| Pocket
Pairs In Texas Hold'em
When you play
poker you will find yourself in many different
situations. One thing you must know if you
want to be a successful poker player is how
to handle pocket pairs. There are two ways
to “hit the flop” when you have
a pocket pair. You can either make a set or
get a flop with no over cards to your pair.
The list below shows Texas
Holdem odds for hitting the flop with
pocket pairs (the chance of flopping a set
is always 11.76 %).
22 11.76 %
33 11.78 %
44 12.04 %
55 12.88 %
66 14.61 %
77 17.57 %
88 22.08 %
99 28.47 %
TT 37.06 %
JJ 48.17 %
QQ 62.16 %
KK 79.33 %
AA 100 %
Handling
small pairs
These hands are easy to play.
Try to see a cheap flop in the hopes of making
a set. If you miss the flop you should throw
your cards away. If you make your set you
should slow play unless there are obvious
draws to stronger hands on the board.
Handling
middle pairs
If you’re in early position
with a middle pair (for example 7’s
or 8’s), you should just call and hope
to see a cheap flop. If you’re sitting
in late position and no one has raised you
should consider raising. Your opponents might
think that you are trying to steal the blinds
and will probably call your raise with weaker
hands. Naturally you have to be careful when
the flop comes with over cards to your pair.
Aces, Kings and Queens are generally more
dangerous than Jacks and Tens. Remember that
second pair actually often is the best hand
when there is only one over card on the board.
If you hit a set you should slow play it unless
there are obvious straight or flush draws
on the board.
Handling big pairs
Big pocket pairs are
obviously very strong poker hands, but they
still have to be protected. A raise to three
or four times the big blind is a good strategy.
If you slow play your pair of Aces, King or
Queens, you let too many hands in and you
might lose to a player who never would have
called a raise. If your big pair improves
on the flop, you should slow play in order
to maximize your winnings (beware of draws).
|
