10-22-04, LearnTexasHoldem:
Middle Pair, Calling With
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Answer: That's a good question and I'll do my best to try to give an answer more specific than "it depends." One concept that eluded me when I first started to learn how to play cards was that you don't have to have top pair or a flush or straight to win, you only need a hand better then your opponent(s).
That seems obvious now but it really isn't when you read poker books. They don't encourage you do base your play on how other people are playing. You get this idea that you need to have AK everytime to win. That's just flat wrong and as you progress to higher limits, being able to adjust your play will be essential to winning.
When, if ever, should you call with middle pair was your question... The answer is you should call whenever you think it is the best hand. That seems like an obvious useless answer but it really is much deeper. It gets you thinking about poker in terms of best hands, not best cards. It gets you thinking about poker in terms of people and less about numbers. See, pot odds can only take you so far because with pot odds you are assuming you know what your opponent has.
If you do know 100% he has a certain hand then pot odds is your guide but most of the time you aren't sure so you have to rely on other skills. And that's the real question, "How do I know if I have the best hand if I don't have something great?" Some general guidelines for determining that are as follows.
First of all, the fewer the opponents you have, the more your middle pair or even bottom pair goes up in value. Heads up is ideal to call with middle pair (or bet). Two opponents is still at the point where middle pair may be good but after that it gets tricky and you'll have to rely more on odds and sticking to good hands.
Another consideration is how many people started preflop total. There is a difference between 4 people calling preflop in a 10 person game and 4 people calling preflop in a 4 person game. In the latter, middle pair is much stronger then in the first example. You need to keep this in mind for no limit tournaments where you are at the final table.
The next consideration is the aggressiveness of your opponent. Being aggressive means that you are putting in more bets in spots that don't dictate that level of action. Middle pair is much stronger against this type of opponent instead of a really tight player. For example, if a player has raised the past 4 hands in a row and you call this time and flop middle pair, chances are it is good. That's a point where either you would check raise or call him down.
So basically, the more willing your opponent is to put in bets with hands that aren't great, the more willing you have to be to call with hands that aren't that great. Middle pair heads up is generally a strong hand against any opponent though (assuming no one hand a big pair preflop).
The last consideration I'll mention here is the texture of the flop itself. Let's say you are playing a little no limit tournament with your friends and one person raises, one more calls and you are in the big blind with 78s. You call too. The flop comes back 9-7-4 Your hand is pretty good right now and you are only really worried about the opponent who called, not the raiser so much. A flop that is 9 high most likely didn't help your opponent who raised preflop. He could have a big pair but most of the time it will be two large cards.
For both no limit and limit, this is a situation where you should probably get involved with the hand. Let's take another example... Say you have KJs and the flop is AJ4. The first person bets, another one calls. This is a muck situation. So the last point here basically just comes down to you asking yourself the question, "Do I think this flop helped my opponent and if not do I have the best hand"?
I started off answering this question mentioning how, when I first was learning poker, I had trouble realizing it wasn't just about playing good cards. It isn't just about being the most disciplined, it is about using reasoning skills to deduce whether or not you have the best hand and then make money with it while at the same time not giving the other players the money back on their good hands. Middle pair is a monster when another person has less -- that happens often.
You can learn a lot from just sitting down with a deck of cards and dealing hands. Try it sometime when you are watching TV and see how heads up play goes, how 3 person poker goes, etc.
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