Beware Cards

leosam18

leosam18

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Just as there are many hands in poker that will win you a lot of money, there are a number of deceptive hands that may lead you into believing that they are profitable when in real fact they will often lose you decent sums of money from your bankroll. The sooner that you learn about the hands that are costing you dearly, the sooner you can start saving yourself from losing money. This article will address the most common hands that novices play with and highlight the reasons as to why they can be dangerous hands to play.

The ‘any two suited cards’ is a very popular hand that all varieties of beginners like to play. A flush is a pretty strong hand in the game of Holdem, and so if you manage to make one there is good chance that you will win a nice bit of money with it. Therefore many new players to the game will be prepared to enter pots with any two cards as long as they are suited just in an attempt to catch a flush at some point during the hand. There are two reasons as to why playing any two suited cards is dangerous.

Firstly, it is not that much more likely that you will make a flush just because your cards are suited. The probability of making a flush in Holdem is pretty low, and so it does not justify calling bet and raises in an attempt to catch one on the flop. On top of this, amateur players will often continue to call bets and raises with bad pot odds to make a flush on future streets, which just adds to the problem of playing such hands. The second reason is that you can catch half a hand like second pair on the flop, and end up losing money to another player that has formed a better pair than you. So by playing random suited cards you are setting yourself up for two great opportunities to leak money, so don’t do it.

Another type of hand that always manages to cause the beginner player a problem is the low connecting cards. These are almost identical to the problems caused by any two suited cards and can help players to lose money over the long run. It is not too likely that you will form a straight every time you enter a pot with connecting cards like 5c 6h, so don’t enter the pot under the false pretenses that you will. You will simply be losing more money in the long run, as well as losing money in pots where you catch half a hand and your opponent catches a stronger one. So save yourself some money and fold before the flop.

One final hand that amateur players get overly attached to is a rag ace. Rag aces are simply aces that are accompanied by a low ranking hole card below a Ten. The problem that these hands cause is that players find it difficult to let the hand go after they pair their ace, and so they will often end up losing a lot of (if not all) of their stack to a player that also makes a pair of aces but with a better kicker. The best way to play these types of hands is to exercise a little self-discipline and fold them before the flop. It is unlikely that you will win a big pot with them, but it is likely that you will lose a big one. Save yourself a bit of money by folding and catch out the other amateur players the next time when you hold a stronger ace than them.
 
pifan

pifan

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Keep in mind it is good to play these types of hands occasionally when there are more than one player that enters the pot before you. These are the types of hands that can be profitable in multi way pots. and it also makes you less predictable. Just remember to let go if you do not hit the flop hard.
 
leosam18

leosam18

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Thanks Leosam for this valuable comment, it will help me out to play poker game more consciously to win the game.

It does not mean don't play this kind of cards...Just know when to Fold and Hold em..
 
bredstik

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Table position is extremely important. I have no problem playing those hands if I can get in for the minimum or am in a late position and no one has raised.

I do like the high carded suited connectors though - I'll raise with those in early position at times.
 
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Suited connectors are one of my favourite hands to play, as long as I can get in cheap (if they are low), and am in later position on the table. You must be able to quickly judge when to fold though.

Quick example, is I have suited cards in the pocket (mid range) and the flop comes out with two more of that suit. To get a flush, then another of that suit must come on the turn or river. To hit the flush on the Turn or river, the odds are about 36%. If you miss on the turn, then the odds are only about 18% that you will hit on the river. I then calculate how much the bet is compare to the pot. If the percentage of my bet compared to the pot, is less than the odds I will make a flush, then I continue to bet.

This is a very simple example of pot odds (and doesn't take into account the odds of pairing one or both of your hole cards). Learning about pot odds will make the decision about continuing easier to make.
 
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