What are Pocket Pairs in Poker- How to Play them
Pocket pairs are the best to look at when it comes starting hands in Hold’Em.
The hands can be powerful when played correctly. If you however wrongly play it, it will affect your profits negatively.
Types of Pocket Pairs and Their Values
There are three major subgroups of pocket poker pairs below.
- Premium pocket pairs- they are usually JJ-AA
- Medium pockets- 77- TT
- Small pocket pairs – these are 66 and below
Odds of Being Dealt a Pocket Pair in Poker
The odds of you being dealt any of the pocket pair listed above are about 5.9% . This means on average, you will get a pocket pair once in every 17 hands.
Categories of Pocket Poker Pairs
Here we shall look at each of the three major subgroups of pocket pair.
Premium Pocket Pairs
They are some of the best that you can have in Hold’Em. They however can be considered marginal depending on the situation.
Being dealt a QQ or better is a good start. The value of the premium pocket pairs increases when players are few. You should get as much money as possible before the flop. Your strategy might change as the stark get deeper.
You will however not be able to achieve all your goals before the flop. Sometimes you will raise and face several callers.
Medium Pocket Pairs
These pairs are considered medium so it is hard to come up with a proper strategy. If you are playing a single opponent, you can easily win pots without even flopping a set. If you however if you see a flop with several players, there is a good chance that you will always need to hit a set to take down the pot.
Small Pocket Poker Pairs
Most players refer to these when they are talking about pocket pairs. They are the hardest to play, they seem to have so much potential if you hit the right flop.