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| How to Win at Poker: Strategy
These pages are a guide to Poker Strategy. The topics covered are: Game Selection, Starting Hands, The Flop, The Turn, The River, Top Pair, Middle Pair, Bottom Pair, Seat Position, Reading the Board, Bluffing, Odds, Pot Odds, Understanding your Style, Assessing your Game, and Tournaments. | |||||
Playing Bottom PairPlaying Bottom Pair By Craig BergerIn No Limit Hold ‘em, you may find yourself playing some very unusual hands. Due to the great payoff potential when you hit a well-disguised hand, it can sometimes be worth it to play hands like 4, 5 or 8, 6 suited. The problem arises when you catch a small piece of the flop with your rag hand. If you have 4 5 and the flop comes 9, 8, 4, how do you proceed? Generally, you should proceed as if you missed the flop entirely. Even though you now have a pair, anyone who puts money in the pot is almost certainly ahead of you. In the 4, 5 with a 9, 8, 4 flop example, you could be way behind anyone with a 9, anyone with an 8, anyone with a card that matches one of the next two poker cards, or anyone with an over pair. Furthermore if someone is drawing to a straight or flush, you hand is too weak to bet aggressively enough to force that player off their drawing hand. Generally in No Limit, you play weak hands with the idea that if you hit them hard (they connect very well with the flop), you are going to make a lot of money, and this will more than make up for the one bet you put in to see the flop, even if you have done it multiple times before finally getting a good flop. Once you get into the habit of continuing with these hands even on a mediocre flop, you start to negate the advantage of making a big hand with these holdings. Putting money in the pot with bottom pair can only cost you, and if you are tempted to do it you should not play these hands to begin with. Keep in mind that even high cards can make bottom pair. If you have Q9 and the flop is A, K, Q, it would be a huge mistake to continue with this hand for any serious amount of money. Even though you have a pair of Queens, you are almost certainly way behind to any Ace or King, not to mention the fact that there is a big straight for some players to draw at. If you are heads up with one opponent who you think may have been on a draw, you might be able to win the pot by betting bottom pair, or calling if you have a strong sense that he was on a draw, missed and is trying to represent a hand when he doesn’t have one. In general though, it’s usually safe and economically sound to release bottom pair at the earliest opportunity. There are some players who are so aggressive they can win with any two cards, and you may see some players betting bottom pair strongly from time to time, but they are doing this because they sense weakness and are trying to represent a much bigger hand. If you are betting bottom pair for value, you are usually making a costly error. | |||||
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