poket Jacks

I have only been playing for about 3 months and i have had poket jacks about 10 times yet i have yet to loose on them to start with i was very loose and aggressive with them, but i have an impeding feeling that i am going to get clobered soon so i have become very tight even tho i have never lost on them...could you please give me some insight as to what you thoughts are on pocket jacks and or which way is better to play them aggreive and loose or tight??
Cheers Nathan

Hey Nate.....Which site do you play on most often? If it is Pokerstars then you could get into some serious trouble. Jacks are what I call an "iffy" hand. You like seeing them when you are short stacked but later on in tournies when the blinds are high and there are only a few players to be knocked out until you make the money, they can be a pain. If you are a big stack and the short stack goes all in in, you should call but only if you plan on losing. Jacks are common in most races. AK usually sucks out against my Jacks. To get to the point, definitely play Jacks aggressively but beware of getting reraised preflop and the flop coming out all low cards, most of the time they turn over QQ or higher, just be careful when faced with a reraise.

I play them acording to the table i am at. At any table, if i sense a chance to get a look at the flop cheap, ill call them. At a loose / agressive table, you rarely get a cheap shot at the pot so here it all comes down to position, chip stack and my willingness to gamble at that moment.

Been playing alot on low blinds NL tables and here it seems i can get away with searching the pot alot. (Which makes my stack building easy indeed. I'm having a good time on Poker Host's Wall Street table).

I'm guessing that most freeroll's would make it impossible to flop hunt. Simply too many eager beavers around waiting for a shot at a All In.

pocket jacks is a very tricky starting hand.. you are big underdog to AA KK QQ and its a coin flip 50/50 with AK/AQ suited/ofsuit
so if you got reraised with jacks with all in.. you should fold.. but if you get reraised moderated.. then you just call and see what flops brings to you... if flop is small cards.. then you can make a huge raise.. if not then you should try to guess what opponet has

In my view i would be wary but be stern if ya been having good luck with them keep going with it but be careful do do any all ins

First of all you have to be very careful with this pocket pair. They make you feel like you have a sweet hand. But when there is an Ace, Queen, or King on the board they are crap. People seem to overlook this, and feel as though they can still win with J's up againced an Ace.

They only make me happy when a 3rd J flops,


Flyin

If im not in last position I would not go crazy with them. With 3 over cards out there, they are chancy at best. If no one raised & I was in last position I may try to fold them out. But not with alot of players at the table. Like all hands luck needs to be on your side.

Thanks to all youhoughts
It seems like you all agree to play them carefully which is what i try but when luck is on your side you just keep pushing it...i guess i'll only fully realize when i'm clobbered ;o)
Thanks for your thoughts peeps

I'm not a big fan of seeing flops with jacks. Best outcome for me is to reraise a raiser and him fold. If you see a flop your goal should be to get heads up before the flop then if you see the dreaded ace on the flop try half pot if you get a smooth call or raise put the brakes on cause you are probably hit. However late in tourneys when the blinds are a good percentage of your stack best to go hard with them cause you don't have alot of hands left and you have a made hand the guy who calls probably needs help. Anyway good luck on becoming a better player.

Pocket Jacks are a dangerous hand. They tend to look better then they really are. The problem that you got is that anybody that stays in more than likely has an overcard and can pull a higher pair to beat you. Even if they don't get a higher pair, you will have the delema of what to do next should an overcard come out on the board. To take the hand, you will probably be foreced to increase your bet in order to show that you have top pair or better. Otherwise, your showing weakness and lose control of the hand.

All that said, I treat pocket jacks similar to a low or middle pair. I'll call the blind or a small raise to see the flop. I may be more aggressive later in a tournement depending upon the situation, but for the most part, I just try and avoid a potentially bad hit.

i play pocket jacks depending on position, early in position i play tight just calling, late in position Button, sb, bb, i play loose and aggresive with them

i love JJ... but they either win you a small pot or loose you a big one, rarely will you win a big pot with JJ.

u should play pocket jacks aggresive pre flop because it will cause people with Ace - low to fold and then you wont get screwed if an ace comes up on the flop

u just have to play ur game - strong bet at the pre flop - then see th flop - if no card is over u - another strong bet - and folow ur instincs

I love pocket jacks, no matter the position. But in my experiencie, they are loosers... cant win a hand, except when everybody folds.

I prefer a big slick or AQ, but when i have pocket jacks i like to play aggressive, never a free card.

I treat pocket jacks like i would any other medium pocket pair. See the flop cheaply, no set no bet unless the board is under cards. If I'm in a tourney and am short stacked then I will push all-in with them, but if i have any kind of chip stack, then they are just another medium pocket pair to me.

great advice.

zubris is right on.

i used to play very aggressive jj.

and lost a lot too.

now try to realize just how vaunerable

they are.

donvic

I still play em very very aggresive. they always seem to show

I love pocket jacks, but you have to be careful becuase sometimes i play them too hard and end up being way behind to pocket kings or something, but everyone else seems to get lucky with them against me becuase i always am in the better position and then lose to pocket jacks tripping up everytime, its so ridiculous

pocket jacks is dangerous. you raise b4 the flop A Q or K comes up and u dont know what to do.. very hard

well just like any other hand you have to be careful yet decicive in your bets. You don't wanna be pushed around too much with JJ so you do have to bet some. Whether you raise or just smooth call or even re-raise, well that's up to you and the situation.

I think pocket Jacks are a great hand and I seem to have pretty good luck with them too. They are probably just a good hand overall.

They are a great hand but can be very easily beat if you dont bet big before the flop and get players out of the hand

I treat pocket jacks as low pocket pairs and almost always call pre-flop fearing A K or Q. Also by just calling and hitting a set should win more money than raising and scaring off people pre-flop.

It's always hard to be holding a pair like that and see an A K or Q on the board. Nearly impossible to lay it down. I remember a few weeks ago in one of my homegames though, I had JJ and my friend had 1010. Flop comes J-10-7. It was lovely.

I always throw about 1/3 of the pot out there even with overcards. Use your bet to feel out your opponents hand, and also pay attention to his style of play. With JJ, you gotta be careful, but remember, they are still a pocket pair. Hard hand to play. Don't be silly with them. I always say to myself, play them like I'd play pocket 9's or 8's. Be cautious, but don't just give up on them when an A or K comes out.

i usually will play jacks agressively preflop, if everyone folds then i win blinds. However, if 1 or 2 people call, i'll wait for flop, if flop comes and theres nothing higher than jacks, then you bet real aggressive. thats my strategy at least.

Yep.. I had JJ today in the freeroll, 8 - 4 - 2 came up. A guy pushed all-in, and I called.
He turned over 8-4 and the next 2 cards, turn and river were J and guess what? Jack. 4 of a kind... It was the greatest outcome with Pocket JJ that I've ever had

Serves him right for playing 8-4 when I raised preflop.