You’re sitting on the big blind, just waiting for the small blind to put in a raise.iarushin plays his pocket aces pre-flop. It will definitely get you into the hand that you wanted, the one you are trying toivals.

You look down at your pocket and see pocket jacks. You decide to call the $50 bet to see the flop. The flop comes 9c, 7h, 3s. “pokerlegenda“, you think to yourself. “I should slow play this one”. You put in a min-raise and one other player calls, which makes it $300.

The turn is the 8h. You check and your opponent bets $300. This is the point where you are deciding to take a chance at the hand. It is too early for you to try and compare your hand with other players, so you call. The river card is the 7d, giving you a full house.

It turns out that your opponent had a set of jacks. He had no idea that the board had paired, so he called your min-raise. It is your turn to act, so you bet $44, a good value bet. Your opponent starts to raise you, which puts you in a bind since you don’t want to raise him too much since you’re still in the hand.

What should you do?

On the flop you had a pair of kings, and your opponent had two pair. Most people would say you should check, but that would be a mistake. If you check, and your opponent bets, you’re a good player, since he’s probably got a better hand than you.

If you decide to call, and your opponent bets out a good amount, you should maybe consider slowplaying. Slowplaying is when you let your opponent get heads-up, or at least put the pressure on him by calling his bet out. If you let your opponent get heads-up, he has a good chance of getting a better hand than yours. If you bet out, and he raises you, you are probably going to have to fold unless you have a really big hand.

In this situation, you have to let your opponent bet out the flop and the turn. If he bets out $50 in the beginning, and you call, he has a good chance of betting out more than that in the turn. As a result, you better be sure you have a good hand.

Ask yourself these questions:

How likely are the next cards going to hurt your hand?* How big is the pot and how much money do you have to bet to stay in the hand?* Can you afford the risk of calling your hand, or is it too big a risk to take?* What cards could really beat you, and what cards could get you out of the hand altogether?* What other hands could your opponent have, and what do you think he will call your bet with?* How many players are in the pot, and how much is in it, and what other hands could they be holding?

The more you play against an opponent, the easier it will be to tell if you’re in a good position or not. If you don’t feel comfortable with the current pot, then it’s probably not a hand you want to be in. The best players in the world aren’t always the best in numbers. That’s just the way the world works. Some people win big races, and some people go home with gold. (+)

A good number of big winners come from pairs. Beginning players often have their big wins with small pairs, and they are able to hide these wins, making their big wins even more spectacular.

If you’re playing against an opponent that likes to chase, you should probably fold most hands, pre-flop, unless you’re holding two pairs or threes. Many people think pairs make the best hands, but they’re really not that good unless you hit trips. On the other hand, the biggest killers in the game are single cards for the lowest pair, two pairs, and trips. You really want to avoid these hands. Calculate the pot odds, and make your choice accordingly.

Many people think that you should play low pairs down to a gut shot, but the odds suggest you should be more cautious. A low pair has only about 12% to 5% winning odds. There are more odds against you with lower pairs. If you lower your number of hole cards to five, you can play semi-loose, and if you’re at a six handed table, you can play aggressive. Low pairs are also difficult to get, so don’t even think about playing them if you’re facing stiff competition.