Getting a solid pair of hole cards is every poker player's dream. If you get two kings or aces, you know that your chances of winning are rather high – with or without the help of poker welcome bonuses.
But should you be happy when you get a low pair of cards? What is the right strategy to employ when you get a couple of 2's or 4's? Now is your chance to discover how you should react when you get a low-valued pair as you play poker online.
All You Need to Know About Low Pocket Pairs
There isn't a proper definition of which cards are considered as low pairs. Some say that anything below a pair of 7's is considered as low-valued, while others are a bit more generous and define 2's to 5's as low cards.
Whenever you get such a pair at the pre-flop stage, you need to assess the situation: should you fold? Or is staying in the game worth the risk? There are a few things you should take into account when making that decision:
- Your position – Are you in or out of position? Do you have time to assess the situation and check out your opponent's moves first? If you do, then you might still have a shot of winning this round with a pair of low cards. However, if you are the first to act, you can't possibly know how strong your opponent's hand is, so maybe folding is the smarter choice.
- The stakes – Before you decide whether to raise, call, check, or fold – you need to assess the amount of risk involved. If you're playing a high-stakes game, the smallest mistake can cost you a lot of money. However, if the stakes are low and there isn't much money in the pot, you can go ahead and see what the flop, the turn, and the river will bring.
- Your acting skills – Winning a poker session with a pair of low cards is not an easy feat to accomplish, especially if your opponents have strong hands. But if you are a good bluffer and you wholeheartedly believe you can outsmart your opponents – maybe you should go for it. Before going down this route, think about what kind of impression you've left on the other players. Do they believe you are a tight player? Can you use this to your advantage?
If you are lucky enough, you will have all the right conditions to play your low pocket cards – and possibly even win. However, if things don't line up exactly how you want them to, and you're not sure you will be able to outshine your opponents, you should fold and wait for a stronger hand.
Starting Hand Winning Odds
Another tool you can use is a probability chart, which can help you assess your chances of winning with any given hand combination. As a rule, pairs have relatively high chances of creating a winning combo.
Even a pair of low cards like 2-2 have 51% winning odds. A 3-3 card combination raises the odds to 55%, a pair of 4's has a 58% chance of getting you a win, and two 5's has 61% winning odds. A couple of 6's and 7's also have 64% and 67% winning odds, respectively.
So, even if your starting hand doesn't look all that promising at first, you still have a shot at winning.
In Conclusion
A pair of low cards have almost 50-50 odds of being a lucrative hand. At the end of the day, it all depends on your poker skills and the setting of the game. If you manage to make the right choice when you're holding a low pair of cards, you might enjoy some unexpected wins!