HAND 2 J – 10 suited

Some years ago, there was a lot of debate about the relative merits of J-10 suited. This even led to some people claiming that it was the best hand in online Texas Holdem. This is utter rubbish because pocket aces are the best starting hand pre-flop in any form of Hold’em, always have been and always will be! But the J-10 suited certainly does have merit because of it’s flush and straight potential.

What you must try to assess with every hand that you are dealt is “what hand am I actually building here?”. With A-K, you are building top pair top kicker but with J-10 suited, you are building a draw or top pair mediocre kicker or even middle pair. All of these hands are potential banana skins, the flush draw will not be to the nuts and many people misplay draws anyway.

Imagine a scenario where there has been a raise and two callers and our hero calls with the J-10 suited. This is far from being a bad call and especially when the money is deep. But the problem comes when players go astray on the flop because it is much more difficult to play from the flop onwards than it is pre-flop. The flop comes 10-6-2 and the pre-flop raiser fires again, early in a tournament I would lay this down in one second flat. But it’s surprising just how many players see that top pair and feel compelled to get involved.

Of course there are many advanced plays that a good player could make in this situation but a mediocre player is continuing just because they have top pair which is wrong.

HAND 3 A – K

The hand known as “Big Slick” is perhaps one of the most misplayed and potentially dangerous hands in Hold’em be it cash games, Sit and go tournaments or whatever. The old pro’s sometimes refer to this hand as “walking back to Houston”, a nickname that I believe fits the hand far better. The problem with A-K is in many ways a similar problem to the pair of aces discussed earlier in so much as too many players seem just too reticent to let the hand go.

Remember this and remember it well, “Big Slick” is a drawing hand plain and simple. If two solid players who do not mess around have raised and re-raised before it has even got to you then for heavens sake fold if you are early in the poker tournament and are deep in chips. You are going to be a small favourite at best and are highly likely to be a big dog with that kind of pre-flop action.

I have witnessed players make pre-flop raises with this hand and get called in several spots, miss the flop and try to force a bluff through against numerous opponents……madness! Look out for more trouble hands coming in part three.

Carl “The Dean” Sampson

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