Help With 2 Pair

A common fault in my game is over judguing 2 pair, for example

I have 6 6 in my hand, theres one guy left in the hand with me

flop comes 10 10 4

i always think that my hand is strong with only one other competitor. and i end up losing to three tens. Does anyone have any advice on how to stop losing these hands.

Fold when a pair flops is the simple answer. I dont agree with you though - if i've got a pocket pair then this is the flop i'm looking for, especially with a small pair (other than the obvious, a set or 4 of a kind). The less different overcards on board, the less chance there is the opponent has paired their hand. If you've raise to get out the crap, and your opponent happens to have the 10, then that's just bad luck, but you'll find out soon enough and I dont think its a common occurance. Fire at the pot, and usually you'll take it down (especially if you were pre-flop raiser).

I assume you are a beginning player so kind of a simple thing with out getting into hand analysis. Instead of looking at how strong your hand is, look at the board and see what hands could possibly beat you. Is your opponent playing like he has one of these hands? Then fold. Also by doing this you will start to watch players a little more closely and begin to build some player reading skills.

The most winning hand in NL Holdem is 2 pair, BUT when 1 of the pair is on the table you got to watch out, cause your opponent could have a set, try to get a read on him, if you think hes got a set, fold,, its much better when the 2 pair are hidden>>> buck

Also, when the board pairs you have to be cautious of a full house, alot of people like to play their aces so if the board shows

A♠ 6♣ 6♥

someone just may have been playing A6, shoot out a feeler bet and fold if in doubt.

reminds me of a time i was playing 3/6 in a BM casino.. i have 8/9h with a flop A67 rainbow. Turn comes 10d giving me the nuts, and i cap the betting knowing that my opponent has two pair. The river is a 6, which i bet and am raised - and i say "Boated up did you" while I put the last 6$ into the pot, "yep" flips over A6o. Damn that blows. oh well.

Me personally, I will never make a big bet when the board pairs. That is like committing suicide, because you know that your 2 pair is likely beat by the set.

2 pair works best when you flop it, because most people can't anticipate that (similar to the set). If you flop two pair and the board isn't paired, then I would bet strong with that hand. Be cautious for draws and hands that can beat you. Basically, I agree, 2 pair are one of the hands that pay off the best, but they still lose to a lot of hands. You have to know what possible hands could beat you, and bet accordingly.

Usually when a player has trips with a low card on the board, they will slowplay. The thing to do is to make a large bet. If they fold or call after thinking about it for along time, they don't have trips. If he.she cold calls or raises, chances are he.she has trips or a higher pocket pair. So my advice, if you are first to act make a big bet. If he.she is the first to act, riase and see what happens.

I don't ever automatically fold if a pair hits the board and i haven't hit trips. It depends on the pair. If I'm holding JJ and the board comes 883. If I'm playing against decent players, the odds of one of them having an 8 is pretty slim. So, I'll bet it.

My general rule.. if the board pairs higher than your pair.. fold(ie: 88 on a TT7 board), if it's lower (as in the previous example), lead out and go from there.

If like you say Chern, you only have one opponent pre-flop, I am assuming you have already raised, thus clearing out any limper's etc.
If this is the case then maybe you should rethink your pre-flop raising amount.
If the one remaining opponent is happy to call your pre-flop raise with a hand such as, A-10, K-10, which appears to be the case, I would ask myself did I raise enough.

If on the other hand your opponent was the one who raised pre-flop and you were the only caller, you might want to ask yourself why you didn't fold or re-raise.
Limping into the pot with a small pair depending on position is usually a good thing, but calling a raise with such a hand is debatable.

Perhaps neither of you raised pre-flop, ( you didn't say ) if this is the case then you need to find out some information, but once again I don't know who was first to act post-flop etc.

The flop you described looked harmless enough when heads up and it is at this point that you have to get the information you desire both post-flop and on the turn if necessary.

You also didn't say if this was Limit or No Limit Holdem, so I am assuming its No Limit, I personally would of liked that flop in a heads up situation and by the turn would have a much better idea of what my opponent is holding, and just because I flopped 2 pair, it doesn't mean I have to take it to a showdown if I feel I am up against a better hand.

two overcards on the flop and it's harmless? Granted your heads up, but a ten is one of the 5 cards you're probably up against. If there was decent preflop action the opponent probably has two over cards.

hands that can beat you in this range:
AA, KK, QQ, JJ, TT, AT, KT, QT, JT

hands that you have beat in this range:
AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ

I'd be very scared of that flop

If you are in such a situation you should to do a "Test Beat" .... you should look how your opponent react...

buy i think 66's looks firstly nice... but offen you can lose a lot of money with it, if u didnt hit the third 6 on flop.

One overcard duplicated, making the odds of my heads up opponent having one of the remaining two tens small enough for me to be very happy with that flop, the lack of paint also pleases me.
Also the kind of raise I would of made pre-flop would likely of chased out any half decent player holding a ten.
Without all of the flop being a six or less, 10-10-4 is about the best I can wish for, so yes, I'm very happy to see it.
Things that go bump in the night might scare me, but a flop of 10-10-4, while I am holding 66 after making a suitable pre-flop raise and getting it heads up does not.

But if you read my post you will see the lack of information from the thread starter was always a concern for me, saying that, if you feel its a scare flop given the info we have, I'm happy with that, I just don't have to agree with it.
Horses for courses Id say, its just that my horse would tend to jump the fence.