When you are dealt a pair of jacks pre-flop in poker those boys sure do look sweet, right? You like the look of them so much that they could look better to you than they really are. Do not get carried away with that big pair as there are still plenty of hands that can beat you especially after the flop. So how might you play your pocket jacks particularly in poker tournaments?
It is a premium starting hand and you will be naturally tempted to bet big, bet hard and think you are on a winner. Those babies will win you the hand and boost your chip stack so you can go deeper in to the tournament. Well they might, but not always. They can bite you and bit you hard. Get it wrong and you will be spinning out of the tournament before you know what's hit you.
If you are in early position then a standard raise might be enough to push out those with junk hole cards though be very wary of any callers are especially aware if anyone puts in a re-raise. That should get the alarm bells well and truly ringing in your head. A re-raise could well indicate that the player is holding a better hand that you have, perhaps queens, kings or aces and do you want to risk more of your chips and jeopardise your place in the tournament.
If on the other hand you are in late table position and nobody else has put in a raise you might throw out a raise to flush out the poor hands or even win the pot there and then as no previous raises is an indication that nobody has that much.
But things change fast when the flop comes. Your pocket jacks are in big danger unless you hid a third jack on the flop. If you do, great, tough you are going to miss way more often than you hit. If an over-card (queen, king or ace) appears on the flop but not your third jack then get out of there. Chances are that any one of your remaining opponents has at least made a bigger pair and has you beaten.
It is a premium starting hand and you will be naturally tempted to bet big, bet hard and think you are on a winner. Those babies will win you the hand and boost your chip stack so you can go deeper in to the tournament. Well they might, but not always. They can bite you and bit you hard. Get it wrong and you will be spinning out of the tournament before you know what's hit you.
If you are in early position then a standard raise might be enough to push out those with junk hole cards though be very wary of any callers are especially aware if anyone puts in a re-raise. That should get the alarm bells well and truly ringing in your head. A re-raise could well indicate that the player is holding a better hand that you have, perhaps queens, kings or aces and do you want to risk more of your chips and jeopardise your place in the tournament.
If on the other hand you are in late table position and nobody else has put in a raise you might throw out a raise to flush out the poor hands or even win the pot there and then as no previous raises is an indication that nobody has that much.
But things change fast when the flop comes. Your pocket jacks are in big danger unless you hid a third jack on the flop. If you do, great, tough you are going to miss way more often than you hit. If an over-card (queen, king or ace) appears on the flop but not your third jack then get out of there. Chances are that any one of your remaining opponents has at least made a bigger pair and has you beaten.
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