You are sitting in the middle of the deal and you look down at AJ and you think you have a monster. You need to think again before you throw those chips into the middle of the poker table. You are sitting on a hand that has you set up for nothing but heartache. When you are sitting on AJ in middle position, let it go.

One of the biggest mistakes a lot of beginner players make is flat calling an early raise with AJ. The only time you really should do this in this spot is if you are suited. If you don’t hit your flush or are on a flush draw, you are in pretty bad shape even if the A hits. Now you are in a position where you may raise or call the hand down and still end up with a loser.

You are really going to have to know your table mates and be very careful if you are in after a raise. You have to look at the position because it dictates what kind of hands people are going to raise with. You have to know the player to decide if they are capable of playing any two cards or they are playing ABC poker. If they are a steady player and fire at the flop and turn, you are looking at a loser.

You are in an even worse scenario when the high card on the board is a J. You are pretty much obligated to play out the hand and once again, you could be starting down the barrel of a shotgun. Again, you are facing an early raise and other than the AK that may have made the raise, but you very well may be looking at AA, KK or QQ.

When you are in this spot and either raise or bet after a check, the move from the other player is going to be come back over the top of you. Now you are faced with a decision for your chips and you have to decide if you are going to put your faith in nothing more than JJ.

One thing a lot of players fail to register at this very moment is that they were coming in against a raise and then you were check raised. Before making a knee jerk bet, consider what just happened. You made a bet that basically told the other player that you had hit our jack. They have to figure you for AJ or KJs in your hand from the position that you made the original call from. They know what you have, it is a matter of you realizing what they have.

If they make a strong move over top of you, you can be all but assured that their original raise was with an over pair and they are playing against your emotions that you will automatically push back on their bet. It is the perfect trap and the only way that you can avoid it is by NOT playing AJ in the first place.

One of the most frustrating things that you can ever be involved in when you are playing poker is to be sitting at a table with a bunch of very tight players. If you normally play this way yourself, you will find that big pots are few and far between and minutes seem like hours as you grind out the day. When you come across this type of table, you have to look at it as a money making opportunity instead of an annoyance and get the play to loosen up.

To do this, you are going to have to change up your game. If you have read anything about poker, you know that you cannot play the same way all the time. In this case, you are going to have to start to force action to get this table going again.

Early on, you will probably find that you are able to pick up a lot of blinds. This will be especially true if you have a tight image yourself. The other players are going to think that you have just caught a run of cards stay out of your way. The only way you are going to get action is if someone actually gets a big hand.

After you have stolen a few pots, it is time to stir up the table a little bit. You need to look at that money as a stake and now you are going to use it to get the action rolling. While you are stealing all of these hands, you can now show one. This is going to get under the skin of some of the players and they will start to wonder how often you have been doing this.

While that one time may not get the table rolling, it will at least put the though in their heads. You of course will do the same thing the very next time that you steal another hand. Play rags and show them. Now you are going to have the bait set and it is time to spring the trap. This is where that small donation comes in.

You are pretty much assured that the next raise that you make is going to put at least one person over the edge. Make it small enough to not risk too much of the profits that you have made. You don’t want all that hard work to go to waste.

The effect of this is going to have more people jumping into hand with cards that they would not normally play. Now while everyone else has suddenly loosened up their game, you go back to playing tight and wait on the hook.

When that big hand comes around, you are going to get paid off. The last impression that everyone has of you is that you are bluffing like a madman. Now you have a hand and you play it the same way that you played those bluffs. You fire and hope someone comes right back over the top of you to get you off of your hand and then you drop the hammer. Do that a couple of times and you can go right back to stealing blinds and limpers as everyone tightens up again.

Bluffing is something that far too many players try far too often. The main reason is that amateur players see these moves on television and don’t realize that it may have taken the player hours to set up that one move on one specific player. The program edits out the hundreds of hands that led up to that point and the ones that were between them and all of a sudden, everyone thinks that bluffing is the way to play.

In order to pull off a legitimate bluff, you should be playing against the same group of people or at the same table for a long enough period of time that you can be all but assured of how they are going to react to your play. For instance, you have a player that is not afraid to play, but has shown over time that unless he has the absolute nuts, he is not willing to play against an aggressive raise that comes over the top of his bet.

