Pocket Jacks

In a multi-table tournement, what is the best way to play pocket jacks pre-flop?

its impossible to answer this question .their r 2 many unknown variable .like bankroll r u short stack?or big dawg?what position and how many players at the table? if u r short stacked and after a bunch of checkers go all in but if there r 2 guy in already before u a scrm . see it aint easy

i found the best way to play pocket jacks is to raise before the flop if you get called be careful, i see the flop and if there is a higher card on the board and i am first to act i will bet at it if i get called i check it and if i get raised i fold it.

I agree w/ big blue ... to many variables to consider... if Im short stacked in an un-raised pot late in the tourney .. Im all in... if its early in the tourney and i face a raise bigger than 3x the BB I fold... Avg stack no raise I call... I could go on forever w/ the different situations .. But JJ is one of the toughest hands to play for me.

As said by Blue, there's a lot of variables. I'll play them most times until the flop (if it isn't to expensive), but I'll lay them down quick if I don't improve them and there are overcards on the board. If I'm in first position, I'll usually push a modest raise and see what happens...

all in ive never lost with them thats why my name is BatistaJJ lol

Jacks are the hardest pocket pair to get away from. I like to raise preflop depending on the postion, players left and chip stack. I never like to go all in with them unless i am short stacked or i catch a j on the flop with no drws present. They look really nice but there like middle pocket pairs, if they dont hit u usually are beat.

I usually raise em if it is the beginning of the tourney. Later , when the blinds are big big, I usually call or go all in. Depends on the situation.

Ya.. late on in a tournament when I've got a good feel of players and I'm in nice position and I read that no-one is likely to have QQ KK AA, I do favour the allin play... you feel like a real goof when you're wrong but I really can't remember the last time it happened..
The most probable way of it going wrong is getting called with AK and AQ

Pocket Jacks is a killer hand. If you limp in, 100% someone had higher card so if one comes out on flop, you know your in trouble.

The only way to do it is to raise quite big imo.. 10 times big blind maybe.. that way you will only get callers with high cards. THen if 3 low cards come on flop, you can bet high/all in and take it down... Hope he has no higher PP!

Limp in and see what happens on the flop. A king or Q and iwould be careful ?

its usually not a good idea to limp in with jacks, unless ur calling a small-medium size raise. I like to raise based on position. Over-pair = isolate and dominate. In tournaments a good raise based on blind size tends to be accurate

there is NEVER a right way to play any 2 cards. U have to play them right and you have to know when ur best. The probblem with pocketjacks is when a flop comes A,K,8. The odds of an opponet haveing an a or k is good. SOmetimes u just have to let the cards go and if u dont, it will hurt ur chip stack

just call a value bet.


see what you think of the situation

I play all the middle pairs the same, I raise big enough to run out the trash, then hope for a trashy flop.

Those Jacks tend to screw you over a lot...I've seen a few of my buddies lay them down pre-flop, which saved them later on. I have a damn hard time laying down Jacks anytime haha.

There is a very good article in cardplayer precisely on playing these problematic pocket jacks:

check it out, let me know if its useful -

http://cardplayer.com/poker_magazine...727&m_id=65562

See what the situation calls for. Sometimes I play JJ with a sizeable raise before the flop if I am in good postition and I don't sense too much strenght from any of my opponents.

Other times I will play Jacks like often play a smaller pair. If the pot is raised before the flop I will call to see if I can make a set...if I don't then I get away from it pretty easily...but when you make that set it is like winning the lottery: just too hard for your opponent to read.

If you play enough you will begin to feel out your opponents, so just use your best judgement with a hand like JJ (or even QQ). If you think they are good...don't be afraid to bet them, but if you feel like they might be beat, don't commit too much money with them.

i got pocket jacks 3 times yesterday in a tourney,called the flop, then someone bet and i folded, each time the flop had an A K or Q in it,good thing i did i would have got beat, be careful with them.>. buckster436