Inicio > Think Poker: The value in starting hands and an strategy on how to play small and medium pocket pairs post flops

pocket-deuces-755x502

As we have previously analyzed, the value in small or medium pocket pairs is lowered or diluted in a post flop, when there’s a possibility that your rival or rivals may get higher pairs.

The only chance they have to keep up their power- actually, to enhance it- comes around 1 out of 8 times, when they manage to get a set. This is what Mike Caro calls «the disillusionment flop«, and provides an example.

It goes like this: «Having Q Q on a 10 7 2 board is perfectly fine. However, having Q Q on an A 4 3 is disheartening, given that you are threatened by anyone holding an Ace.» Never the less, this doesn’t mean that you have to fold, it just means you have to be more cautious and be extremely attentive in reading rival hands.

Then, it seems important to know what the chances are of having cards come up higher than our pair in the first three community cards, or even until we see the whole board.

Let’s take a look:

foto 2 grafico español

Obviously, the scenario can get noticeably grimmer as the number of rivals increases. Therefore, the power in this combos is determined by: 1) its value 2) the betting stage and 3) the possibility of getting three of a kind.

With high pairs, it is necessary to isolate against just one or a couple of rivals, play it slow and try to get as much value as possible. With mid or low pairs, it seems advisable to gamble harder preflop, go one- on- one with a rival, beg for a set and, in case we don’t get it, read carefully our opponent’s hand, as well as the possibilities our board gives us and act accordingly.

In early positions, it is probably better to fold pairs lower than 8 8; clearly, this is subject to all other strategic considerations, that is to say: stack size, implicit odds, the stage in the tournament, if we are talking cash– style or other- style games; among others.

We will continue to analyze more about postflop games in following articles.

By José “el Profe” Litvak 

If you liked this topic and want to keep learning more about poker, check out our Codigo Poker Online Store. You will find a wide variety of products, among them, educational manuals. Click on the banner and you’ll be one step closer to improving your skills for our beloved discipline.

 

¿Quieres enterarte primero de todo lo que sucede en el mundo del poker? CodigoPoker te brinda la mejor información minuto a minuto en tu social media. Síguenos en X, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube o Twitch

Notas relacionadas

Noticias TOP 3