What players need to focus on early is getting into pots when they have large hands and when they are in a showdown, time and time again you are showing the best two cards. Once you get into this groove, you are able to bluff early and start stealing some blinds, especially in hands that have a bunch of limpers coming into the pot. You will most likely find that an aggressive continuation bet will lead to a lot of your opponents folding because you have been beating the table.

Now there of course comes the time when you want to show the bluff that you have pulled it off and you are going to want to save this for a big hand. By showing this bluff, you are going to set people on tilt as they now start to wonder how many hands that you have managed to get away with this and how much money they have lost to you with the winning hand.

How you play from that point is going to be a read on the table. Normally, after a huge bluff, the player will tighten back up and start playing ABC poker again as he knows that everyone on the table will probably call him down to make sure he isn’t bluffing again. However, if you can manage to catch a big hand that goes to showdown soon after your big bluff, you are in a dream situation as you are going to have the entire table on tilt trying to figure out what you are doing.

This is when you can really start to make money. Take down one or two hands and then it is time to throw another bluff out there and show it again. More than likely, you are going to have to tighten up at that point, but when you have a hand, you are going to get paid off huge. You can let the table settle a little bit and then start the whole cycle all over again. This mixes up your play and allows you to run the table. Everyone is scrambling to figure out your play. Just stay one step ahead of them and continue to get paid off. Remember to show that bluff after a long string of dominant hands and you will continue to have them shaking their heads and donating money to your stack.

The new school of poker teaches that aggression will always pay off. What a lot of the current younger players don’t understand is that there is a phrase that is missing from that teaching and that is ‘well timed’. When you constantly play the same way, all you do is allow yourself to get set up and eventually get all of your money in during a horrible situation.

We have all been at the table where we have an aggressive opponent who raises on every hand and tries to steal the blinds each and every time they come around his way. He continues to pick up pots because everyone knows that the moment they get into the hand with him, they are going to have their entire stack at risk. This is not a bad thing if you know how to handle him. Turn his aggressive nature against him and force him to make a stand when you know you have the best hand.

If you are suffering from him stealing your blinds every time around the ring, you are contributing to his image. He cannot possibly be getting a winnable hand every time around. As the BB, you know what is coming and you are going to have to take a stand on occasion to get him to back off and prevent you from seeing hands when you are on the blinds. To do this, wait on a decent hand, and then push back. Make sure it is a hand that you can come right back over top of him on a big re-raise because you can be assured that the first couple of times he is going to come right back at your to test your salt. When you catch him bluffing a couple of times, he will learn to back off of your blinds.

The next situation is when you are already in the pot and he is coming back around with a continuation raise. If you have constantly folded to his raises, you are showing yourself as a weak player. This is the image you want as you try to pull off one move that is going to move his entire stack over to your side of the table. When you get the flop that gives you the monster, he is ready to go down.

Assume that you have flopped a set, straight or flush against this super-aggressive player. You are out of position and can let it go to him because you know he throws out a continuation bet each and every time that he has raised. If you have constantly folded to him, he knows that you are more than likely going to fold as soon as he fires again. Let him make his bet and then instead of pushing in your stack and giving up your hand, you will merely put in a minimal raise.

This move is the equivalent of the playground push. He pushed you and you have finally had enough and pushed back. The problem for him is that he thinks he is the bigger bully here and will generally give you one more push. This is exactly what we want to happen as when he comes right back over the top of your weak raise, you put every chip you have in the middle of the table. Whether he calls or not, you are making a monster profit on the hand. The other thing that gets accomplished here, especially if he is a younger player who thinks that he knows it all, is that you have shaken his confidence.

You have a player that has not been outplaying people, he has just been running them over. In his eyes, he has been as good as Doyle Brunson and now someone has gotten the best of him. With any luck, the move will upset him and have him out for revenge. This is when you can start to print money as he will be going in with anything in an effort to get his money back. Tilt is a beautiful thing when you are on the other end of it. Set him up and then take him down. You may look weak all night, but that doesn’t matter if you are the one walking away with the chips at the end of the session.

While most players look at this as a perfect slow play opportunity, the board and amount of players left is going to dictate exactly how you proceed when you flop a set. Now before we go any further, you need to realize the difference between a set and trips and yes there is one. Trips is when there are two cards matching one of your cards on the board. If you have a set, the board has a card that matches the pocket pair you are holding. You would be surprised at how many people confuse the two and what the different betting strategies are for both of these hands.

