“Poker is hard.” This is a phrase that is often said, and it has certainly crossed the mind of every poker player at least once...
The real truth behind this statement is as obvious as watching beginners lose pot after pot with the five most problematic hands in poker. Some hands are simply easier to play than others.
The following hands often cause problems for beginners and intermediate players. The big difference is that professionals can fold these hands much faster than beginners, investing less money and consequently losing much less in the long run.
Hand number 5: AJ (Ace and Jack)
For anyone who is in the learning stage and/or intermediate level of poker, let one thing be clear: AJ is not a Premium hand.
In fact, it's not even a good hand. We know that it's a real temptation and that an ace accompanied by a jack seems like a real killer hand, but this is not an absolute truth.
Unless you are heads-up (where the game is more aggressive), you should treat an AJ the same way you would an AT, and not play it like an AK.
Hand number 4: KT (Kings and Tens)
Among all the other candidates, KT can easily earn the title of “the losing hand”. If you are holding this hand, there are a significant number of boards that will either give you the second nut (second highest possible hand), or boards that will cause you to have bad beats and lose the pot.
If you don't flop a straight, you're in trouble. Hitting a top pair of kings will certainly put you up against an opponent with a better kicker (like a J or Q). Hitting a pair of tens will rarely be a strong hand, and will still leave you worried about a straight.
Hitting two pair will put you at risk against a straight, and you can also end up in a two pair vs set situation quite often, as people can easily have a pair of tens (TT) or a pair of kings (KK) in their hands.
Hand number 3: KJ (Kings and Jack)
Exactly like KT, but a little less dangerous. Despite the lower risk, if we think in a comparative way we will certainly value this hand more than it really deserves.
Again, if you hit two pair, you will have to be careful with sets, and still have to worry about a possibly bigger kicker than you.
This hand is more profitable in the deck (out of play) than in play and overvalued. Think about it.
Hand number 2: JJ (Pair of Jacks)
The second hand in the ranking of overvalued hands in poker. A pair of jacks is among the top 5 hands in poker and is actually very strong when compared to a random range of hands.
If you raise with it preflop, the only hands that will pay you will either be winning you or it will be a coin flip (50% chances of winning/losing), of course, in this calculation we exclude pairs smaller than JJ.
Played correctly, this can be a very profitable hand. If overvalued (as amateurs tend to do), it will cost you a large percentage of your bankroll. No matter how strong your hand is preflop, after the flop you will only have a pair (unless you hit a set or the board doubles).
Hand number 1: AQ (Ace and Queen)
AQ is the hand that causes the most problems for beginners and amateurs. There are countless times when people lose huge pots with this hand.
Despite being very strong, this hand can end up costing you a lot because you don't believe that your opponent might have an AK, and because it's the only card that would beat you in this case, you won't believe in your opponent's K most of the time.
Play poker carefully, and win
These five hands obviously don't cover every bad situation a beginner will encounter on the felt, but they certainly cause a lot of problems. Let it be clear that this article is not about avoiding these hands, but rather about playing them wisely.
For a beginner, there is a golden rule that you should never forget: “If you think you are beaten in one hand, you probably are.”
Article translated and adapted from: Top 5 beginner trouble hands by: Sean Lind
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Great article… congratulations!!
Thanks Gabriel! 🙂
Great article, congratulations too!
Thanks for the compliment! 🙂
For me, the least profitable hand for beginners is precisely AK.
You play with a pre-flop premium that, if I'm not mistaken, will not hit anything post-flop in about 60%. Not knowing how to c-bet, or the guy who bets until the river because he's committed to the pot, and the guy who waits for the A until the river...
I liked the golden phrase, because whenever I called thinking I could be losing, I was. LOL
Good article indeed
These hands are really problematic. This week I lost a turbo sng because I overvalued a JJ. Despite this, it is difficult not to play these hands depending on the progress of the table.
Good article!
and just for a change this JJ hand is good to lose, or is it unlucky the cuckold had an AA so I got screwed kkkkkkkkkkkkk
I'm tired of losing money with these hands hehehe
I've been playing for 7 years and I've really had trouble with AJ, AT and JJ several times. You have to be very careful at this time, because depending on the game, if you're turbo you'll have trouble, because you're much more aggressive and if you call you can leave the table quickly. Congratulations on the article.
We appreciate the compliment and are pleased to hear that the article was useful.
Russians and Brazilians always call with this type of hands as if they had AA or KK fame gained sorry but it's true
Very good post exorciser!!
Hey, thanks Neto Viana!
Abs.
Very good post!!
I've already taken several bad hits with these hands lol... and I've also won with them, the essential thing is to analyze each case to make the right decision.
KJ, KT, AJ and AT are problematic, but you can throw them away without any heartache. AQ and JJ are flirtatious, but they are hands that you have to know how to let go of quickly (and it's hard to let go of when you're starting out...).
I agree, Carlos! Good point.