The challenge, rather than betting or raising all-in-itself, only gives you one way to win: by holding your best hand. Betting or raising gives you two avenues to win: the best hand or from getting your opponent to fold. That sounds much better, don’t you think?
Pocket pairs vs overcards
• Hit at least one of the overcards. For example, QQ versus AK, and the final board is KJ- 7-5- 2
• Straight. For example, 7-7 against J-10, with the final collegium the next Q -9-8-7-2 (even making a lot of sevens on the turn did not save a pocket pair)
• Flash. For example, 8 ♥ 8 ♦ against Q ♠ J ♠ with the final board next 10 ♠ 9 ♠ ♥ 3 ♥ 8 ♠ (here, in one river the card that gave the eights their “lucky” set also created a flush)
• Counterfeiting is one of the biggest problems, with smaller pairs. For example, 3-3 versus A-9 and the final fee comes 10-6-6-5-5. Your opponent’s ace gives him an advantage. So be very careful anytime you have a small pair and a large pair on the flop.
However, there is one case where the odds are favoring your pair. Possessing QQ and being against AK puts you in one of the most favorable ‘pair versus overcards’ situations. At 4:03, or 1.33-1, or 57.2%, however you name it, you’re pretty far from the coin’s flip territory.
This edge is up to the strength of your queens. They significantly reduce AK’s chances of winning directly, as the queen would need to hit the board to make this possible. And with two of them lurking at a safe distance you’ll be in the driver’s seat for sure.
Middle pairs (6-6, 7-7 and 8-8)
Most of the time these hands are played as small pairs. On the positive side, they are not as vulnerable to counterfeiting, and sometimes you will only be up against one overcard, not two.
Danger couple (9-9, 10-10)
The danger of a pair is to play a lot like middle pair, but will from time to time hold their own against an opponent who has hit part of their side (like someone plays-8 fits, someone hits on 8). Playing them like you would average pairs, you will very rarely be in danger of being faked, but try not to push them too hard. You will only end up disappointed ..
Figure cards
JJ
Single is a difficult hand in no limit. It looks good because it is the face of the card, but it is vulnerable to many other hands. Just play it hard in good post-flop situations and don’t try to take on the world with him preflop.
The third best starting hand in Hold’em. And we recommend that you play aggressively. Withdraw with a significant raise, then sit back and wait to see if the flop is an ace or king before taking the next move.
KK
The ‘Cowboys’ are a strong hand, but they are still inferior to aces, because even a beginner playing A-3 has a 30% chance of beating you. So be careful when they land on their knees because no one wants to lose like that.
AA
“Pocket rockets” are more because you will never stand in front of an overcard. But like all the dangers of cards we talked about you still need to know when to get away from them. Most importantly, what you do is not slow down to play this hand. You will be caught if someone else at the table gets into a strong hand, and you give them in cheap. If there is ever a hand to show who is boss, it is he.