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K
kiznik
Rising Star
Bronze Level
Let me try to ask something more specific about jacks then.
Suppose it's a 6-10 handed no limit game or tourney. You have jacks.
If you make a large bet, you are keeping in the AA, KK, QQ, AK for sure, and probably AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, A10, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, 77, and probably not (but maybe) K10, Q10, J10, 109, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22.
So most likely, you are dealing with at least 1 over card (and you have no way to know if it's a A, K or Q), and maybe 2 over cards. Maybe your dealing with a a slight underpair too, but probably nothing small.
Now if even 1 over card falls you may be beat. with 12 over cards in the deck, the probability that one will fall on the flop is something like 70%. The probability that one will fall on the flop while 2 are somewhere in the hands already is closer to 60%. So if one does fall, there's a fairly good chance that an opponent has it in his hand, since he called your large preflop bet.
So basically, things don't look that great for the JJ hand!
On the other hand. If you see the flop for cheap, say double the big blind, then there are going to be a lot of hands in, which means if its an all under Jack flop, someone probably has two pair or trips. If paint flops, then the Ax Kx Qx may have hit an over pair.
So either way it seems to be a bad situation unless you make a set. Which option is better? I lean towards a big bet and hoping for few callers, and no over cards. You can probably snatch the pot with a big bet, or with a "call me" bet, you can wheel a few more chips on the assumption the last 2 cards will be undercards too, since your more than half way there. In this case JJ is a good hand because:
you have AK AQ and AJ beat, and Ax, Kx, Qx, that make top pair +paint kicker are beat too.
So the question is, what do you think is the best way to play jacks, faster or slower?
Suppose it's a 6-10 handed no limit game or tourney. You have jacks.
If you make a large bet, you are keeping in the AA, KK, QQ, AK for sure, and probably AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ, A10, JJ, 1010, 99, 88, 77, and probably not (but maybe) K10, Q10, J10, 109, 66, 55, 44, 33, 22.
So most likely, you are dealing with at least 1 over card (and you have no way to know if it's a A, K or Q), and maybe 2 over cards. Maybe your dealing with a a slight underpair too, but probably nothing small.
Now if even 1 over card falls you may be beat. with 12 over cards in the deck, the probability that one will fall on the flop is something like 70%. The probability that one will fall on the flop while 2 are somewhere in the hands already is closer to 60%. So if one does fall, there's a fairly good chance that an opponent has it in his hand, since he called your large preflop bet.
So basically, things don't look that great for the JJ hand!
On the other hand. If you see the flop for cheap, say double the big blind, then there are going to be a lot of hands in, which means if its an all under Jack flop, someone probably has two pair or trips. If paint flops, then the Ax Kx Qx may have hit an over pair.
So either way it seems to be a bad situation unless you make a set. Which option is better? I lean towards a big bet and hoping for few callers, and no over cards. You can probably snatch the pot with a big bet, or with a "call me" bet, you can wheel a few more chips on the assumption the last 2 cards will be undercards too, since your more than half way there. In this case JJ is a good hand because:
you have AK AQ and AJ beat, and Ax, Kx, Qx, that make top pair +paint kicker are beat too.
So the question is, what do you think is the best way to play jacks, faster or slower?
M
mythicshog
Rising Star
Bronze Level
I hate Jacks. They always end up gettine me into trouble, cause I feel I have to raise pre flop, and im comitted to betting them, even if an overcard falls. And there's almost always an overcard for me. So in conclusion, Jacks suck, I'd go with ducks anyday.
subchapterj
Rising Star
Bronze Level
i agree with fubarcdn that your position on the table is everything when it comes to pocket jacks. normally i just make a marginal raise to at least get the junk hands to gold, but not so much that i feel pot committed. maybe like 2-3 times the big blind and see what kind of reactions you get.