Pocket Pairs are the most misunderstood cards in Texas
Hold’em. Premium Pocket pairs, AA, KK and QQ have lots of value, while low
pocket pairs, 22, 33 and 44 have almost no value. Have you ever heard the
sayings “AA wins small and loses big” or “two’s never lose”. How can that be if
AA is an 85% favorite to win over any random hand? This is where the
misunderstanding is!
AA is only an 85% favorite over a single hand; the more
hands AA goes up against the less it becomes the favorite. For example if AA is
up against 5 hands; AA becomes an underdog to one of those five hands. So how
do you play AA, or for that matter any pocket pair.
I would like to group the following pocket pairs into the
following categories: Premium 1, Premium 2, Premium 3, High Pocket Pairs, Mid
Pocket Pairs and Low Pocket Pairs. Most poker players consider AA, KK and QQ as
a group called premium pocket pairs but I prefer to separate them because the play
for each of them while similar is very much different depending on what your
opponent does. So for this article I will separate them and refer to them as AA,
KK and QQ.
Let’s look at AA. The problem with AA is they really need to
win unimproved. So you need to get all the money in preflop with AA to win big.
If you enter a pot with an opponent that is not all-in and an Ace hits the
flop, the majority of the time you will not get any action from your opponents.
In this case you might have to give a free card that ultimately will beat you.
If you bet out here and get called you might be beat by two pair, a set or
possibly a straight. I should mention here that if there is an A on the board
there also is a straight or straight draw there too. So how do you play AA?
From early position you can be as creative or straight forward as you want. I
like to mix up my play with AA depending on what my table image is and chip
stack. If I decide to bet I typically over bet this hand. I want to get heads
up and only want KK, QQ, JJ, AK or AQ to call. I am more than happy to win the
blinds and go from there with this hand. After the flop I will make a
continuation bet of 50% to 100% of the pot size depending on the texture of the
flop.
If I decide to limp, it’s only because I have a good reason
to believe there will be a raise behind me. If I don’t get a raise I will play
the hand very cautiously because of the multiple opponents. If I do get a raise
behind me I will always reraise, this includes when I have entered the pot with
a raise. I am attempting to entice my opponent(s) to fold, get heads up with
some dead money in the pot or have a single
opponent move all their chips into the pot.
From middle position and its folded to me I can play the
hand the same way as from early position. Most of the time I will raise from
this position because the other opponents have folded signifying to me they had
weak hands and there is a greater possibility that my opponents left have good
hands and I might get a call with my raise. From late position I raise no
matter what. I don’t want the blinds to see the flop cheaply and I want the
other limpers to pay to see the flop also.
With KK and QQ I play it very similar to AA with the
following exception. Because KK and QQ can win big pots with improvement,
meaning a King or Queen hits the board I will not try and drive out my
reraiser, especially if I think he has AA, AK or AQ. What I will do depending
on the number of opponents is simply call the reraise. If an A hits the board I
will usually check if I am first to act and surrender the pot depending on the
texture of the flop. If it’s checked to me I will bet hoping my opponent is
scared of the Ace and win the pot right there. If he calls I will tread lightly
because even if I hit my King or Queen I can still lose to AA here. The ideal
flop is a King or Queen with no ace. I have hit my set and AA will likely put
me on AK or AQ and feel they are ahead and will bet the pot. Opponents with AK
or AQ will also figure they are ahead with top pair best kicker and wont
realize they are almost drawing dead. If I am first to act I will make a bet of
about 30% of the pot. I want my opponent to come over the top of me, which most
of the time they will. Some will slow play their AK or AQ but this is a mistake
and will be addressed in a later article.
If I am last to act
and they check I will most certainly bet if the board is flushing or
straightening, meaning two of the same suit or connected cards are present. If
it’s a rainbow and unconnected I am more willing to give a free card. I want to
build a large pot with a hand like this as I am a 90% favorite to win the hand.
If I am last to act and they bet I will call most of the
time. I will reraise only if I believe my opponent is capable of betting his
draw. If he is not a savvy player I will simply call and call to the river
where I will reraise or value bet depending on what my opponent does on the
river. The reason I will simply call instead of raising a weak player with my
hand is even if he completes his draw I have a redraw to a full house which I
will complete 20% of the time. I will risk being out drawn on to try and build
a big pot.
High Pocket pairs are JJ, TT and 99 and need improvement to
win most pots. If I am in early position I like to raise, I am more than happy
to win the pot right there. If I get a caller I am looking for a flop of all
low cards or hit a set, because opponents that call this raise typically have
Ace, King, Queen are connected and suited. If I get reraised I will call
depending on the size of the raise. The reason I call the reraise is 50% of the
time I will be behind and 50% of the time I will be ahead. Opponents can
reraise with AA, KK, QQ, AK,
AQ, AJ and some weaker Aces. Very rarely will an opponent reraise with a pocket
pair that is not a premium hand. The ideal flop here is one that contains a
matching card to your hole cards. Once you hit the set you are almost
unbeatable. It won’t be uncommon for you opponents to get all their chips in
and be drawing nearly dead.
In mid to late position I will raise if it’s folded to me, I
want the pot right there. If there is a raise in front of me I will just call
but if a player behind me raises and the original bettor calls, I will fold
this hand a majority of the time because of my bad position. I am caught
between to good hands and I want to get out of the way. If the original bettor
folds I might consider calling this hand because there is a chance my opponent reraised with AK
or AQ, but this does not come often. Here I am looking to hit a set and I fully
expect my opponent to move all his chips into the pot after the flop regardless
of what the flop brings. If I don’t hit
the set I surrender the hand to any bet.
Mid Pocket pairs 88, 77, 66 and Low pocket pairs, 55,44,33,22
are pretty straight forward to play. They need lots of improvement to win but
the implied odds makes it worth calling any small bet preflop. The odds of
hitting a set on the flop are roughly 10% but I am willing to call up to 5BB
preflop with any pocket pair against 1 or 2 opponents. The reason for this is
because if I hit I will get lots of action from my opponents. If you miss the
flop with these hands I can fold without any hesitation, although I usually
take my time because I want to give the appearance I had a good hand. I will always call the BB no matter how many
opponents are in the pot with these hands again because of the implied odds. I
will also raise with these hands in late position if it’s folded to me. I am
happy to pickup the blinds with these hands.
There are some things to watch out for when you play pocket
pairs. If you happened to be lucky enough to miss the set but flop and open
ended straight draw your opponent has a possibility of gut shot straight draw
where when you hit your set will give him a straight. Your opponent will also
have the possibility of redraw when you complete your set on the turn of
hitting a straight on the river because there are now 4 cards to a straight on
the board. If you miss your set and there are two of the same suits on the
board and you do not hold a card of that suit in your hand, you only have 1 out
to complete your set because the other card can complete a flush draw. However
in all these cases you have a redraw to a full house but will only complete
this 20% of the time on the river. If you hit a set, be prepared to go broke
with it against a higher set. The odds of this happening are rare, but it will
happen but don’t feel bad or go on tilt when it happens. If you have AA and get
check raised or reraised after the flop, consider you might be up against a
set. Most people can’t let go of AA when rags come on the board but you have to
wonder why this player is check raising you. If you AA and face cards come up
and you get check raised consider the set, but also the straight or straight
draw. If two face cards come up consider two pair.
Pocket pairs are hard to play. You think you have a made
hand but Hold’em is about draws more than made hands don’t go broke with top
pair. You need to be on the look out every time you play a pocket pair, every Sampson has a Delilah. For comments or questions
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