Middle/Bottom Pair
Middle or bottom pair is when you hold a pair but there is another card on the board
higher than your pair. For example, you hold JJ, QT, or A8, with a flop of KT8. One
of the more common mistakes made by weak players is drawing too often with poor
pot odds to middle or bottom pair.
You need very good pot odds to play middle or bottom pair when you suspect an
opponent has at least top pair. Your hand is 8 to 1 to improve on the next card and
only 23 to 1 if you have a pocket pair. With five outs, you are getting slightly better
odds than a gut-shot straight draw, hut you are drawing to a hand that is not nearly
as strong:
• You could be drawing practically dead to an opponent’s set or two pair.
• An opponent’s hand could counterfeit your kicker card, giving him two pair, a
straight, or a flush.
• You could hit your card on the turn, only to lose on the river by an opponent
hitting one of his outs to a flush, straight, three of a kind, or two higher pair.
Drawing to a middle or bottom pair is risky when you only have a 1 in 9 chance of
improving, and you aren’t even sure if that will be good enough to win. You usually
need pot odds much better than 8 to 1 to justify all these risks, In addition, only
consider drawing when your call will close the bet-ting, as a raise behind you will
generally ruin your pot odds.
When you do draw, you want to give yourself the best chance of winning when you
improve to two pair. Holding a kicker card above the highest card on the flop
improves your chances of winning the hand. When you hit an overcard kicker
higher than your opponent’s two cards and he only has a pair, he only has two outs
to beat you on the river. When you have a low kicker, your opponent has eight outs.
We will discuss this concept in more detail later in the chapter.
You should be folding middle or bottom pair often, but not always. There are four
scenarios when you can play your hand:
• You feel there is a good chance that you hold a better hand than your
opponents.
• You have a kicker higher than the highest card on the table and are getting
sufficient pot odds to draw to a hand that you feel could finish as the best
hand.
• Your kicker is weak, but the pot is giving excellent pot odds to draw.
• Your hand is probably not the best, but you are able to justify a semi-bluff bet
or raise by the combination of the probability that you could get your
opponent to fold the best hand, with the probability that you could improve to
the best hand.
Note that middle or bottom pair is sometimes the best hand. In these cases you can
sometimes be the aggressor. Let’s look now at strategies to consider for each type
of flop.
High or Low Pair
With a pair on the flop, you really are holding top pair. There is not much difference
in strategy between holding AT with a QQT flop or AQ with a QTT flop, except that
the AT hand has more exposure to overcards. Please refer to the chapter "Top
Pair/Overpair" for strategies on how to play a pair when there is a pair on the flop.
Three-Suited
With a three-suited flop, your middle or bottom pair is almost worthless. Your
opponents could have a flush, set, two pair, a higher pair, or a strong flush draw
with overcards to your pair. You can only play your hand if you have a high flush
draw in addition to your pair (see "Flush Draws" chapter for strategies) or
sometimes as a semi-bluff against one or two opponents.
A bluff attempt with this kind of flop against three opponents is very risky, even
when they have all checked. If you are against two opponents and they both check,
a bet might win the pot. If you get check-raised, you should probably fold. If you
must act first against two opponents, usually just check and fold.
Even when you are heads up you should be inclined to fold to a bet unless you
have a flush draw also. In those cases where you might have the best hand, your
opponent still has a lot of outs that could beat you. On the other hand, if your
opponent checks, you should bet and probably fold to a check-raise. If you must act
first, you can bet out sometimes to see how your opponent reacts. Again, if he
raises, you probably ought to fold.
Three-Connected
Strategy with three-connected flops is very similar to three-suited flops, especially
when the three connected cards are medium or higher. You should almost always
check and fold against three or more opponents and follow the same strategies for
the three-suited flop against one or two opponents.
All High Cards
Generally you should not play middle or bottom pair when the flop has all high
cards. One exception is when you have a straight or flush draw. Even top pair is not
always a great hand with these types of flops, so middle or bottom pair is very
weak. Your opponents are just too likely to hold a better pair, two pair, or a straight.
There is also a good chance that your draws are counterfeited.
For example, when you hold AT and the flop is KJT, your hand is especially
vulnerable. An ace could give someone two better pair or a straight, so your only
outs may be the ten for trips or the queen for a straight, although you might have to
split the pot with the queen. A hand such as J9 is very weak, as a queen would give
an opponent a higher straight if they hold an ace. and a 9 would give an opponent a
straight if they hold a queen. You could be drawing to only two outs and possibly
are drawing dead. You need an exceptionally large pot to even consider playing
these hands. One exception is when you have an open-ended straight draw, such
as QJ, but you still might have to split the pot.
Against several opponents your best option is to check and fold middle or bottom
pair. The only time to consider betting is if you are against one or two opponents
and you think you might be able to win the pot by betting. If you are against two
opponents and they both check, you should probably go ahead and bet. If heads
up, usually bet if your opponent checks or bet out if acting first. When you are
playing heads up, aggression is usually best since your opponent could have a
variety of hands. For example, if the flop is KT9, your lone opponent could be
holding a middle pair such as 88 or a hand such as A7s. In these cases, you want
to go ahead and bet rather than give your opponent a chance to steal the pot or hit
a miracle card on the turn.
If you bet and an opponent raises, you should usually assume that your opponent
has a better hand as it takes a very aggressive player to bluff into these types of
flops. You should usually fold to a raise unless you have some type of straight draw
that might justify calling or the pot is large enough to justify calling with a weak
draw.
