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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 Middle PairIn No Limit Hold`em, players tend to play a variety of different hands, due to the big payoff potential of making your hand. Occasionally, a player will make middle pair on the flop, for example, a player may have T, 9 suited and the flop comes A, T, 4. What is the proper way to play these hands?In general, you probably should not go too far with a hand like middle pair. Just as in Fixed Limit Hold`em, people like to play big poker cards, so if there is a big card out there on the board, someone probably has it in their hand. This is especially true if an Ace flops, since many players will play an Ace no matter how bad their kicker (side card to go with their big card) is. Even if someone doesn’t pair their over card, it will be hard for you to bet aggressively with your middle pair, so it is likely someone will see a card on the turn or the river that will enable their card to catch yours. If everyone checks to you when you flop middle pair, you should probably put in a probing bet to see where you stand, especially if you bet before the flop. If you encounter any resistance, especially a check-raise, you should be extremely wary about continuing with the hand. If you are flat called, you need to decide if your opponent is chasing a straight or flush, has the top pair, or just doesn’t believe you. This is a situation where it is important to have been paying attention to your opponents and learning their patterns. A key skill in Hold`em, especially No Limit, is developing a feel for how your opponents act when they are strong, when they are weak, when they are chasing, and when they had a made hand. The better you can do this, the better equipped you will be to play any kind of holding. The middle pair increases in value if you flop something to go with it; for example, if you have Ts, 9s and the flop is As, Th, 4s. You now have a fairly playable hand. You not only have your pair of Tens, but you can now improve with another Ten, a Nine or any Spade. Similarly, if the flop to your T, 9 is J, T, 8, you now have an open-ended straight to go with your pair, and a good reason to continue with the hand if it is not too expensive to do so. Middle pair is not a hand you want to invest a lot of money in. If you sense weakness in your opponents, you are getting the opportunity to see cards cheaply, or you have straight or flush potential with your pair, it’s okay to put a little money in and see where it goes. If a raising war breaks out, it’s not something you and your middle pair want any part of. Get out and wait for a better situation. | |||||
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