[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

Chapter Three:
Borderline or Trouble Hands
You should commit to memory the following list of trouble hands. I call them
that because that's exactly what they are ... and I only play them in borderline
situations.* They're hands you can lose a lot of money with ... so you should
play them very cautiously. You don't want to jeopardize much money with
them.
TROUBLE HANDS (only when offsuit)
Ace-Queen King-Queen Queen Jac Jack-Ten
Ace-Jack King-Jack Queen-Ten Nine-Eight
Ace-Ten King-Ten
*Two Important qualifications are that I don't consider the trouble hands
borderline when:
(1) they're suited; and
(2) I get them In a short-handed game. As you'll learn, I define a
shorthanded game as one with four players or lost and In such a game the
trouble hands are actually big hands.
The reason I consider those hands borderline is because I'd question calling a
raise with them. If they're suited, I'll call a raise with them and go ahead and
take a turn. When they're not suited, I won't call a raise if I'm out of position.
By out of position I mean that I'm in a middle position and a man in an early
position came in raising. I'll pass these hands in that spot.
If I'm in a late position and the pot's been raised and another man calls ... well,
then I'll usually call with them but, I'll hear another bell ringing when I do.
This time, that bell will be reminding me to play my hand with extreme
caution...unless I get an excellent turn to it.
The reason why you have to be so careful with those hands is because with
every one of them you might be up against a hand where you'd be almost
dead. Most players consider A-A, K-K or A-K to be the best raising hands ...
so there's a good possibility the raiser has one of those three hands. True, you
can't always assume that ... but it's always in the back of your mind. So, if
you've got A-Q, A-J or A-10 ... and you're up against A-A, K-K or A-K ...
you've got a terrible hand.
It's extremely hard to win a big pot with those hands (offsuited) when
you've called a raise. They're definitely trouble hands. You're much more
likely to lose a big pot with them than you are to win a big pot with them.
Even when I make a Pair with them on the Flop ... I play them extremely
cautiously - or about the same way I'd play when I had a Pair of Aces or
Kings in the pocket.
For example, if I played a K-Q (offsuit) and the Board came K-4-2 ... I'd be in a
lot of trouble if the raiser's got one of the three hands I've assumed he might
have. He'd have two Aces, three Kings or a Pair of Kings (like I've got) but
he'd have an Ace kicker.
Or, if I played a 9-8 and the Flop was Q-J-10 ... I still wouldn't be too excited
about my hand - even though I turned a Straight. It would not only be the
ignorant end of the Straight ... but it would have an additional weakness
because the high-end of the Straight would be made up by a very strong hand
that everybody plays - namely, A-K.
Something else you have to think about with the trouble hands is that it's not
as easy to pick-up pots with them when you turn a Straight draw. You'll
remember that when I turn a Straight draw with small connecting cards, I
play my hand real fast because I have two shots to win the pot. I can win the
pot right on the Flop because, with small cards out there it's less likely anyone
else turned a hand. And, if I do get called, I've still got a second shot to win it
if I make my Straight.
But, if I turn a Straight draw with a K-Q (say, the Flop is J-10-5) ... it's highly
likely somebody's got a piece of that Flop - and I'm less likely to pick the pot
up when I bet. So, I don't have two shots to win it anymore.
The same kind of reasoning applies to the times when you might turn the top
Pair and a Straight draw with a K-Q when the Flop is Q-J-10. It's not even a
good hand then because you might be dead (as you would be with a 9-8)
when somebody has an A-K. The best you could be drawing for would be a
split.
Even when you turn a very good hand like Two-Pair or Trips ... you could be
in jeopardy. If the Flop was K-K-2... you could once again be in big trouble
with K-Q when someone's got A-K. The difference here is that you probably
won't be able to get away from your hand and you'll have to go ahead and
lose a lot of money.
The important point to remember about the trouble hands is when you do
get a Flop to them you don't want to get heavily involved. You should just
try to play the pot as cheaply as possible.
A minor exception to the above consideration is when you turn a Straight
(meaning that you must use both your hole cards as when you have, say a Q-
10 and the Flop is K-J-9 or J-9-8). However, even in this case (when you have
the nuts) ... there's a chance you could lose the pot. If a Queen fell on Fourth,
with the K-J-9 Flop, you could lose to an A-10 ... and with the J-9-8 Flop, you
could lose to a K-10. So, you're not completely safe with some of these hands [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]