Playing Trash
Hands
Trash hands are
hands that do not have a pair, a straight or
flush draw, and one that does not contain two
overcards. While a trash hand certainly does
not fall into the category of one of the best
starting hands, playing one occasionally can be
profitable and also help to keep your opponents
off balance.
Here is a good
example of a trash hand. Your hole cards are a
queen of spades and a seven of diamonds. The
flop is a jack of hearts, nine of diamonds and a
four of spades. I would normally not recommend
playing a trash hand but if I find myself up
against one or two opponents and think that I
could take the pot with a bluff then I would
consider it.
Here are some
situations where playing a trash hand can be
successful Sometimes bluffing out of the blinds
can be profitable with an all rag flop or when
there is a rainbow flop with only one high
card. For example, you are in the big blind
with a 753 flop against two opponents that are
seated in early position and have called.
Betting out might win the pot as it is unlikely
this flop helped your opponents.
Another example
is with a J63 flop and you are in early position
with K9. You might bet out into one or two
opponents trying to make them believe that you
have a pair of jacks in hopes that they fold
their hand. But be careful if the flop is two
suited, two connected, or has two high cards
because another player at the table may now be
on a draw. In that situation I would not be
likely to bluff unless if I were the last to act
and both of my opponents have checked. In this
case, bluffing may be successful since my
opponents have indicated weakness and they might
suspect that I was helped by the flop.
Even though
there are many situations that a bluff may work
you still need to be careful playing trash hands
especially when you do not have many outs.
Avoid bluffing if you are going up against three
or more players. In situations like this bluffs
are rarely successful.
Here is a little
something to be aware of when it comes to
bluffing and playing poker on the Internet.
When you are playing online expect to be in
small blind vs. Big Blind situations more than
you would if you played in a live game. You
will find that bluffing in these situations can
be profitable. If neither player raised preflop
you only have to win once every three hands for
bluffing to break even: for that reason, betting
out the flop from either the small blind or big
blind can often be successful.
One thing
to remember is that there are always a wide
variety of strategies available to you.
Remember to vary your play so that your
opponents are not able to read you like a book.
You should also pay close attention to your
opponents and see if you can discover any tells
or betting patterns. The more you can discover
about your opponents the better your decisions
will be when playing against them. |
