[quote:259670c079="pokerscribe"]I'm writing an article on playing hands in No Limit where the flop contains a pair, such as 6-A-A or J-2-2. How do you go about playing these hands
1. In multiway pots when you have something, but not trips or a boat?
2. In heads-up pots when you miss completely?[/quote:259670c079]
It depends on what I have done pre-flop and what the pair is.
1. In a multiway pot:
A. If the board pairs two high cards and I raised pre-flop bringing along two or more callers, I will usually lead out and be very wary of any kind of resistance. If the pair is Aces, Kings, Queens or Jacks then I will usually shut down after bringing the continuation bet. The only reason this might change is if there is also a flush on board. Then I might still bet the turn if I think he/she is on the draw.
B. If the board pairs two high cards and I limped into the pot, I will usually get out of the way unless the paired cards are Aces and it will be heads-up with a player who bets the flop. I will then see what they do on the turn and try to represent an Ace if that is feasible.
C. If the board pairs two medium or low cards and I raised pre-flop bringing along two or more callers, I will still continuation bet, but I will feel more confident that I am going to take the pot down.
D. If the board pairs two medium or low cards and I limped into the pot, I will get out of the way unless I have some stellar kind of draw, like a straight or the nut flush. However, I will be aware of the possible boat that could show up at the end and not be too crazy with the hand.
2. In a heads-up pot:
A. If the board pairs two high cards and I raised pre-flop with only one caller, I will lead out and decide what to do on the turn by the player's image if he calls. He/She might be good enough to know I am putting out a continuation bet and be more afraid to call on the turn or he/she might actually have something if it is a tighter player. It kind of depends on the opponent.
B. If the board pairs two high cards and I limped into the pot with one other player (which is going to be the big blind), I will lead out no matter what the cards are. If I get resistence I will try to figure out why and then play the hand from there.
C. If the board pairs two medium or low cards and I raised pre-flop with only one caller, I will again bet and feel confident I am going to take down the pot since he/she probably didn't call with a low card in their hand.
D. If the board pairs two medium or low cards and I limped into the pot with one other player (again the big blind), I will lead out no matter what the cards are but be careful of the fact that the big blind could be slowplaying trips with his two random cards if I get called. I am more fearful of this type of action in a heads-up pot than any of the others.
