There is a substantial difference in how you should play small pocket pairs (SPP) in a cash game versus a tournament. In a limit cash game, SPP are long-term profitable if you are getting into the pot for only one or at times, in a multi-way pot, two bets. In a tournament, particularly a no limit tournament, you can cost yourself a lot of chips with a SPP with only a limited potential for gain.

In tournament action we often see players all-in in a “race” situation. One player has two high cards, often Ace-King, and the other player has a lower pair. The pair is slightly ahead in this race but it is barely 51%-49%. The question arises: “Do you want to risk your tournament on a coin-flip?” The answer usually is no. So playing SPP in a tournament, particularly in early position, where you are likely to be raised, is a risky situation.

Being out of the tournament is the worst scenario but another big leak in your game is to bet your SPP and then fold those chips to a raise. You are vulnerable with SPP to any raise. Why put in chips if you may not even see the flop? On the other hand, small pocket pairs cannot be discarded each time they are dealt to you, they do win hands; but you must have a plan of action or inaction before you peek at your hold cards. In a tournament, especially in the early rounds, caution and survival are wiser than risking your tournament life on those pocket fives.

-this is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #147

We are going to be discussing small pocket pairs over the next several posts. Why several posts? You are going to see a lot of small pairs (22-77) and you are going to see them in a number of different situations. The results of playing small pocket pairs (SPP) is usually a small loss or a big win, unless you have not considered exactly how to play these hands. Without a plan for playing SPP, you will find them frustrating and costly.

We begin with the most dangerous situation: You are dealt a SPP in early position. Some professionals would tell you that you could easily be money ahead if you simply folded all SPP in early position. But this is poker, so how do you play them. Well, if you are at a passive table that will allow you to limp for only the big blind, then by all means play. Then check or fold if you do not make a set on the flop. However, if you are playing at a fairly aggressive table, one where a limp is likely to be raised; then you must either come in for a raise or fold these hands.

In early postion, if you can get into a pot cheap with a SPP, you will either lose the pre-flop bet when you fold after the flop or you will likely take down a large pot with your flopped set. AA or KK up against 55 is going to lose a lot of chips when the flop hits Q95. With caution small pocket pairs can be a winning hand for you; without a plan of action, you might as well throw them away.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #146

The most common beginner’s Hold’em question is: “What hands should I play?”

By now you already know the answer to that question must be: “It depends.” Depends on position, opponent, stack size etc. But let’s just answer the question from this point of view: “What are the best starting hands?”

There is general agreement on the top three tiers of “best” starting hands.

Group A: AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AKs (Even here some believe AKo is actually better than JJ)

Group B: AQs, TT, AKo, AJs, KQs, 99 (Again some debate here, as some believe the bigger suited cards are superior to the smaller pairs)

Group C: ATs, AQ, KJs, 88, KTs, QJs (The debate here centers again on which are stronger pairs or suited overcards)

Group D: A9s, AJ, QTs, KQ, 77, JTs (We should add here that many feel small pairs 66-22 are more valuable in no limit games and less valuable in limit games)

After the agreement on AA, KK, QQ as the top three starting hands, very few agree on the “correct” order of the rest of the list and many would make this list a bit shorter or longer but you get the general idea.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #145

If you get all your money in the pot with AK and your opponent turns over AA, you are in deep trouble. You need two kings to win or perhaps QJ10 for the straight or perhaps a long shot flush. Dominated hands are those that are way behind like AK to AA. The most common usage of the term is attached to the situation where the two hands hold a common card and the other card is said to be “covered.”

So, AK dominates AQ and AJ and, in fact, any Ax hand except the dreaded AA. When the AK takes on AQ; the dominated AQ needs one of three queens or a very specific KJ10 for the straight. As a general statistical rule a dominated hand like this is about 4 to 1 to lose.

This is why caution is always a wise rule when your easily dominated hand is reraised after you put in an initial raise. By easily dominated we mean those hands that play well in a called pot but are often behind against the obvious “other” big hands. For example: King-Queen is a good starting hand but is dominated by AA, KK, QQ but more importantly AK and AQ both very common starting hands that will reraise you pre-flop and have you dominated.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #144

A coordinated flop is any flop that makes a straight, flush, or full house posssible on the flop. Playing against a coordinated flop is much risker than a blank flop. For example, let’s have us starting with the biggest hand possible-pocket aces.

The flop is: JJ4. We are behind to any Jack and crushed by pocket fours.

The flop is: Q109. We are behind to Q10, 109, QQ, 1010, 99, J8 and we are definitely concerned about all the other hands holding any Jack or Eight.

The flop is: Jh6h2h and neither of our aces is the ace of hearts; now we are concerned about a made flush and/or the flush draw.

Sometimes you will hear the term semi-coordinated flop, which simply means two of the flop cards are either in order (QJ, 98 etc.) or one off (J9, 86), either way a straight is possible. The two card flush flop is also a semi-coordinated threat and of course any paired flop is a danger.

The simple idea is that coordinated flops are more difficult to play a big pair against unless your hand also has possibilities of drawing to a bigger hand.

-This is Beginner’s Poker Blog Post #143