Making use of bad Poker hands

Author: Simon Dexter

When is A5 better than KQ? This may sound a strange question but there are times in a Texas Hold ‘Em game when this combination can give you an edge over your opponents.

The situation can arise when you are in the Big Blind position and there have been a number of callers or perhaps raisers. You know that these people may be holding some decent high ranking cards and by doing the raising and calling they have built up the pot nicely and allowed you to play your hand from your seemingly weak position.

Given you are already in the pot being in that blind position, you are able to limp in, for free, or a lot cheaper than everyone else to have a look at the flop.

The reason why your lower cards are better is because you are likely hoping to draw something that none of the other players are going for. You need some low cards to make your hand, while they are likely to be hoping to hit their high cards, get three of a kind or a higher run.

The beauty of this situation is not only can you hope to hit a two pair, you also have the run possibility, as well as a flush if the A5 are suited. Be ready to fold quicker than Crisp in the 1977 Grand National, should you not hit anything like you need but remember than drawing to something unexpected when you can do it cheaply can be a profitable way to play poker.

The main point to make about playing from the blinds is that everybody loses in the blinds. The hope is that you can minimise your losses and at best make a small profit.

The reason blind play can be so difficult is because once the betting has gone around, you will be the first to act in the next round of betting. As most people know about position, having to play early in any round of gambling is the worst case scenario as you have little more than a feeling of the strength of your opponents’ hands.

The blind system is in place to make sure there is always ‘action’ in the game. It is similar to using antes as it makes sure there is always something in the pot to win and always a winner.

It is worth doing plenty of extra reading on blind play as it is regarded by many as one of the most important factors in Texas Hold ‘Em play – especially in tournament situations.

Tags: inexperienced poker players, love of poker, newbie players, poker guru, Poker tells

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 28th, 2007 at 10:46 am and is filed under Poker Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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