Pairs In Texas Hold’em Poker
Sunday, November 18th, 2007Pairs are always good hole cards, but you should play them wisely.
Everyone loves to see a pair in the hole. One of the most anticipated
pocket pairs are the pocket Aces which tend to cause amateurs to bet
the whole farm thinking they cannot loose. If you do not comprehend
anything else in this guide, comprehend this…pocket Aces are not
ALWAYS a winner. Yes, they are indeed the best starting hand you can
theoretically be dealt, but I have seen way too many players lose all of
their chips with the “all-in” pocket Aces.
Having said that, let’s start with the idea of “slow playing” your pocket
Aces. There are a few things that you should consider before doing so.
If you choose to slow play the Aces you should be at a table that has
players who are unlikely to call a pre-flop raise from an early position,
very loose players, or one or more players who are frequently stealing
the blinds. Keep in mind that slow playing with any hand should not
become a dominating strategy but rather a technique used sparingly.
Now suppose that you come out strong with your betting and you get
multiple callers or even a raise. If it comes to the turn or river card and
you do not improve your hand you should typically lay down. More
often than not, you will lose a substantial amount of chips – especially if
there is a possible straight or flush hand showing on the board.
Remember, it is better to save your stack and live to play another hand
than to foolishly take chances.
Other pocket pairs such as the Deuce/Deuce is not as strong as many
would think at ANY point during the game. I would recommend never
holding this small pair (unless you are a blind and can check through to
the next card). All it takes is someone holding a single Three card and
then seeing another Three show up on the flop or turn to win the hand.
In general, the Five to Nine pair are usually not good pocket pairs to bet
on – but can be a good hand to see the flop on if the betting is not
beyond your comfort level or if you are a blind and have the option to
check. If you don’t hit at least three of a kind on the flop, it is best not to
hold these low pairs unless you can continue to check the hand. The
best advice I can give for playing pocket pairs on the Internet is to watch
which pairs have recently won, and which ones have recently lost.
Keep a mental record of the “wins” verses “losses”. I say this for the
simple fact that if King/King in the hole has won three times during the
tournament, odds become favorable that they will not win the fourth time
BEFORE at least one bad beat. This one observation alone can save
you a lot of money – especially in large multiplayer tournaments. Many
online casinos state that they use random number generators when
dealing or determining cards (I’m not saying they don’t) but after
countless hours of real game time, one will begin to wonder just how
“random” anything can be.
ALWAYS, ALWAYS be aware that when any pair is showing on the
board, a full house is possible. A full house Threes full of Twos will beat
Ace/Ace or trip Aces every time. Whenever you see someone betting
hard on board pairs, you should at the very least be holding an Ace or
King with the pair, and it is recommended not to play against a high
wager unless you already have trips with the possibility of hitting the full
boat yourself.
Popularity: 90% [?]
