Getting Trapped in Hold’em

If you want to be a winning poker player then you obviously can’t just sit back and wait for the best cards to fall into your hand every time.  You need to take risks with hands that could be dominated later on if they don’t improve on later streets.  Of course by taking these risks, you also put yourself in danger of going up against superior cards later on in the hand.  That’s why you should know how to avoid getting trapped in Hold’em.

The first step to avoiding Hold’em traps is knowing the hands which can get you in a lot of trouble.  A-J, K-J, Q-J, and Q-T are all good examples of hands that can get you trapped in a hurry.  The thing is that most people think they can just limp in with these hands from early and middle position and be okay.  Unfortunately, if somebody after you raises then you’re stuck deciding whether to waste your initial bet by mucking or risk further money by calling.

If you do decide to call then you could be running into a major trap in the form of somebody else holding a premium hands such as A-A, K-K, Q-Q, J-J, or A-K.  These hands all dominate the aforementioned ones and give the person holding them a major pre-flop advantage.

Of course this isn’t to say that these hands are worthless and should be folded.  The exact opposite is true since a hand such as Q-J gives one a strong shot at hitting a big straight.  Hands such as these are especially valuable when you are in late position and nobody has called the big blind yet.  When this situation arises, you can often steal the blinds with a raise or just call to see if you hit a drawing hand on the flop.  The key is to pick the right situations to play these hands.