| A Big Pair in a Tournament |
| How to Play a Big Pair in a Poker Tournament By Craig Berger A big pair in poker is defined as a pair of 10s, Jacks, Queens, Kings, or Aces. These are all strong starting hands that are generally played. If these big pairs are pocket pairs then the player is in a great position to make a very strong draw hand, or in the worse case scenario end the hand with a big pair. While most new players and intermediate players will enter a hand with a big pair, there are some poker players who won't enter a hand with a big pair valued under Kings or Queens. Players will need to take into consideration how they have played in the past hands of the tournament when making the decision to play the smaller big pairs. If they have been folding a lot of hands in the past rounds, then they might want to shake things up and play a lower valued big pair. However, if they have been playing just about all hands, or if they are in a late position and see their opponents raising or re-raising they might want to fold on a pair of 10s or a pair of Jacks. After the flop has been made the player will need to decide if their big pair starting hand has improved or if it has stayed the same before they make their bet. If the value of their hand has improved they can use two different betting strategies. The first strategy is to limp into the round to try and entice the other players to increase the value of the pot. The second strategy is to raise or re-raise to either entice large stack players to invest more chips, or to get short stacked players to go all in for a quick elimination. After the flop betting round the turn is revealed. Again similar strategies should be utilized. If the turn card improves the strength of the hand, and they are in a no-limit game, the player may want to go all in to double their poker chips. However, if their hand does not improve and they still only have a big pair, they may want to reign in their betting or even fold their hand depending on how their opponents respond to the turn. If the other players have increased their aggressiveness or have shown signs of having a strong hand, the player with a big pair will need to quickly assess what other possible hands could be made with the community cards. If a stronger hand is possible they may want to fold, even with a pair of 10s or Jacks. At the river the player will be faced with reality. They will have all the information they need to decide whether their hand is worth hanging on to. If they still only have a big pair at this point they will need to see who they are up against. If there are a lot of other players still in the hand and there are higher valued community cards then the value of their big pairs they should probably fold, as there is a good chance that one of their opponents has a higher valued big pair then they have. On the other hand if there isn't a higher valued face card in the community cards, the player probably should stay in the game unless they can read their opponents and feel secure that they have been outplayed. If this is the case they should probably fold instead of risking more chips |