The Value of Weak Starting Cards
Wednesday, July 7, 2010 3:56 PMMost players wouldn't dare to start off a hand with 2,7 / 3,8 / 4,9 or even 2,6 / 3,7 / 4,8 off suit, unless their name is Tom Dwan. However what most players forget in this case that if you're heading into a 2 or 3 way pot only, you can gamble a little bit on occasion, as these hands can at times find themselves from being the dark horse hand to becoming the 'darling' of a hand, if it hits on the flop.
For instance, if you are heading into a 3 way pot with:
and player two has:
and player three has:
You are currently a HUGE underdog in this situation going into the flop, but now look at your position once the flop hits like:
Now this is a situation where you're weak starting hand will bring in huge value and most likely a very big pot! The player holding 10h 10s is not likely to fold on a good size bet here and neither is the player with As Jd. These players may only assume that if you're putting a value bet from the flop that you could have a small pair either 3's or 8's, but the odds of them calling you with two pair 3,8 are very minimal, being that nobody would usually start off with that kind of hand. The player with 10h 10s is most likely to put a value bet and the player with As Jd is most likely to raise the pot. If you keep calling them or value betting you will most likely take in a large pot here. Best tactic to use here, is let the other two players put money in the pot and call them. Slowly, they will start to hang themselves and won't see you coming with a two pair of 3,8.
Weak starting hands will often win you BIG pots, while strong hands usually win you smaller pots. (but not always the case) Remember the hidden value in starting weak hands, if played occasionally and played smart. Most strategic poker players will play them from time to time, in their hand range and they can be the difference between finishing flat in a cash game and finishing with good earnings for the day!