Poker with friends
When the flop contains a pair and you don’t have one. This is especially true when it’s a big pair because of the likelihood that players call with the big cards. You should normally not draw to a straight or a flush when the flop has a pair. The chance that someone flopped trips and the fact that you’ll make your draw only 35% of the time, makes it a very expensive proposition. You could already be facing a full house on the flop and you could still lose even if you do make your draw.
Here’s a good rule of thumb that will keep you out of trouble and save you a lot of money: When the flop contains a pair, you need to have one of the paired cards (to make trips), or an overpair to continue playing. Do not be lured into a false sense of security if a pair comes on the flop and no one bets. It would be correct for a player who flopped trips to check on the flop. He would be slowplaying the hand and giving everyone a free card to catch up with on the turn. Checking with the intention of calling any bet is a very common situation on the flop. When you check on the flop, you should try to convey the impression that you have a hand, but you are opting to check anyway. If you instantly and enthusiastically check on the flop, and pick your cards up like they’re two pieces of garbage, the other players will bet into you with anything, everything and nothing. You encourage bluffs when you make it obvious that you flopped nothing.
You should also be careful that you don’t check out of turn.
This indicates that you have a hand that you don’t want to invest any money on and that fact will also induce bluffs against you. An opponent will now be encouraged to bet into you with a weaker hand than usual because he knows that there’s a better than average chance that you won’t call. This is costly because it deprives you of the opportunity to win a pot when both of you have a weak hand, but yours is slightly better. The most common situation in which you would check and call is when you flop a straight or flush draw and you don’t want to be raised if you bet. You would also check if you flopped a monster hand and wanted to slow play it, or to give the impression that you don’t have anything if you intend to check-raise on the turn.
Two out three times that you flop a split pair, you will have second or third pair. For example, if the flop is Js. 8h. 5d., you will be holding an eight or a five. Generally, if you wouldn’t call with bottom pair then you shouldn’t call with second pair, either. If another player has a Jack with a good kicker (in this example), then it makes absolutely no difference if you call him down with an eight or a five. You have exactly the same chance of improving with either hand. There is one slight advantage to calling with bottom pair, if you do call. That is, in Hold’ em, it is generally assumed that players don’t play low cards, and if they do, they don’t call even if they flop bottom pair. So, it is usually considered to be a safe bet when the lowest card on the flop pairs on the turn or river. You will have a very well disguised set of trips and you’ll usually win against a bigger two pair. You are definitely taking the worst of it when you play bottom pairs unless you have something else going for you like a straight draw or a semi-bluff. Calling with a bottom pair with an Ace kicker is a good semi-bluff. You know you don’t have the best hand, but you know if you make an Ace or trip your pair, you’ll probably have a winner.
