Avoiding getting beat by kickers?

How can you tell if you have J10 for example and hit top pair whether another player has Aj, Qj or Kj?

You could always avoid that situation by not playing JT.

Or not put a lot of money in with top pair if you do play JT.

When they aren't looking, take the kicker off the table, and replace it with a higher card which you stole from the pack earlier.

Don't play dominated hands against a raise!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It's fine to open raise JT from the button but bad to normally call a raise with it.

Hands like AQ KQ KJ QJ JT are called trap hands for a reason. If you make top pair you may take down a small pot but if you get your stack in who calls your raise? Take AQ. If you pair the A what hands would you be losing to? AA AK QQ. If you pair the Q what hands do you lose to? AA KK QQ.

If the pot is raised in front of you and you have no reason to think villain is a maniac then fold most of these hands, That is why position is so important in NLHE. If it is folded to you in late position you can raise these hands but when you are in Early position if you raise then you will play out of position and have to decide whether to put money in the pot without knowing if your opponent has you outkicked and if they don't and you are unsure and you check you give them a free card to outdraw on you.

I like to use my mind reading power, then i telekinetically switch our kickers...

Thanks for your answer. Never thought about it like that. I maybe overplay AQ. I'm even tempted to re-raise pf with it lol.

To clarify what your saying, you only open with these hands in general because if you call a raise, even when you hit the flop you could be outkicked and don't know where your at? Should I not even call in late position? Unless I have on them of course.

x-ray vision obv

You're welcome If you have Pokertracker review your winrates for all of Broadways by position. You may be surprised at the results. While you're at it do the same for small pocket pairs 66-22. btw: for a long time Doyle Brunson wouldn't play AQ.

When you raise you are really trying to steal the blinds. When you re-raise you are doing so because you feel someone is stealing but you can stop him because your hand is better. Since you can never put someone on a specific hand, only a range, your hand to re-raise needs to better than the middle of his range. If you re-raise with AQ you are saying you can beat a range of hands that has a midpoint PFR about 8% so in order to 3bet with AQ you're looking for a villain with PFR of 16%+!!!!

Okay I never use ranges with % and things. Where can i read about working out what i should do based on range %?

Im glad i got a sensible reply that didnt involve magic powers :P

speaking of crappy kickers.....i def think i need to start folding AQ UTG...it cost me many many moniess this past weekend....ran it into AK so many times...SB and BB would flat my raise...always thought i had the best hand when the A hit....sigh

This is one my flaws I think especially at 6 max and one I need to either stop doing or continuing the hand and stop assuming they have me beat. If I'm raised which is so very common at 6max micros and I'm holding A,10/A,J/A,Q etc and and ace flops and I'm bet at quite aggressively I will fold. Now half the time I don't know if my A,Q is good, it probably IS but I still fear A,K because I've lost some pots to them before and told myself to stop playing like that.

The problem is, which I guess isn't a problem more of a money earner is that you can and are often raised by much worse hands. K,2 suited and so on and they are just making a C-BET it's just firguring out who actually is bluffing and who isn't which is actually quite hard at 6max because the range of hands is so much worse at 6max.

edit; is this 6max or FR?

This sound like me. Is this 6max or FR? It's actually a horrible hand to play unless you hit two pair because you're always wondering if you're out kicked and I find myself folding or losing a lot of money. I feel more inclined to play A,10/A,J/A,Q etc at 6 max as you can't always put the villian on A,K. Maybe I should starting pushing more with A,Q instead of folding all the time I too have lost money like you in the same positions be it out kicked or folding.

I bet I'm folding when I have the best kicker and not folding when I don't haha.

I play FR

I always fold AQo from EP and almost always if the pot is raised in front of me. Question, though. If you have position on SB/BB who flats your raise you should be ok, if they bet and you call and they lead on the turn you would have to assume they had TP2K beat unless they are an aggro-donk.

What is the goal for AK/AQ? IMO their real value comes as set up hands for AA KK QQ. If you flop a Big Set villain won't know it and will probably think their 2 pair or small set is good and you only have Top pair. Otherwise I think they're pretty weak hands against any villain with half a brain. I just think of all the times I whiff when I open raise or 3bet and whiff or am way behind to a set or two pair. You win small pots and lose big ones. AKo is a small money winner for me because I don't overdo it. AKs has historically been a loser for me because I'm more willing to get my stack in with it.

There is so, so much value with AK/AQ against weaker aces/pairs with weaker kickers.

I don't disagree at all, but that's not what happens most often with AK or AQ. I'm saying how comfortable would you be facing a large river bet with AK vs a villain who is not a maniac? Like I said, I win money with AKo,just not alot. You can raise, make TPTK, c-bet and take down a small bet OR make TPTK, check/call and bet the turn OR make TPTK and re-raise IP. Anyway you slice it you're getting two bets of value most of the time. Now, if your against a 70/3 calling station or a 30/28 Maniac you can play it differently but again that isn't most of the time.

Btw; if you 3bet with AK and whiff (low board no draws) and villain checks to you are you more likely c-betting or checking behind?

Facing a large river bet with AK isn't what happens most of the time either though.

Against weak players you can easily get three streets of value with TPTK with AK/AQ, and against stronger players you can get 2 streets of value. It's also a great hand to c-bet with when you miss the board because a lot of regs will expect you to be barrelling turn scare cards (which you should be) such as As and Ks which obviously improve your hand.

Well for most, I would not raise with J10
Get in cheap if you have J10, and if you hit the J on the flop you can bet and if someone re-raises you can call and if they bet the turn. It's practically an easy fold. If they are playing back at your strongly your beat.
If you bet flop and turn check river and see if they raise or bet flop check turn and call river. It's all situational.
Raise hands with AK AQ 10's JJ+
Especially if your playing lower stakes you want to play tight, high stakes is a total different game.

You're playing 2nl. Find some better tables and this will be true most of the time. Although people can pretty well narrow your range down to the nuts only so it may be true that they don't call YOU with worse.