Many people quiver with excitement when they glance down and see the best starting hand in poker--two aces. This is an extremely deceiving hand: sure, it's the best starting hand in poker, but aces can be trumped in so many different ways. Players luck out in flopping trips, full houses, straights, flushes, etc. and in these instances it can be hard differentiating the better hand between a made hand, like pocket aces, and a chased hand like a flush, straight, etc. Pre-flop, the highest statistical hand that can overcome two aces is a 5 6 suited. This hand can hit a mixture of combinations: straights, flushes, two pair, trips, and full-houses. The percentages of a 5 6 suited vs. pocket aces is about 35 65 in favor of the aces.
Novice players often find themselves committing all of their chips pre-flop, or going "all-in" when they see the rockets in their hand. This is highly ineffective simply because doing this won't maximize that players profits, it will only lead to other players folding and giving up their meaningless blinds.
On the flip side, extremely conservative players find themselves playing pocket aces to the river with little to no betting. This is dangerous for obvious reasons: this allows mediocre pre-flop hands to see more cards, thus increasing their probability of catching a superior hand without having to commit the chips to do so.
So, what exactly is the best way to play pocket aces? There's no right way to answer this: every now and then, aces can be cracked by a mediocre hand. Personally, I play my aces aggressive enough to try to get callers, but conservative enough not to be overly aggressive. The number one thing to remember when having aces is to know how much and when to bet. When I play aces, I raise pre-flop to get the mediocre hands out of the way. Post-flop, I love to act flustered and annoyed by the "bad flop" (regardless of how good or bad it is) to deceive my opponents.
With this, I'm trying to bait my opponent into trying to steal the pot by bluffing. At this position, I would likely only call and see another card. At this point, usually if my opponent checks it's pretty much him giving me the green light to take down the hand. I wouldn't bet too large here, I'd throw a decent bet out (about 1/3 or 1/4 of the pot) to see where my position is in the hand. If I see a raise, I can conclude that my opponent might just have a better hand than I. If he calls, he might be chasing another card (for a straight, a flush, etc.). If he folds, take down the pot and muck your hand.
This is extremely situational, however. Even with your pocket aces, it's okay to approach the betting with caution if the flop is something along the lines of: , or K K Q, or 10 10 J, or any kind of intimidating flop where you can easily perceive your opponent playing the hand. A person 10 J suited or a K J or K Q would usually pay to see a flop with these marginal hands.
Having the ability to fold good hands is what separates average & good players from the greats. Sometimes, we get so riled up in our emotion that we fail to use common sense to make the right decision. The ability to read these situations define great players. Overall, it's best to play pocket aces with aggression, yet caution at the same time. As stated by Nicholas Morine, "all pre-flop aces deserve a pre-flop raise". Pocket aces that aren't raised up pre-flop have a chance of being crushed.
Sources:
http://card-games.suite101.com/article.cfm/hold_em_starting_hand_strategy_pocket_aces
http://www.caesarspalace.com/images/shared_images/gaming/Poker_PocketAces_300x225.jpg
http://engagingconflicts.com/wp-content/4-aces.jpg
http://www.pokerdiy.com/Portals/6/Users/pocket%20aces.jpg
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