Pair of Jacks

[Propane Goat]

Two choices: lose a little by setmining them like 55 and watching overcards hit the flop, or lose a lot by playing them like AA.

 

[NeverEnough]

I rarely call a huge raise or AI with JJ. I think I have only won once with JJ when it went to flop or beyond.

 

[blueskies]

In MTTs, depending on what stage of the tourney and stack sizes, I am getting the chips all in with JJ anyday.

In cash, just raise pre and adjust according to board texture and villain. Know that they are very vulnerable and don't overplay them.

 

[locha2013]

Yesterday I lost with a jack pocket pair. The situation was about escalating in my head. The blind was 10000 and I raised to 30000. A player who often called, looked at the flop and there was a King, I don't believed him and called his raise about 30000 and then he raised again about 80000. So I was in the situation to believe him or not. It was a quite aggressive player so I pushed all in about 100000 more to intimidate him, but he called easily with his AK and I finished as the player 7.

 

[DrazaFFT]

People that have hud will probably play it lot easier that those who don't have it...

I don't have a hud so i try to make as many notes on my opponents as possible, specially if i saw 3 bet with A3o or AJo OOP with those opponents ill play little looser, i might 4 bet to see what will happen but i certainly wont go to crazy on later streets if i don't improve and if there are overcard on the board. Also with this hand (and with some other) you want to play against players who love to play draws, this is not easy to find you need to play a lot with a player to recognize that he is flush chaser but when you do, you'll want him to chase his flush by paying more that pot odds will let him to pay, but be careful, dont assume that someone will play any suited if you saw him doing that once or twice, you need to play longer with that guy to see that, that is where notes do their job...

Plus imo in tourney when you are short stack, there is no brainer what to do with JJ...

 

[Salvete777]

To call all-in need watch to situation.
1.You play tournament or cash game.
2.How big is your and your opponents stack.
If you stack is small or very big (3x-4x biggest than stack, witch you need to call) then you should call.

 

[roberto_overloaded]

my opinion

first check your stack and position. it matters if it is a tourney or cash table. for a tourney,in early position raise 2.5 BB , if 2 opponents go all in, probably better fold. if it's just one opponent i'call for sure. good luck.

 

[cpgd176]

Depends on who the players are. You would make a different decision with JJ based on the table dynamics. Sometimes it's right to fold them preflop, sometimes you can set mine, sometimes play them aggressively, and other times shove with them. All depends on the scenario. There is no secret formula for playing any 2 cards perfectly (not even AA) and when you do, you still lose some of the time.

 

[Refinado Tom]

JJ it's a middle par for me. On the board bet only if it's a top pair or set.

 

[DrazaFFT]

Well it is true that JJ is not really a monster hand but it is not really that bad, we are to harsh to them because we, at least me, overplayed them more than once and blame jacks not ourselves...

Preflop JJ is only behind QQ+
every unplared hand will miss the board in about 65% of the time, if the board flop an over card that doesn't mean that you should fold instantly, to played it right you definitely need info on your opponents, what kind a hand they are likely to play from what position and how would they played them in compare to what you do pre and on the flop, imho without any info on my opponents, i would easily fold JJ to an overcard on flop but i also depends on situation, was i the raisor? have i position, does he limped then called my raise, does he raise and i float, does he checked to me on flop if was the raisor, does he donk bet (block bet) before me and on and on...

 

[HajiBobo]

Its of a big importance the time when the person goes all in. Usually people get mad when they lose lots of their chips and go all-in the next hand with not so good cards , also in the begining of the freeroll tournaments many players go all in in the 1st 1-2 hands to try their luck and get a better start for the tournament.
I personally will go all in if there is only 1 persont all in but if there are more i would prefer to fold.

Yea the only problem with this is, that every time I thought that "they woke up with big hands" after taking a bad beat or just blowing up their chip stack. Can't tell you how many times I fell for that and got knocked out our was put on tilt.

 

[lost2qandisa]

How to play JJ - YouTube yeah most dreaded cards in poker hah

That video is the biography of my entire poker career.... Priceless! ROFL!

 

[helpspb]

LMAO! That video ........ Yep, it's really that easy.

I agree with DrazaFFT. Jacks ain't so bad, but people often overplay them. It's tricky hand, but so is QQ, AK etc.

 

[lovemiscou]

Jacks are the hardest cards to play, i dont think that there is a right or wrong way to play them,it depends of the situation at table. I do go all in with them some times,i do fold them to an all in some times and i do raise 3bb with them
but i loose with them about 50% of the time.
So yes i am not to crazy about JJ and i play them very carefully and fold them
if there is an overcard on the flop

 

[abzdolc]

there is no good way to play jacks )
as say some of people , fold call and raise with jacks- is bad))

 

[blueskies]

Yea the only problem with this is, that every time I thought that "they woke up with big hands" after taking a bad beat or just blowing up their chip stack. Can't tell you how many times I fell for that and got knocked out our was put on tilt.

I love to do that. After some mofo sucks out and I get 99+ to AQ+ the next hand I am shoving all the time. I get called much more frequently because ppl assume I am tilting.
JJ is hard to play OOP, so I tend to be more aggro preflop with it. I don’t mind getting it all in pre.

 

[IvanShovski]

How to play JJ - YouTube yeah most dreaded cards in poker hah

This video is hilarious. He probably saved himself a ton of money by merely scooping the blinds in the final hand.

I really think the difficulty of playing JJ is overstated though. I would be thrilled to receive a pair of Jacks at least once every orbit.

Play 'em like TT.

 

[spiderman637]

No. I would definitely not go allin with my pair of jacks with already 2 allins in the pot...But if i am short stacked or say if i have a good read on villians range of hands, i might consider...
I too recommend it play like TT...Infact some one here at cardschat gave this advice to me when i asked the very same question 2yrs ago...Wow, this thread reminded me of myself !!!

 

[ravpl]

Nice video It all depends on my situation on board to call all-in. I personally do not like to play this hand...

 

[awmm1983]

If it's a tournament it all depends on M. It's the magic number.

 

[hrix]

JJ can seem as good hand, but when you see A or K on the flop you probably think that you are in troubles.
Dangerous hand only playable when you see one more J or there are no big cards on the desk

 

[Vhyre]

i have heard it said that there are three ways to play a pair of Jacks...All of them wrong.
I absolutely cringe when I see JJ. It usually spells bad news for me.

 

[newbie in training]

Normally a min. Raise od to do the tricj and set mine or if board is low no draw then its an easy all in

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I537 using Tapatalk 2

 

[pcgnome]

How you play them definitely depends on your situation. Position stack size, number of opponents already in the pot. You want to always at least call pre-flop to set mine. When you are in late position against a few limpers you can raise if you want. Raise again if the flop comes out with all lower cards.Hopefully all the limpers will fold.
If you are short-stacked, you need to shove all in preflop. Especially when it's in the later stages of a tournament.