Playing Second Pair Poker

Here is another post-flop tip for all you Internet poker players out there. It should be obvious. In fact, when I say it, all poker players out there will say, “DUH! We know that!”…… Here it is: Play second pair or worse carefully after the flop.

I say the obvious, but this is one of the greatest mistakes I see weak players make when they play: They flop second or third pair in LHE and bet like the Poker Gods have blessed them. It is bet and raise time and the chips build in the middle of the poker table for the winner to claim.

Sure, many times, second or third pair will be a winner. Against a lone opponent, it likely is good. But in a multi-way poker hand second pair is cash draining garbage. Remember, the AVERAGE winning hand in LHE is two pair. Even top pair, good kicker is a weak holding in a multi-handed pot.

So you hang on and with your weak second pair. You don’t improve your poker hand and you wasted precious bets chasing. Or worse, the river hits you two pair, only you lose to a bigger two pair, trips or the card made someone a flush or straight. This is poker hell.

So in many cases, when you have second or third pair in a multi-way pot, you are best off giving the Poker Gods their due and mucking your hand.

There are two circumstances in LHE when playing second or third pair can be profitable.

First circumstance is when you are heads up, and preferably against a poker player that has shown weakness. If they don’t have a pocket pair the average poker hand will miss the flop two of three times. Even if the other player has a good pair, like 88, a flop like QT3 Rainbow can look scary. If you are in the blind with T9, you can probably bet with confidence. Of course, if the other player raised pre-flop and is raising you again, you might well be up against a Q or a premium pair. Resistance means SLOW DOWN! Here I go into a check and call, or check and muck mode, saving chips for when I have a better advantage.

The second circumstance is when your kicker is higher than the highest card you think your opponent has. For instance, you play in a multi-way, unraised pot, from the blinds with Kc6c and the flop comes J62 rainbow. You probably are beaten here. But if you check, you can probably call a single bet. You have ample pot odds to draw to your five outs: two Sixes and three Kings. Of course, if there is a bet and raising going on, it’s time to muck.

The bottom line is that most poker players lose through leaks in their game. It’s not the bad beats that really kill you. It is the slow drain on your chips when you play thin hands. Sure, sometimes you are paid off. Most poker players remember the times they sucked out on someone when they had the worst of it. You even remember the times when a weak player sucks out on you. But what you don’t realize are all the chips that suck away when you play weak holdings like second pair when you shouldn’t.

See you at the tables.