I had a guy at my table yesterday that just kept getting enough of the cards to have me beat.  Problem was that he had better position than me most of the time, or when it really counted.

When I had a pair, this guy put down a higher pair.  When I thought I had a chance of beating him with a straight he pulls out a higher one – damn.

Then I suddenly woke up and realized what he was doing – he was folding when he didn’t have the cards or when he wasn’t in position to benefit from everyone else making their call first.

Maybe he just read me well I don’t know.  But it was really tough having him play after me and he had me beaten most of the time.

I tried to semi-bluff him a few times and got away with it, but the pot happened to be small when I collected it.  Of course this guy had then folded early and hadn’t committed much.

It was very irritating playing with him, but you had to admire his skill at reading the situation, he knew exactly when to up the play, when to play it cool – to not commit too many chips and just play along and see what would happen.  Also when to get out early and watch the play.

But not only that, this guy played his position very well, he was always conscious of where he was relative to the dealer, so that he could process the information on the table, work out who was doing what and then make his decisions and play accordingly.  If he was not in a good position he would often fold or just put a few chips in to see what would happen.

I was too slow to realize that he was that good.  Too slow to see what he was doing and to react, it cost me dearly and before I woke up I had lost a sizable chunk of my chip stack.

And now you have opened one of the proverbial ‘can of worms’ in poker strategy.  Thank you Patrick for your question, “How do I play a low pair?” and for dragging me into this mess…

My answer is, “It depends….” or …”Go buy a Poker Strategy book and see what the experts say”…

But seriously to try and answer Patrick’s question on how to play a low pair, for example a pair of sixes, I would do the following:

First of all, if you get any pair in your opening hand, it is good and it is worth sliding some chips in.  Be conservative though because although a low pair is good it can also easily get beaten.  On the flop everything can change – that’s the fun of poker.  If you get a trip that puts you in a strong position, but there is also a good chance someone out there also has a good hand… Ahhh, why did I try and answer this???

Knowing the ranking of poker hands and your odds for pocket pairs always helps – there are some excellent explanations of the probabilities in Wikipedia.

My best advice is to watch players carefully and note their reactions to the flop, or turn and river cards.  Match their action after the flop to the type of player they are, if something is not right perhaps it is a bluff.  If you play poker online you obviously don’t have the body language but you can still judge your opponents poker play.

Also how are they betting?  How big are your opponents stacks?  Often players with big poker stacks are bullies especially at online poker, they like to make high raises and re-raise, putting their opponents under pressure.  On a very strong raise, most times I would fold, depending on how big my stack is compared to the raise.

You want to get away with it as cheaply as possible.  A low pair can easily get beaten in poker.  A pair of sixes is marginal, whereas a pair of nines I might be more confident.

Don’t forget to also keep an eye on the suits, do you have three or four suited cards going into the turn or the river?

Phew its hard to give good poker advice on this one, because there are so many factors…

If you are not confident at all in you poker ability or if you feel out-gunned at the table, then I would advise to stick to playing the higher pairs above nines, you have more chance of winning.  On the other hand if played well, a low pair can be profitable.

A semi-bluff or two does no harm… get my meaning?  But you have to read the situation well, just like always – stay alert in the poker game and you will keep your stack!

I hope this answers your question, Patrick.  Experience playing poker will help you to make the decisions of how to play a low pair better.

Its just mind blowing to think of what you can achieve by being connected to the internet.  Being able to work remotely and not be in my office, this past week, has really helped me keep up with things.  In the old days, everything would have piled up on my desk – waiting for me to get back.  I would have got twenty frantic calls a day, asking how to do stuff or where is the…?  Now I just log-on and stay connected to the activity.  Sometimes I think that we all take the advancement of technology for granted – it just becomes the norm – a way of life…

Communication is also so much easier, although I have to admit that despite all the fancy tools that we have at our disposal, we still get communication wrong.  It is probably one of the biggest problems in business or in relationships.

The online casino development has also seen rapid improvement and change.  Online casinos have come a long way in the past few years.  Programmers have really improved the functionality and given online gamblers options.

I like to play at a site that has integrity, good quality, realistic games and keeps me updated with reviews and news articles of what is happening out there.  Where do you like to play?

How the mighty crumble!

I got too confident, damn! Some guy did me with a straight last night.

I made a basic poker mistake, not only did I get over confident, but I also under estimated a player’s ability and the probability of a straight. The probability of someone getting a straight, in seven card poker hands, is 4.6% or put in another way, there is a  20.6 to 1 chance of a straight.  Poker probabilities should be learnt by all poker players. I have learnt the hard way – I should have known better.

But I took a chance… and thats what happens when you have a run of good luck, you think it will never come to an end. Oh well, you live and learn!

The other mistake I made was thinking I was better than my opponents and that I could win all the time. Of course its good to think that you are better than the other players at the table, but it is obviously not good to think that you can win all the time….. hmmmmm

Read the play carefully. Observe the other players behavior and their betting. Don’t forget there is always a chance someone has put together a flush or a straight.