Why We Avoid Trash Hands
A friend of mine recently asked me why so many players advise against playing what appears to be the vast majority of hands, namely hands that are considered “trash”. Trash hands refers to card combinations that do not stand to gain adequate strength as the hand progresses. My friend, and many players like him that are fairly inexperienced, believe that limping with just about any hand makes sense as you can flop something strong enough to win with. While this is certainly true, poker is all about making the right plays at the right moment, which requires a strict discipline on which hands we play and when.
The absolute worst card combination in poker is 7-2 offsuit. There is practically no situation where you should find yourself playing this hand, except in the big blind in a unraised pot. There are very few flops that can hit hands like these strong enough to make victory likely. Even if you flop top pair with your 7-2 with a board of say 7-4-3, there are still a wide range of ways you could already be beat. Not only are you worrying about overpairs, straight and/or flush draws and even just a player with overcards, you are also dominated by someone that maybe limped with A-7, 10-7, etc. You would have to hit the flop perfectly in order to maximize the potential winnings of your trash hand, the odds of that are so small that you shouldn’t even consider risking the few chips it takes to limp into a pot.
That explanation can be expanded to any kind of trash hand, from J-5, K-2, 10-4 and everything in-between. Why not play K-2? Because even if you flop top pair, the chances that your hand will increase in strength as the hand continues is small, not to mention you could already be beat by any player that has a King with a better kicker, which in this situation every kicker is better than yours. You always want to be in as much of a position of power in a hand as possible, otherwise you will always have to worry about the strength of your hand in comparison to your opponents.
By: Chris Iaquinta
