Reading and Playing Marginal Hands

A few issues back, I wrote a column titled "Mike Caro is Right." In that column, I discussed that Mike finally came out and said that math is just not as important as psychology in poker. As a follow-up to that column, I am introducing guest columnist Dr. Phil Earle, from Canada. For those of you who don't know Phil, he is a retired doctor who won a bracelet in pot-limit Omaha at the 1995 World Series of Poker. I was at that same final table with Phil, and ultimately had to settle for a third-place finish. Now, I would like to let Phil discuss reading and playing marginal hands; most of the time, you have to throw the math out the window. The emphasis is on playing the player and the situation, as well as the hands. The percentages quoted here are close but not accurate to the last decimal point. So, all you math geeks and fellow authors, please note this before we begin.

There are 1,326 different two-card starting hands in hold'em. Approximately 5 percent of the time, you will have one of the top betting hands dealt to you. These hands consist of aces, kings, queens, jacks, A-K, A-Q, and A-J. An interesting view, and deeper understanding of the nature of the game, can come if a little further extrapolation is made into the other 95 percent of the time that you do not hold these top hands.

If there are 10 players in the game, 50 percent of the time (10 x 5 percent) some player will, on average, have one of these top starting hands. The rest of the time, no player will hold one of these top starting hands; instead, each player will hold a marginal hand.

Any good player must know when and how to play his top starting hands, and also know when and how to play against an opponent who is dealt one. This is obvious and simple to any experienced player, and usually automatic, but it must be fully understood by new players to the game. However, it's the remaining 50 percent of the time, or marginal-hand time, wherein lies the real heart of no-limit hold'em.

It is when players have these marginal hands, and their marginal situations, that the personal skills of reading, intimidating, bluffing, and outplaying another player become extremely important.

There is no doubt that the time spent in marginal-hand play, and the reading and outplaying skills of great players during these moments, is the most subtle aspect of the game. As subtle as it may be, it's during this marginal-hand action when the biggest pots can be won and lost, and when great players rise above the rest to become winners.

The most difficult and most valued thing to master in the game is the ability to accurately read marginal-hand situations, and the players involved in them, because that's where the biggest money is won. Players who have mastered these skills are the only ones, in the long run, who have made poker a highly paid profession for themselves.

Like all poker strategies, it is best to view them as rules of thumb. Inasmuch as the nature of the game is such that it has so many variables, with any given general rule of how to play, one will always be able to find exceptions. This column is meant only as a useful insight into the nature of the game and how to become a better player. There is, however, one thing that cannot be varied by any factors of the game: You have to be thinking to play your best game.

If you're thinking properly, hopefully you'll join Dr. Earle and me in the winner's circle.

Tom McEvoy is a representative of PokerStars.com. He also is the voice of ProPlay, a new and innovative way to learn winning poker strategy. Find out more at ProPlayLive.com/tommcevoy.