The first thing that you need to look at is the board. Is there a flush draw or straight draw on the board? Is the board loaded with over cards that you may have t deal with? The second issue is how many players are left? Are you head to head or are you dealing with 2 or players? All of these factors combines are going to dictate exactly how you play out your set.

Let’s assume you are holding 77 and the board hits 7KQ rainbow. You are looking at 2 over cards and a possible straight. This is a dangerous hand in poker and regardless of where you are and how many people are in the pot, you are going to hammer away. If you are first, lead out with a pot sized bet and try and get isolation with someone. If they come back over top of you, come right back at them. If they are sitting on their own set, it is just bad luck and you are going to have to deal with it, but you are not getting away from this hand.

Now if you have the same flop but 2 cards are suited, you need to take away the odds of the flush draw and actually want to bet more than the pot. It is important that you observed where the action originated if there was any pre-flop raising. I say this because you are going to assume that person is going to call you and you need to make a bet that is going to be enough to take the flush draw that is out there behind that player. Put them on a decision for all their chips if you have to, but do not allow a draw to get in cheap and take this pot away from you.

While both of these scenario’s have you at risk, the ideal situation would be a flop like 2-7-Q. There is not straight draw and no flush draw here and you would only have one over set to deal with and that is unlikely. If there are multiple players in the hand, you will either lead out if you are first to act or raise your opponents bet to get isolation. Bad things happen when you go into a turn with more than one person and you want to avoid that.

If you are head to head, you are in the perfect check raise position if they made an original raise. You can even get away with a smooth call if you in position as you can lure them to bet on the turn and then come over the top at this point. Once you have them head to head, you want to milk every penny that you can out of them. This is the ONLY time that you can risk slow playing your hand.

Remember, the board and players are going to dictate how you play out your hand. Do not get caught up in all the glory and excitement of hitting your set or get greedy. There is never a bad time to take down a pot. Slow play too much and you are just asking to get beat.

We have gone over how to play this very tricky hand in the two most dangerous positions, early and middle, and now it is time to go over how to play them from the catbird seat. Regardless of their size, small pocket pairs in late position can be very effective if you vary your play and take advantage of weak players at the table.

Late Position

When you are in the cutoff or button position and you look down at two matching cards, you have a huge advantage. Unlike early position, you don’t stand to throw money in the put on a lot of occasions and have someone else come right over you. If they do, it is probably because they were slow playing a big pocket pair and were waiting for someone else to make a raise. In most cases, it will be a sizeable raise and tossing your hand to the muck is a no brainer.

However, that is usually the exception to the poker rule and if player are only showing moderate strength in front of you or limping in, you can steal a ton of pots by playing this hand properly. Once again, let’s assume that we are looking down at 99, except this time we are sitting on the button.

First scenario has everyone folding to you. You have only the blinds to beat and if you are playing aggressively all day, this move may get you a hit back from the BB. If not, unless he is sitting on a hand, he will more than likely fold. Made it a big enough raise that he has to really think about protecting his blind. Usually a 4 or 5x blind will get it. However, if you have been stealing, expect him to fight back and possibly come back over the top. In most cases, you can come right back at him and take down the hand. This is where your knowledge of the players comes in and will dictate to raise or fold. Just calling is not an option here.

The next scenario is when you have several limpers and the betting gets back to you. I am a strong believer in that if you are playing any cards other than small suited connectors, this situation warrants a decent raise. This way, the blinds are not getting odds to call and if it gets back around to the limpers, they are going to have to think twice about throwing more money in with their KJo. A big raise here is a cause for concern and calling will be dictated by odds. You are not really worried about callers, be more worried about how that board comes out.

If you get a board that is stacked with over cards and you have multiple callers, you are dead in the water. Your best bet is to hope it gets checked to you and then possibly hit the turn. Throwing a bet to three over cards is asking for trouble and a loss. Now if the board only shows one over and you have limited callers, meaning two or less, you can put out a continuation bet of at least half the pot to see where you stand. You may be able to take it down right there. If you get a caller and there is no draw, be very careful on the turn as you may have someone who hit with a weak kicker. This is a dangerous spot to be in. All under cards is a no brainer pot sized or better wager.

Best case scenario is that the board hits and the set hits the board. You are going to be in great shape to make a huge hit here, especially if you have multiple callers. With an aggressive raise, the table will probably check around to you. Even if they don’t, your philosophy on betting is going to be the same. Your bet should be about ¾ of the pot. It is slightly more than a normal continuation bet and just enough that if you manage to get one caller, you may just get others to follow.

