Starting Hands

The do's & dont's

Suited Connectors.

Suited connectors are very popular with our American friends who play Limit Hold’em cash games of the majority of the time in their local card rooms and casinos.

However, limping into pots, especially in the latter stages of a No Limit tournament, with the likes of 67 suited is a sure-fire way of inflicting bodily harm unto yourself.

Only in the early stages of a competition, when the blinds are small in relation to average stack size and there have been several callers with little prospect of a raise would I consider playing such a hand.

"But they were suited!"

Way too much emphasis is put on any suited hole cards. Consider this: AsQh against TsTc is 43.1% underdog whereas AsQs against TsTc has a 2.6% better chance of prevailing. A lot of players seem to think the added edge of suited cards is something like 20%.

When I see the likes of Q4 suited played I think of the old proverb of tipping manure from a rocking horse.

Never fall in love with a favourite hand.

Forget the time you won a big pot with a certain starting hand; such foolhardy superstition is guaranteed to cost you a lot of chips and even competitions in the long run. If that’s your style… try three-card brag.

Playing any Ace.

Novice players – like those that lose a lot of money at Hold’em before figuring out where it has all gone wrong – simply love playing any hand featuring an Ace.

Next time you hold A5, A6, A7 and the like, stop to consider what the only people who will contest a raise will be holding. It’s simple: Those that have an Ace with a better kicker and those holding a pocket pair invariably higher than your side card (or kicker).

In either scenario you are big underdog and probably capable of slaughtering all your chips should the flop come down with an Ace on it.

If it doesn’t you will be reduced to making a bluff in order to win the pot and the probability of that succeeding is not particularly good.

Roy's Top Tips

Enjoying your poker

It’s quite a sad fact that those enjoy their cards invariably lose. That’s because whilst merrily having a chat, laugh or being distracted by Match of the Day you are not concentrating on what is going on around the table.

Most players are remarkably consistent in their move making, body language and basic play and it takes surprisingly little study to identify people’s mannerisms but, once accomplishing that, you then need to be constantly vigilant.

Raising with big hands

It’s foolish not to raise when holding a big pocket pair. Yes, Aces in-the-hole, for example, is a huge favourite over any given hand but the key word in that sentence is ‘any’, as in singular.

Just consider these percentages: Pocket Aces have an 80% chance of prevailing against 6d9d. However, throw in a JcQc for three way action and the Aces chance of remaining ahead falls to 62%. Stick two more random cards into the mix and the Aces are now favourite to lose.

It’s ironic but raising with Aces guarantees the chances of you taking on a player holding a good hand whilst also increasing the possibility of head-to-head action. The latter point is vital.

I say ironic as, remarkably, it is a good hand that you want to tackle because your raise has created a sizeable pot worth fighting over and one that a player with a strong hand may well commit all his chips to on a flop that looks amenable.

Large raises are often called by the likes of pocket Jacks, who will like an 8-high flop, or QK who will relish a Queen or King-high flop for example. In either case scenario you could well see all the chips going into the centre with your opponent needing a lot of help to survive.

Tripping up

Most players will limp into a pot when holding a small pocket-pair. That’s a fair enough play providing the blinds and/or antes are small. However, virtually all players will check if/when they hit three-of-a-kind (commonly known as trips) on the flop.

Indeed, ‘trips’ is a big hand and trapping should get you paid off but there is always the chance that someone will make a better hand given the charitable free card you have allowed them.

Conversely, when betting a well disguised huge hand your opponents will never believe the strength you have. They are likely to be attracted by the amount of chips now in the pot prompting a re-raise or an all-in move, especially by someone holding the likes of AJ on a J72 flop …lovely jubley when you’re clutching pocket 7’s!