Whether your playing in a cash game or a tournament,
the way you play top pair can have an adverse effect
on your game. Many poker players play this
hand as if it is a strong dominant hand. While
this may be true for
heads up
poker, in a 6-10 person game it is actually a
pretty weak hand.
As you may know, top pair is
just one hand above having high card. This
means that there are plenty of other hands your
opponents can have to beat you. There is a
total of eight hands that your opponents could be
holding that could beat your top pair. There
is a pretty good chance of your top pair getting
beat if there are a few players in the pot.
Hopefully you can end up improving your hand to top
set( 3 of a kind).
Be careful when raising with
top pair. You never know when you could get
that awful re-raise from an opponent that is holding
two pair, or even worse, a set. You could find
yourself pot committed and calling resulting in a
major loss of money.
So how exactly should you play your top pair?
Do so cautiously while trying to read your
opponents. With poker being a game of skill,
you will need to read your opponents to determine
whether or not they have you beat. Don't be
afraid to bet however, just don't get in too deep.
Top pair is a great hand to play your position on,
meaning that you are last to act and you get to see
everyone else's move first.
Do you like to play
heads up poker? Check out
www.heads-up-poker.org for some quality
heads up poker strategy.
