How to Play Pocket 2′s
April 3, 2009
The cards fly around the table landing neatly in front of a group of poker tables, one at a time, until finally each player has two cards in front of him. You cover your two cards with your hand. Very slowly you peel the cards up from the table for a peek.
The cards you find there on the table will be your weapons, the tools you will use to win this war against the other players. You look at the cards, and although you’re happy to find a pocket pair, you’re less than thrilled to find out that pair is pocket two’s!
So now you’re faced with a question that many a poker player has had to consider….
How do you play pocket two’s?
Many poker players simply make a bet that correlates with the hand that they are playing, So two times the bet for pocket two’s. They do this to be silly, and show their hands at the end of the round.
Those guys are fun to play poker with, fun to be around, and fun to take money from, keep an eye on those guys.
However, on a more serious note, the and advice most often given in regards to pocket two’s and any low pair is to just call the minimum bet, and fold in case of a raise. Wait for the flop, and hope for a miracle.
For a brand new player really just looking to get a feel for the game that might work, however, for the rest of us, those that actually intend to make a buck or two off of the game, let’s look at something a bit more aggressive.
Poker Strategies aren’t ever cut n dry of course, we’ll need to know what position you’re playing from, how many people have money in the pot already, how many are left after you and a whole slew of other things.
However, we’ll assume you’re at a fairly calm cash table, playing with some solid players for the sake of this article. Let’s say there’s somewhere between six and eight people at the table, and you are second to act or so. Everyone before you has folded.
Instead of folding your pocket two’s or calling the blind only to be raised by the guy on your left who’s overplaying king ten off suit..
Raise the two’s. Make a bet a strong bet, one increment more than the table reserve is probably sufficient, if you’ve just arrived at the table and aren’t sure what the table reserve is, try about 4 times the amount of the big blind.
You can get called here by any number of hands; however, even beginning poker players just learning to implement strategy will lay down hands that include aces without a kicker. Queen Ten and lower is probably going to fold, and anyone that doesn’t hit a pair on the flop will probably now fold to a continuation bet.
Some red flags with this hand are of course an ace on the flop, or a reraises before the flop. If you’re re-raised there’s a small chance that you’re playing against AQ or AK, but it’s more likely that you’ve found another player with a made hand.
Pocket 3’s through Aces beat pocket two’s preflop, that’s just food for thought, don’t get to crazy with em, there are 12 hands in the deck that beat your two’s before a flop is dealt.
Other Texas Hold’em Related Articles
- How To Play Pocket 3’s
- How To Play Pocket 5’s
- How To Play Pocket 6’s
- How To Play Pocket 7’s
- How To Play Pocket 8’s
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