Poker Articles
Pocket Pair Strategy:
Pocket Pairs: Pairs 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.
Brough to you by,
www.PokerSecretsSchool.com - FREE "Winning Online Texas Holdem
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