Limit Hold'em Avoiding the 'Trap Hands'
One critical skill that all limit poker players must develop is the ability to determine when they’ve been dealt a ‘trap hand’. Now, by trap hand we don’t mean something like K3 offsuit, or J5 suited. These hands are just junk, plain and simple, and should be immediately folded preflop in all but the most unusual circumstances. What we mean by trap hand are hands that look attractive, but which in fact tend to get players into more trouble then they know what to do with.
What hands qualify as trap hands? In my experience there are three distinct types of hands that tend to ‘suck players in’. They are: Suited aces (ace with a suited kicker), unsuited high cards, and small suited connectors. Let’s take a look at each of these three types of hands and see what makes them so alluring—and also so difficult to play well.
The suited ace—Ah yes, the suited ace. There isn’t a single poker player walking this Earth that hasn’t fallen prey to its subtle charms. You’re playing your usual quiet and patient brand of poker, folding just about every hand that comes your way, when suddenly you look down at the A6 of diamonds. You know this isn’t a monster hand, by any stretch, but after having folded for 35 consecutive minutes this hand might as well be pocket queens. True, you’re in early position, and the game isn’t playing THAT loose, but… well, what the heck, right? I mean, you have to gamble every once in a while…
No! Don’t do it. The rationale behind playing the suited ace is that you might flop a nut flush draw, or, barring this, you might catch a pair of aces on the flop. And on the surface this seems like all the cause you need to get in there and mix it up. But remember, you’ll only flop that flush draw about 10% of the time; and even then you’re almost a 2:1 to complete the hand by the river. As for the pair of aces, well, it’s true that this alone may be enough to scoop the pot. But you can also very easily find yourself against someone who also flopped a pair of aces, only with a better kicker. And when this happens you’re in a very, very bad spot.
Two high cards—King-jack offsuit, ace-ten offsuit, queen-jack offsuit…. All of these hands should be played very cautiously. Yes, these are often playable hands. But they’re usually only playable when you’re near the button or in the blinds—not when you’re first or second to act before the flop. There are two distinct problems with these hands. First, while you’ll frequently flop top pair with them, you’ll also find yourself up against someone who also has top pair but who has a better kicker than you. And second, these kinds of hands are always vulnerable to getting outdrawn, because they don’t have much of a chance of improving after the river. If you flop a pair of kings, for example, when you hold king-ten you’ve put yourself in double jeopardy. First, someone may have you outkicked. And even if this isn’t the case someone might easily ‘suck out’ on you on either the turn or river. When you calculate the combined probability that your hand either isn’t best now, or won’t be best when the dust settles, these kinds of hands begin to lose quite a bit of their luster.
Suited Connectors—No doubt about it, these are the preferred hands of losing players everywhere. Sure, you might flop a straight or flush draw. Or maybe you’ll even flop a made hand. But this ignores the fact that you usually miss the flop completely, and when you do flop a draw—especially a flush draw—it often isn’t a draw to a hand anywhere close to the nuts. Suited connectors can be fantastic hands to play near the button when a bunch of players have already limped in. But they are notso hotso in early position, or when someone has already raised. You can play these hands profitably in the right spot, but make sure it really IS the right spot. Don’t talk yourself into playing these hands just because you’re bored, or because you’re feeling lucky. Your bankroll with thank you for it.
Be the first to comment on this
If you are a Gambling.com member, please login at the top left of this page.
If you are not a Gambling.com member, please complete our sign up form—membership is free and it takes just a minute or two to sign up.
Bookmark this page: (What are these?)