Hands in Poker: Understanding Texas Holdem and Applying it to the Home Game

If there's anything that poker players like to do, it's analyze poker hands. While analyzing hands in poker doesn't provide all the strategy necessary to determine the right play, discussing these different hands can definitely provide insight into how to approach many hands in poker as they apply to the home game, which is usually different than tournament or casino poker.

It's one thing to understand Texas Hold 'em. It's another thing to understand Texas Hold 'em and then put that knowledge to proper use in the home game. The following article won't go over every possible hand in Texas Hold 'em, but will attempt to review enough and discuss the various ways they can be played to illustrate some of the differences between playing poker at home and playing poker in a casino setting.

• AA - I've seen many strategies used with AA in tournament poker. Some good players will go all-in hoping to get a single caller before the flop. Other players will slow play the aces. The biggest problem for players in the home game is that they don't raise AA enough and end up with too many callers before the flop. Then, the flop comes with straight draws or flush draws or the board pairs and they don't know what to do. Most home game players can't fold aces unless the board comes up really, really bad for them (like there are two jacks on the board and two players put in big bets representing that they have a jack). Bottom line is that aces require a pre-flop raise if you know your home game players will all pay the minimum to see the flop. Ideally, that raise should take out every player except for one or two. If you get a raiser before it's your turn and that player makes a raise that's causing others to fold, you have to re-raise and see what their reaction is. They might go all-in, which is a good thing for you, or they might fold. Do you want everyone to fold to your raise? Of course not, but getting everyone to fold is preferable to getting five callers.
• JJ-KK - for the most part, paired face cards should be played like AA. However, here's the thing: if you get one or two callers, you can be almost sure that in the home game, the caller is making the call holding an ace. Home game players can almost never fold an ace. Or at least, there's always one home game player who can't fold their ace. Therefore, if you get that caller and the flop comes down with an ace, you have to seriously think about folding unless you sense your opponent has a weak kicker and you can move them off their hand. Unlike tournament poker though, a home game player will rarely fold an ace if it's paired.
• 22-1010 - The general strategy for mid pairs and low pairs is to make a significant raise before the flop to try to isolate against a single opponent. However, this strategy generally doesn't work in the home game. One of two things generally happens when a home game player plays mid pairs and low pairs in a traditional way. For argument's sake, let's say that traditional way is a raise that's three times the blind. In the home game, that usually results in multiple callers. Too big a raise and everybody folds, but it's hard to know how big is too big. Personally, I think the way to play these pairs is to see a flop cheap and hope to hit your set. Because the set is so hidden, it is often a hand that results in winning a very large pot. If overcards come, it's an easy hand to fold with multiple players in the pot. Occasionaly, if the flop comes with undercards to the pair, it's usually a good play to go all-in.
• Face card - rag - This refers to any combination of cards where there's a face card and another card approximately 7 or less. Most of the time at the home game, players cannot fold a face card no matter what the kicker. What they don't realize is that by playing these hands, they're setting themselves up to lose far more than they're setting themselves up to win. Aside from being enthralled with the face card, one of the reasons lesser players play these types of hands is because they recall that rare instance when they folded their Q-4 and two fours hit the board and they would have won. Bottom line, if you want to win consistently, fold this type of hand before the flop.
• Suited connectors - This would be any two cards of the same suit like 8-9 or KQ or even 23, though I would be inclined, even in the home game, to fold the very lowest suited connectors. However, the advantage to playing suited connectors is that you can make either a straight or a flush and home game players aren't often looking for either when it takes both cards in your hand to make the hand. However, home game players are at least somewhat aware of them, which makes the next kind of hand even more valuable.
• Suited gappers - These are actually my favorite kind of cards in the home game because when the board makes your hand, most home game players don't see it and you can expect to win a very large pot. Suited gappers would be any two suited cards that are one or two cards apart. Occasionally, I'll even play something like 10-6 suited. The issue when the gappers are further apart is that you want to see the flop cheaply. Thus, I might call a raise with 10-8 of clubs, but will fold 10-6 of clubs to a raise because the chance of making the hand is so much greater. Also, it's good to remember that with suited gappers you can get in a situation where you are chasing gut shot straights (where you need the inside card to make the straight). Chasing gut shots can be costly.
• Connected cards and gappers (unsuited) - I'll chase these cheaply, particularly the gappers because home game players don't see them coming. However, the key is to play them cheaply, which is usually possible in a home game because there usually isn't that much raising. The thing with these cards is, if you make your hand, you usually win a very big pot.
• Suited cards that are far apart - If a home game player is holding A2 of clubs, you will almost always see them play that hand hoping to hit the flush. In fact, home game players usually play any two suited cards for this reason. Thus, if you want to be a better player, you have to both be aware of this fact and use it to your advantage. I will play suited cards cheaply if I don't have a high card and when I have a high card, I will call raises that aren't too outrageous. The key with suited cards is not to chase at great cost. The nice thing about the home game is that very often you can see cards down to the river for nothing because nobody will bet if they don't have anything. However, if you make your flush, you need to be more aware than in a tournament game, for instance, that somebody else may have made the flush as well.