Playing Top Pair

When you flop top pair with a good kicker, especially top kicker, this is a strong holding and a profitable situation for you. In general, you need to play aggressively by betting or raising, especially if the pot was raised preflop. The reason is that your hand can be easily overtaken, and it is important to force the other players to pay heavily to stay with you. You should not mind eliminating the field and winning what is out there, particularly in a raised pot.

However, there are cases in which due to the texture of the board, the number of opponents, or the betting action, you will have to fold. Poker is highly situational. You must realize that a pair, even top pair, can be beaten. If the betting action and/or the texture of the board leads you to conclude that you are behind, you need to think about folding, since your outs may be too few to continue. If someone has a made hand such as a straight or a flush, or even a set, you need to catch two perfect cards to end up with the best hand. When this happens, you are almost never justified in continuing. If you flop top pair along with another player who has you outkicked, you are usually playing three outs, which is a 15-to-1 shot, and the pot odds will normally not be there to call and take off a card.

The next five hands taken from live-action middle-limit games discuss some situations involving top pair.

Hand No. 1 ($10-$20 game): You are in middle position with the Q J. An early-position player and a middle-position player limp in. You limp in, as do the button and the small blind. There is $60 in the pot and six players.

The flop is J 9 8. The small blind bets, the big blind folds, and the early-position and middle-position limpers both call. What should you do?

Answer: You should call and not raise here. The field is already committed, so your raise will not drive out anyone other than the button, who might be folding anyway. The small blind leading into a field of five opponents will usually mean at least top pair, and frequently something more. The board is highly coordinated, plus there is a two-flush. You have top pair and a fair kicker with a one-card gutshot-straight possibility as well as a backdoor club flush possibility. A 10 turning up does not give you the nuts, and even if your hand is good, anyone else with a queen splits the pot with you, thereby cutting your equity in half. In fact, you have no nut cards at all. Even runner-runner clubs gives you only the third-best flush (unless it comes A K). The other problem with raising is that you open yourself up to a reraise, thereby increasing your cost to see the hand through.

On the actual hand, the player raised, the button folded, the small blind reraised, and everyone called. The turn was the 5. The small blind bet and everyone called. The river was the A and everyone checked. The small blind won with Q 10, a flopped straight. The player was playing three outs to tie.

Hand No. 2 ($15-$30 game): You are in the small blind with the K J. A middle-position player and the button limp in, and you do, too. There is $60 in the pot and four players.

The flop is 9 3. You bet and the big blind folds. The middle-position limper raises and the button reraises. What should you do?

Answer: You have a clear fold. There is no flush draw or open-end straight draw for your two opponents to be betting or raising with here. You are probably dead to a jack, and could even be totally dead if someone happens to have a set, unless you catch perfect-perfect, which is practically too remote to even consider. It is possible that the first raiser could have top pair with a weaker kicker, but when you add in the presence of a second player who reraises, this means that you are badly beaten at this point in at least one spot, and possibly both spots. It is costing you $30 right now, and could even get four-bet and capped back to you.

On the actual hand, the player called, as did the first limper. The turn was the . He checked. The first limper bet and got raised, and the player finally folded. The other player called. The river was the 2. It was checked to the button, who bet and got called by his lone opponent. The pot was split, since they both had K-Q offsuit. On the flop, the player had three outs this time, but from the flop betting could have had no outs. But even a three-outer is a 15-to-1 shot, and would require about a $400-plus pot to merit continuing.

Hand No. 3 ($15-$30 game): You are in the big blind with the K 3. An early-position player, two middle-position players, and the small blind limp in. You get a free play. There is $75 in the pot and five players.

The flop is K J 8. The small blind checks. What should you do?

Answer: You should check the flop. You have four opponents with three cards in a playing zone. The problem with betting your top pair, no kicker here is that you will most likely get played with given that board and this many opponents. You won't win the pot outright, and you may even get raised. If it's bet and raised back to you, you should fold. If it's bet and there are callers, you should fold. If it's bet with no callers, you can call for $15 while getting 7-to-1 pot odds and hoping your opponent is betting a draw and not top pair with a better kicker, since in the latter case, you would be reduced to three outs, which is a 15-to-1 shot.

Hand No. 4 ($10-$20 game): You raise under the gun with the A K. A middle-position player and the button call. There is $75 in the pot and three players.

The flop is KQ9. You bet. The middle-position player calls and the button raises. What should you do?

Answer: The problem with reraising is that there are lots of cards that can come off on the turn that will kill your hand, given the highly coordinated nature of this board. Any heart, any jack, or any 10 could be bad news. Reraising does have the advantage of driving out the middle-position player in some cases, but I believe the disadvantages of reraising outweight this advantage. I would just call.

Hand No. 5 ($10-$20 game): You open with a raise from early position with the A K. Only a middle-position player calls. There is $55 in the pot and two players.

The flop is J 7. You bet and your opponent raises. What should you do?

Answer: Reraise. Don't be put on the defensive with this hand. His raise tells you that he probably has a top pair of kings. You should raise back because you have the top kicker with your top pair. In a heads-up situation like this, especially when you are out of position, it's important to be aggressive when you have a good hand. The other factor is that if your opponent has a hand like Q-10 or even A-Q, his raise may have been an attempt to get a free card on the turn. With two pair like K-J, or with a set, he might have waited until the expensive street to raise.