Five Trouble Poker Hands That Players Commonly Overplay
When a person first starts playing poker, they are generally handed a hand rankings card so they know what hand trumps what. Most people generally recognize that face cards are valuable, and gush with excitement when they are dealt two of them. Although these hands can be very strong, they are far from a definite victory if you’re holding them. It takes a while for people to realize this, and some never do especially if they only play poker recreationally.
The following hands are trouble for beginners and pros alike. The big difference is that professionals are able to fold these hands and move on to the next, without investing much into the pot.
5. Ace-Jack: To beginner poker players this looks like a premium starting hand, but the truth is Ace-jack is not a premium hand.
In fact, it’s not really that great of a hand to get excited about, I know it looks good especially because you have a “big Ace”. But the problem is you are not starting with a pair, and you have to hit something on the flop, turn, or river to make the hand viable.
Unless you’re heads-up you have to treat A-J the same as A-T rather than playing it as if it’s A-K.
4. King-Ten: This is one of those hands that I like to think of as “fool’s gold”, it looks great when it’s deal to you. If you’re holding this hand, there are significantly more boards that will give you the second nuts or a bad beat than boards that will win you the pot.
If you don’t hit Broadway on the flop, you’re in a rough spot. Flopping top pair of kings will almost certainly pit you against a king with a higher kicker. Flopping a pair of tens is rarely the top pair, and if it’s not, you have straights to look out for.
Flopping two pair again puts you at risk against a straight, and you’re going to run into more two pair-versus-sets scenarios with this hand, because people are playing all the pocket tens and pocket kings they’re dealt.
3. King-Jack: Like king-ten, but a little less dangerous. The reduced risk, gives this hand the appearance of being more powerful than it really is.
Again, if you flop two pair, you can be vulnerable to straight draws, and you still have to worry about kicker problems on one pair. Also, if an Ace hits you are going to have some trouble as your two pair may be beaten already. This hand is better left in the muck than overplayed.
2. Pocket Jacks: The second-most-overplayed hand in poker, although Pocket jacks is a top five hand, and is a powerhouse compared to almost any random hand you can be dealt.
But if you raise it pre-flop, the only hands that ever call you are far ahead, or a coin flip situation (excluding the odd lower pair).
Played properly, this can be a very profitable hand. Overplayed (as amateurs tend to do), it can cost you a lot of chips. No matter how strong your hand is before the flop, after the flop (unless you hit your set) you only have one pair.
The worst part about pocket Jacks is, if any other face card hits the board then you already have a tough decision to make. While a strong starting hand, you have to be careful when playing these.
1. Ace-Queen: is the biggest trouble hand for beginners and amateurs alike. I don’t have enough fingers to count the amount of times I’ve given away my money overplaying this hand.
Where people get into trouble with Ace-Queen start with pre-flop play, players tend to call big raises or even re-raise with Ace-Queen. This is not necessarily a bad play depending on the situation, but people become emotionally connected to their chips and feel like the face cards won’t let them down. If after the flop if an Ace or a Queen does not hit the board then this hand takes a severe hit in its chances to win the pot.
Players who get in skirmishes with this hand pre-flop typically find themselves going up against a pair, or Ace-King which this hand is a severe dog against. Play this hand aggressively, but be prepared to let it go if the situation dictates it.
These five hands obviously don’t cover every sticky situation a beginner is liable to encounter at the felt. I’m not saying you shouldn’t play these hands, but play them with due diligence.
No matter what hand you are playing you have to remember that if you feel like your hand is beaten, there is nothing wrong with folding. Saving money is making money in poker.
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