How to play JJ preflop?

Does anyone know what the best way is to play JJ preflop?
And how much does it depens from the situation. I know that I only limp or make a small bet when I have more then three players in the game. But When I am shortstaked I go allin with them.
I think JJ is a difficult hand because it isn't a middle pair and it isn't also a high pair.
I'm curious what you think about JJ.

Hi,

With this hands its not very important what position u are imo cuz u have to raise it anyway, but how later how better like allways.

here's what i do:

if you are for example in the $1/$2 blinds table. and you are on the button and there is one player who limped so i raise to $6 and if there comes no Q,K or A i would play it very agressive so he has to pay for his draw or his top pair.(i have overpair then). offcourse they can hit their 2 lower pair or set if they have like pocket 7, and the flop is 2 7 10. but thats the risk u take.

if there comes a Q K or A u can try to steal the pot but u invested only a little bit and u can waste alot more just check it and hope on a J and otherwise just fold it.

Wisdom suggests there are 3 ways to play JJ and all of them are wrong!

If you are extremely short stacked, or extremely big stack, raising, or shoving is no problem from any position.

But those are the extremes.

In non panic mode, JJ deserves a raise if first to bet, and depending on what reads you have it might be worth a re-raise from a later position. Keep in mind that any aggressive player will raise any pair from any position, not to mention suited connectors from most positions. So is your villain loose, or tight? Is the table loose or tight?

If the flop shows any A,K,Q, you have to proceed cautiously.

A 4x raise early position is a good way to just take the hand down.

there are 3 ways to play jj and they are all wrong

I need to write that across the top of my monitor.
J/J has been evil to me.

sometimes i like just to call pocket pairs from jacks down and hope to hit trips by the turn, this way u can take a very large pot by suprise and get payed big for the hand,

i dont think jj is that strong even if the flop comes 3,5,9 it depends on so many things, position, amount of people in the pot and the size of the bets before hand,

for example im am sitting in the sb position blinds are 150 and 300,
the player in first position raises the blind by 3 times but on the way around it is raised a further 3 times, FOLD would be my advice and i would probs do the same with QQ

Thx that's some good information.
I don't like the jacks and I lost a lot of money with them but I am going to try it another way. Are you always that fast with responses.
Great forum

3x raise pre-flop
follow through bet....hope for the best

I'm glad you asked that question.....lol

My thoughts are...Do NOT go all-in with it...but PROtect it w/ a high raise...look at the flop
and determine what your opponent may be holding...like thinking what would he/she call a big bet of the amount I made it for with... just having the blinds fold can be satisfying because at least you gained and aren't out...

Actually with JJ or QQ KK I go 4-5 or more the blind depends the game I'm in... and how I an reading the table

I've actually had trouble a lot with this as well. The other day I raised and got re-raised with JJ. What to do then? Can't really come back over the top and pretty much commit myself with jacks, but then again I can't really fold because I'm ahead of a lot of hands that do that (AK, AQ, maybe even 88-TT and then of course there is the possibility of a bluff). So I flat called and luckily set. He led out for like 3/4 pot and I raised, he folded. So he probably had an AK type hand, I really thought when he bet he had an overpair, but if the J hadn't hit I probably would have folded, meaning that this was a horrible way to play it in the long-term because although the JJ alone was probably ahead, I was only getting the money from his cbet if I set and he wasn't giving me any more money. But that's when I have trouble, when someone 3-bets me with JJ. Sometimes out of position against a relatively tight player (how I wish I had 3-bet stats, come on PT3) I'll just fold because I don't want to be playing it postflop when either I'm behind or I'm flipping and out of position.

And since you're out of position and saw no action, how can you possibly get a read? Especially online, when the player has yet to act there's no way to know if they paired an overcard. But if you are in position you see them act and can then make a read and put them on a range.

You are correct - it is much more difficult to make a read out of position, but there are factors to consider to make doing this successful. Having a range of hands that you put them on preflop, as well as, just general feel will create positive expectation. You may not always be right but then being wrong isnt always bad either. If you know that I am liable to bet out with an under-pair then you may be liable to play back at me in time where I have the best of it. Bluffs and agressive play create postive equity; you do not always need to be right on that particualr battle to win the war. Keep in mind that your opponent will miss the flop 2 out of three times so even if you arent keen on your instincts the likelihood is that your opponent will fold.

3 ways to play it all wrong.

Though JJ is a quite strong starting-hand I'm playing it very agressivly min. 4 BB

Mostly you will win this hand but I also went against KK or AA and had no chance at all :-(


In my opinion there is no clear strategy for this hand. You have to decide form hand to hand how to play (position, player, stack ...)

TJ Cloutier says there are three ways to play pocket jacks and they're ALL wrong.

I treat them as middle pair. If no overcards come on flop I'll usually make 2/3 to pot sized bet. If flop brings 2 suited cards, or 2 to a str8 I tend to bet pot size. Same on turn.

Good luck and have fun

I would raise with qq and probably call with jj but thats just me.