The dream situation is that there is one over card and someone has managed to hit it. You see a board of 29J and after you make your bet, your doomed opponent that is looking down at his AJ thinks he is about to crush you and comes right back over the top. Depending upon your stack, you have a couple of options here. If he has a lot of money and you are similarly armed, you may just want to smooth call and let him fire on the turn. This will allow him to think he is the best and then when he makes a bet on the turn, you can push. Odds may dictate that he has to call and you get to felt him and take down a huge hand.

If either you or your opponent is looking at a stack that is right around the pot, the flop bet is the time to get the money in the pot. Say the pot is about $500 and you have $350 left and your opponent is sitting close to that. He fires a $225 bet at the pot, there is no need to waste anymore time here. Push your stack in and he has not choice to call. With there being $1050 in the middle at this point, his last $125 gives him better than 8:1 and he would have to be a moron to let the hand go.

Small pairs in late position are absolute dreams. They have a nice chance to create a big pot, scoop a lot of blinds and allow you to get out cheap when the hand goes bad. You may take a hit every now and again with them, but if you play this way, you will come out way ahead of the game at the end of the year.

Small pocket pairs poker, and by this we mean pairs of 99 or less, have often been the cause of many bankrolls going across the table. Players will often overvalue their hand and end up losing a ton of money as they simply cannot let go of two matching cards in the hole. We are going to rectify this situation for you and show you how to play these cards to maximize profits and minimize your losses.

IN EARLY POSITION

This is probably one of the most difficult positions to play a small pocket pair. However, if done properly, you can make a lot of money by getting in on the action in this position with a small pocket pair. The move in early position is to simply limp in and see what happens. You do this for two reasons. You may have a chance to camouflage your hand with the right board and only a few players and you can also crush a huge hand if you happen to hit your set.

Assume you are under the gun and looking down at 77. You limp in and the player behind you makes a raise to 4x the blind. You are going to need odds to call here, which means that you want as many callers in on this hand as you can possibly get. There are two very good things happening when you get callers here. The first is that you are getting the 5:1 or better odds that you need to throw your money in. The second is that the more players that are in, the more likely the larger cards have already been dealt out. If you do not get 3 or more callers or if someone else comes over the top again here, you have to let the hand go, simple as that.

Now ideally, you get the callers in there and you have a shot at a monster pot. You are now is a no-brainer situation as to whether or not you proceed with the hand. If you have never heard the phrase “No Set No Bet,” you need to live and breathe but it if you have a small pair in early position. The only time you will bet out in this scenario if you are looking at a board that is all undercards to your 77.

For instance, you see a board of 2-4-6. In this case, you can make a bet that is at least the size of the pot and it will hopefully take down pot. You will immediately know where you stand of someone comes back over top of you. They may have been sitting on a larger pp or they may just be making a play. This is where your instincts and memory recall as to their earlier play will have to take over. It will also depend on how much money you have sitting in front of you. At this point, you may just be pot committed and the odds for your remaining cash will be so great that calling in the only thing that you can do.

Now if you get lucky and happen to hit your set, you are in a very strong position to make a lot of money. You can be pretty sure that with that many players, the raiser is going to make a continuation bet. This is a great opportunity to set up a check raise and make some serious cash. The one exception to setting up this play is when the board has a possible flush or straight out on the board. If that is the case, you are going to need to calculate the odds and take those hands out of play with a huge bet on the flop. You do not want anyone drawing to your set.

Now if you have a board that is not too dangerous, you are ready to make a check raise. Check your bet to the initial raiser and let him lead out. If you are lucky, one of the other players will have gotten something worth chasing. Depending upon how much money you have left in front of you, you may make a sizeable raise or push all in. You will hopefully be able to get isolation at this point and take down a huge pot. A time when you would bet out with nothing on board is when you have hit your set is if your remaining stack is less than half the pot. In this case, you can push right off the bat.

It is never recommended that you play the same way all the time. You are going to have to change up how you play this hand from time to time or you will risk the other players picking up exactly what you have. As a variation, you may make a small value bet on the flop hoping that the initial raiser will come back over top of you. Use the same betting strategy that you use when you have a medium hand and attempt to show some weakness. If they fall for the trap, you will have them guessing on every hand and can use your flop a set strategy to steal some pots down the road.