Middle Pair

In this column, I am going to concentrate on the following scenario: You are in one of the blinds - it doesn't matter which one. One or more players limp in before the action gets to you, with no raising taking place. You will either complete the bet from the small blind or get a free play from the big blind. The flop comes down and you are either first to act or - if you happen to be in the big blind - the small blind checks to you. Let's assume that you do not find yourself in possession of a monster hand. Instead - and this is typical of what happens when you get to see the flop when playing junky cards from the blinds - you have a piddly, little something. For the purposes of this column, you have middle pair after the flop. What should you do?

Well, you are not overburdened with choices: you can either check or bet. However, it is an important decision to get right. If you check, it will often mean that you are pretty much giving up on the hand. If somebody else now bets and you elect to call, there isn't really much excuse for not having bet in the first place and given yourself a chance to take down the pot at once.

So, what are the key factors we need to consider when deciding if we are going to retire gracefully to fight another day or get involved? Obviously, your hand and how it has connected with the flop are relevant but there are other important considerations, too. These are: the number of opponents in the hand and the texture of the flop. Let's consider some examples and try to weigh these factors.

You are holding the 9 6. This is not a great hand, but you either got a free play from the big blind or made a reasonable call from the small blind with good pot odds. Let's consider the following flops, all of which generate the aforementioned piddly middle pair with no kicker:

1. K 9 3. This flop is completely uncoordinated, so your middle pair, no kicker is not so bad. With two opponents, you certainly should bet. There is a very decent chance that you can take down the pot at once, and if you encounter resistance, you should (most of the time) just give up on the pot, as you have very few outs against a better hand. If you have three opponents, I still would be inclined to bet, but the decision is becoming more borderline. For example, leading out from the small blind may be a little optimistic but betting the hand from the big blind after a check from the small blind is probably OK. With four opponents, you should just check and fold to a bet. It is becoming a little too unlikely that no one else has either a king or a 9, and the pot will not be big enough to justify chasing your small number of outs.

A strong consideration with this flop is that when players limp in, they tend to play connected or nearly connected cards. Thus, limpers who have connected with the 9 are likely to have hands such as J-9, 10-9, 9-8, or maybe even 9-7. All of these hands leave you playing just three outs with some small extra chances to split the pot.

2. Q 9 8. This flop - featuring three cards to a straight - is very coordinated. Against either three or four opponents, it is completely clear that you should check and fold. The main problem is that in the unlikely event that your hand happens to be the best right now, you cannot take any heat whatsoever, and even if you get stubborn, you will very often be outdrawn. A player who has position on you with a worse hand, such as the 10 8 or the K 10, could easily raise, and your position is just a mess. With just two opponents, however, it is probably worth a stab at the pot, especially if they are predictable players, so that you have a decent chance to gauge where you stand if you encounter resistance. If your two opponents are tricky players, though, it is probably not worth it. When you are playing from out of position against tricky players, you want either a decent made hand or a decent draw, and you don't have either here.

3. K 9 8. This is somewhat of a mistake of the flops in the two previous examples. At least the three cards do not form part of a straight, but having the 9-8 combination on board is still bad news, as this will connect with a lot of limping hands. However, an important point with this flop is that it is less likely that you can get pushed off your hand by a weaker drawing hand. With the flop in example No. 2, it was easy to construct holdings that were weaker than yours but could give you a hard time. Here, a player probably needs J-10 to have a weaker hand than yours that can legitimately put you under pressure. With just two opponents, you definitely should bet, and even with three, I would be more inclined to bet than check. Four is too many, though, and I would just give it up.

4. 10 9 3. This is a better flop for you than that in example No. 3, but again, the connected 10-9 is cause for concern. The three cards here (10-9-3) are lower than those in the previous example (K-9-8), and you might think that would be good for you. However, in actual fact, this is probably a worse flop for your weak hand, because you are now much more vulnerable to overcard hands such as K-Q, K-J, and Q-J. When you choose to bet in example No. 3, it suggests that you might have a king in your hand. Thus, someone with Q-J or Q-10 may assume that they only have the gutshot outs and give up on the pot. However, when someone has the equivalent hand here (say, K-J), he will be looking at up to 10 outs, as there is no longer an overcard to scare him off. Again, you should bet with just two opponents, but with three (and contrary to the previous example), I would be more inclined to check and fold than bet.

5. J 6 3. This is more like it, and is probably the best flop for you yet. It has all of the advantages of the flop in example No. 1, but you no longer suffer from the drawback of being in a bad way against a "connecting-card" limper who also has paired the 6. Anyone who fits this bill probably has 8-6, 7-6, or 6-5, and now it is he who is playing three outs against you rather than vice versa. Kicker wars usually break out when players have big Broadway cards, with hands like A-Q butting up against A-J. However, they are just as relevent lower down the scale.

Of course, you are still struggling here if someone has a jack, but at least if you are behind, you probably have five good outs. In example No. 1, there was a greater danger that you were already behind, and when you were, you were often playing just three outs. I would definitely bet this hand against two or three opponents, and probably against four, also.

Some players get terribly excited when they have a big hand in a big pot, but completely switch off when involved in a modest pot. However, the results of all of the pots you play contribute to your bankroll, and the small, piddly pots are some of the hardest to judge, and thus require the greatest concentration.

Byron Jacobs is the author of How Good is Your Limit Hold'em? with Jim Brier, and Beginner's Guide to Limit Hold'em. They are available through bookstores and at www.dandbpoker.com. Byron may be contacted at [email protected].