Poker: How to Play QQ and KK

Pocket Kings and Queens are great to be dealt preflop in hold’em. They’re made hands and you’ve got a large brace already, even if you don’t improve. Unfortunately, they’re also very vulnerable hands that tin acquire you into a batch of trouble. For this reason, you should very rarely, if ever, slowplay these two pocket pairs. You’re just asking your oppositions to take your money if you do.

Suppose you acquire dealt Q-Q inch 3rd position. Naturally, you’re going to play the hand, but how should you play it? In a no-limit cash game, say you just smooth phone call the lower limit bet. Much to your disappointment, no 1 raises the pot behind you so you can reraise. Instead, 4 other players name the lower limit stake and both blinds remain in. The floating-point operation come ups down J-10-6 with two clubs. With an overpair to the board, you experience pretty confident right now. There are 7 players in the pot who’ve come up in on the cheap. The little unsighted bank checks and the large unsighted brands a sensible bet.

You raise him, and everyone creases to the button who travels all-in. The large unsighted phone calls the all-in stake and action is back to you. This is a awful state of affairs for you, because while you have got got an overpair to the board, what could these cats possibly have to do that big of a bet? You nervously call. The large unsighted bends over 10-6 offsuit for two pair, and the buttons turns over the 5-3, both baseball clubs on a flush draw. The bend conveys a Kelvin of hearts, and the river a 2 of clubs. The button profligates in the monolithic pot with his completed flush.

This type of manus is very common, especially in online poker. When you let that many players to come up in for the lower limit bet, you’re going to see all kinds of refuse hands remain with the hand. You can’t even really fault the cat with the 5-3 – he’s getting great pot likelihood to see a flop. With 7 players seeing a floating-point operation of two more than than suited cards, you can be reasonably certain that at least one opposition have two more of them. Person else could have got a set or two pair. And sometimes you’ll run into oppositions who have got slowplayed pocket braces even larger than yours!

The lesson is: you’re not going to cognize where you stand up with Q-Q Oregon K-K unless you raise preflop! When you raise, you’re going to thin the field out and those rubbish hands are going to believe twice about staying in the hand. Raise it enough, and only the complete imbeciles and insurance premium hands will remain with you. Fire in a pot-sized rise from any place and see what happens. If you’re inch early place and acquire reraised, slow it down a little. With Q-Q, you’ll probably just desire to name the reraise and see a flop. He could have got A-K, K-K, Oregon A-A. With K-K, you can see putting all your chips in at this point. K-K is a small safer because the lone manner you’re beat at this point is if your opposition is holding Aces.

Be very careful on the floating-point operation with these two pocket pairs. Invariably, you’re going to see an Ace come up on the floating-point operation all too often when you have got pocket Kings. What are you going to do? Since you raised preflop, your opposition is likely to have got called with large cards, perhaps an Ace-high hand. If you’re first to act, stake a little amount trying to beg information. If he raises you with any authority, you should probably fold.

You’re also going to run into times where you have got Q-Q Oregon K-K and end up all-in against A-A. It looks to travel on a batch because these are hands that people are willing to go all-in with preflop. The few times that these hands are dealt together, both oppositions are usually going to stop up all-in. One speedy short letter to see about Q-Q: if you make a criterion rise and acquire reraised all-in, do you believe that your opposition is likely to have got done that with a worse manus than Q-Q? If not, throw your manus away.

Play your Queens and Kings right: raise ‘em difficult preflop, and be willing to allow them travel if you acquire too much action for your liking or the floating-point operation conveys an overcard.