ThePokerAcademy.com - Playing Paired Boards

Today, I want to talk about playing on paired boards, in particular, when the flop comes with a pair and an unrelated third card. The unrelated third card is an important part of this concept. The 9-9-4 rainbow board is far different from the 10-9-9 two clubs flop, but we will come back to that in a moment.

So, suppose you are playing in a tournament and you make a standard opening raise from late position. The big blind defends and you go to the flop. Now the flop comes out 9 9 4. The big blind checks and you make a standard continuation bet. After all, that is a tough flop for your opponent to have hit. If they don’t have a nine or a pocket pair, they generally should be folding. So when your opponent decides to check-raise you, all of a sudden, you are in a tough spot. If you have missed, you more or less have to fold or choose a very aggressive bluffing line. If you happen to have a nine or pocket fours, then you can play on. But even with a nine, you have to worry about being out-kicked.

When you have a hand that has value, like A-K or a pocket pair, you are mostly only winning when your opponent is bluffing. And if you call here, you are hoping that they check the turn and you can get to showdown cheaply.

Even with your premium pairs like aces, kings, and queens, you are hoping to get to showdown cheaply. They only beat your opponent’s medium pairs and bluffs. If you call on the flop and your opponent fires a decent-sized bet on the turn, you probably will want to let those go too.

The term we use to describe your opponent’s range here is “polar.” It is either really strong or really weak. This is similar to river situations where someone is either betting or raising with a hand that is near the nuts or bluffing. The big difference is on the river, if you call, you are closing the action. You know the price you are getting and can use that to make a good decision. On the flop though, the price is still wide open. Your opponent can choose to take a variety of lines on the turn and river that will force you to make this same decision up to three times. You may even have to put in up to 10x the current pot to call three times if the bets are pot-sized.

So, if your opponent check-raising makes it difficult for you to continue in the pot with anything less than the best holdings, this seems like a spot that you can use to your advantage in the future.

First, you have to identify what it is that makes you feel that way, so you can find similar situations to make this play on your opponents. The board has to come in such a way that the most reasonable thing for your opponent to have is three of a kind.

This means that the paired card has to be a card that is a reasonable part of their range. If an opponent defends the big blind, certainly any rank seven or eight and bigger will fit this criterion. Flops that come 10-3-3, or other low pairs, aren’t going to hit your opponent’s range as often.

The second issue is the size of the third card. When the third card is a four, like the 9-9-4 example, it is unlikely that your opponent is check-raising with nines and fours. But if the board has come 10-3-3 or J-2-2, your opponent can easily be holding top pair. The ten and jack hit a much bigger part of a normal hand range than the three or deuce do.

The last thing to look out for is when the board has come with a decent amount of draws. When the flop is 10-9-9 with two clubs, a check-raise can come from a variety of holdings. Your opponent can have a ten, a flush draw, or a straight draw with one or two overcards. On this type of draw-heavy board, three of a kind is a much smaller part of their range. Boards like 10-10-4 with two of a suit or 9-9-6 rainbow still allow for draws to be part of your opponents range, but lessen it considerably.

So, when the flop comes with a middle pair and an unrelated little card, this is another great spot to use your chips as weapons to win a pot without getting to showdown. ♠

Rep Porter is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner and is the lead instructor at ThePokerAcademy.com, whose mission is to help poker players achieve better results through better decisions and that is done by teaching poker in a way that makes learning easy and enjoyable with high quality courses taught by professional players.

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