Two-Suited
When the flop is two-suited against several opponents, you should usually fold if
you suspect that the bettor has at least top pair. Your outs are reduced and even
when you do hit your hand, there is a decent probability you could lose on the river.
Advanced concept: Almost always fold middle or bottom pair when the flop is two-suited and you are
against three or more opponents, unless the pot is very large.
To demonstrate this concept, let’s look at your possible outs assuming at least one
of your opponents has a better hand and one opponent has a flush draw. You could
have either 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, or 0 outs depending on the circumstances. For example,
with a flop of J♦ 7♣ 5♦:
• 5 outs: You hold A♦ 5♣
• 4 outs: You hold A♣ 5♣ (the A♦ is counterfeited)
• 3 outs: You hold A♣ 7♠ (A♦ and 7♦ is counterfeited)
• 2 outs: You hold A♣ 7♦ and an opponent has A♦ J♠
• 1 out: You hold A♣ 7♠ and an opponent hay A♦ J♠
• 0 outs: You could be drawing practically dead depending on your opponents’
holdings.
The best case scenario in this example is that you have five outs, which has the
added benefit of a backdoor flush draw. However, calling against several opponents
is usually not justified since there is a higher probability that your outs are
counterfeited.
Strategy against one or two opponents is more complicated. You could have the
best hand. A bettor may be semi-bluffing with a flush draw. When they do hold a
hand, you may have all five outs since there are not so many opponents to
counterfeit your hand.
Generally bet out against one or two opponents to see how they react, especially
when they have already checked and you are acting last. If raised, you have a
difficult decision to make that is often based on the type of opponent you are
against. Most opponents who check-raise probably have a strong hand, while a
raise in late position may just be an attempt to buy a free card. A good
understanding of your opponent’s playing style should help you with these difficult
decisions.
The same thinking applies when you are against one or two opponents and an
opponent bets into you. Are they the type of opponent who would bet out a flush
draw? You might have the best hand depending on the type of opponent you are
against. It is difficult to give concrete rules when playing against one or two
opponents, as there is a greater chance that your opponents could be semi-bluffing.
Study your opponents and evaluate their tendencies to help you make better
decisions in these situations.
Two-Connected
When there are two connected high cards, you should usually fold against several
opponents. You have to worry about straight draws and the possibility that you are
already against two pair since many opponents play connected cards. An
opponent’s hand might counterfeit your kicker card. For example, with a QJ7 flop
and you hold A7 or AJ, be inclined to fold against several opponents. If you hit your
ace, an opponent could either be hitting a straight or two better pair.
Against one or two opponents, strategy is usually dependent on the pot odds and
the bettor’s tendency to semi-bluff. If the two connected cards are low, you do not
need to worry so much about straight draws, unless an opponent played out of the
blinds or from late position.
Rainbow with One High Card
So far we have shown that you generally should not draw with dangerous types of
flops that are two- or three-suited, two- or three-connected, or have a lot of high
cards. You can sometimes play a rainbow flop with only one high card since your
draw is less likely to be counterfeited.
Advanced Concept: Holding a kicker higher than the highest card on the flop significantly improves your odds that your hand can win; otherwise, an opponent with top pair will have a decent draw to two higher pair or better.
When your kicker is lower than the highest card on the flop, you need even better
pot odds to justify a draw. Let’s look at an example of this concept.
You hold A♠ 7♠ with a J♦ 7♣ 5♥ flop and an early position player bets. If you are
acting last, a call could be correct with decent pot odds: however, you would need
even better pot odds to call with a hand like 8♠ 7♠. The problem with drawing and
improving to two small pair is that your opponent has a better chance of drawing to
beat you on the river when he holds the highest pair.
If your opponent has Q♣ J♣, any queen, jack, or 5 on the river would beat 8♠ 7♦ (if
an 8 comes on the turn). However, if the turn card is an A♦ and you have A♠ 7♠,
your opponent can only beat you with a jack on the river. Your opponent has six
additional outs on the river to beat two small pair compared to two high pair. This
sometimes can be the difference between calling and folding on the flop, especially
against several opponents.
Remember however, you still need excellent pot odds to justify drawing to a hand
that is 8 to 1 against improving and could possibly be drawing dead. For example,
you hold 98 with a A86 flop. You feel that an opponent has at least a pair of aces,
so you will need to improve by hitting one of your five outs. If your opponent holds
A8 you are drawing dead. If he holds A9 or A6, you only have two outs to the 8.
Even if you improve to two pair on the turn, your opponent will have at least eight
outs to improve to an even better hand on the river. Drawing to bottom or middle
pair requires excellent pot odds.
Whenever you are against one or two opponents, there is a decent chance that you
might be holding the best hand. If you are acting first, you should usually bet and
see how your opponents react. You might have the best hand, and even if you
don’t, you still have outs. Whenever an opponent bets into you. you need to
determine the chances that you are holding the best hand. Against rocks you
should almost always fold since it is unlikely you are getting good odds to draw.
Tricky players could be betting a good hand, bottom pair, or even as a bluff.
Sometimes you will need to call or raise against these types of players if you feel
there is a decent chance that your hand could win.
Rainbow of All Rags
This is the best type of flop as you may have the best hand. Strategy is very similar
to holding top pair with an all rag flop since these types of flops usually do not help
your opponents. Please refer to the previous chapter for strategies. However, if you
are playing against a player in the blinds, you need to be concerned that he has hit
top pair.
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