Ok let’s talk about the easiest hands first, big pairs. Big pairs include aces, kings, queens and jacks. However jacks are more of a marginal pair. Now when you have aces or kings you better start throwing chips because these hands are worth risking it all pre-flop. There are some situations where kings can be folded pre-flop, but those odds are close to one and a million. Even if you do flip over your kings and see you are battling aces, you will win almost a fifth of the time. You should never get the thought that you are a bad player just because you got knocked out by sticking it all in pre-flop with kings.

Now with queens and jacks the same is not true. In fact because of the style of play that I usually employ, I will most times even call a raise instead of re-raising. With these hands, in most cases you are only ahead by a tiny margin. If you’re not ahead though, you’re behind by a mile. This is why it is smart to play these hands more cautiously then the average player. As well this will add another mask to your game, and will let everyone at the table know that you can have anything.

When you look down to middle pair pre-flop, please do not over value these hands. Pairs like tens, nines, eights and sevens are not premium hands, so please do not play them as they are. Do not get me wrong these are good hands to have, but this is not because of their pre-flop strength it is because of their value later on. I would recommend making a small two and a half to three times the big blind raise if you are the first one into the pot. Your evil plan with hands such as these should be to flop trips and then milk your opponents. Again, that plan does not include playing this hand without a set when your opponent is bringing the heat.

On to the smaller pairs, I suggest playing these pairs very similar to the way you are supposed to play middle pairs. Again with these pairs your overall plan should be to flop a set. On the other hand you should not be three betting your opponents before the flop with hands like these. Some professionals will re-raise with these hands, but too often you will be in a coin flip situation for way too many chips. Again as a more conservative player, this is not your goal.

Ok, so we have gone over how to play pairs when you see them pre-flop. You should know not to under-value big pairs, but more importantly do not over-value middle and low pairs. All too often players in tournaments get knocked out or run into a large set back because they over-valued their hand. Don’t let that rookie mistake into your repertoire of poker knowledge. So now it is time to go get a Poker Chip Set and win some money!