless of course you were big blind. If you have any specific questions or just want general poker advice feel free to PM me.

Welcome to the wonderful world of Poker!