This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan.
In no-limit hold’em, only about 20% of all starting hands are likely to be profitable over the long run.
If you want to improve your poker results quickly, the best way to go about it is simply being more selective with the hands you choose to play preflop.
This means you should avoid playing mediocre hands that are likely to cost you money over the long run.
In this article, we’ll go over 4 hands you should probably avoid playing preflop.
To be clear, this doesn’t mean these hands are totally unplayable under any circumstances.
But they can put you in a lot of awkward spots post flop, so play them with caution.
Please note:
Throughout this article when I say "o" this means offsuit (both cards are different suits). When I say "s" this means suited (both cards are the same suit).
Alright, let's jump into it!
1. Ace-Three Offsuit (A♥️3♣️)
Ace-Three offsuit and similar offsuit Aces aren’t likely to be profitable hands for you over the long run.
A lot of amateur poker players make the mistake of playing just about any Ace in the hopes of catching a top pair post flop.
But even if you make a top pair on the flop, you’re still not guaranteed to win the hand.
That’s because rag Aces have a very weak kicker such as a 2, 3, 4 etc.
A kicker is the card in your hand that doesn’t help you make a certain hand combination, but can often determine the winner of the hand if both players have the same hand combination.
For example, if both players make a pair of Aces, the player with a better kicker wins the pot.
Weak Aces will often be dominated by stronger Ax hands (X refers to any other kicker like K, Q, J etc.)
A dominated hand is unlikely to win against a stronger hand due to an inferior kicker.
Your hand should always dominate your opponent’s, instead of the other way around.
Your hand should always dominate your opponent’s, instead of the other way around.
In no-limit hold’em, the most common post flop combination you’re going to make is a single pair.
This means it’s crucial to know how to play one pair hands optimally if you want to be a profitable long term winner.
Your best bet is to avoid playing hands that can easily be dominated, which is certainly the case with rag Aces.
If you don’t make a top pair hand with rag Aces, your hand has very limited playability post flop.
Small rag aces (A2 through A5) technically have the ability to make straights as well, but this is also far from likely.
Strong combinations like straights simply don’t come around very often in no-limit hold’em, so relying on them is not enough to make a hand profitable.
Suited Aces, on the other hand, have a much better playability than offsuit Aces, because they have the potential to make nuts flushes.
The nuts refers to the strongest possible hand combination on a given board.
With suited Aces, you are always drawing to the strongest possible flush, so you don’t have to worry about the reverse implied odds.
Implied odds refer to the amount of money you can potentially make on future streets if your draw completes.
Reverse implied odds refer to the amount of money you stand to lose if your draw completes, but your opponent ends up with an even stronger hand.
Small offsuit Aces often have to worry about reverse implied odds, because they will often be dominated by stronger Ax hands.
Playing rag Aces is even more problematic if you play them out of position (as a lot of recreational players often do).
Playing in position means being the last to act in a betting round.
A player in position has a significant edge over their opponents, because they have more information, they can control the size of the pot, and they can value bet or bluff more effectively.
Playing out of position makes it harder for you to realize your hand equity. So even if you make a top pair with your weak Ax hands, it doesn’t guarantee you’re going to win the pot.
This is especially important if you’re playing cash games with deep effective stack sizes.
With deep effective stack sizes, single pair hands are vulnerable to getting outdrawn, and it’s hard for you to extract value over multiple streets.
Now, all of this is not to say that you should avoid playing rag Aces altogether.
They can certainly be played profitably in certain situations.
For example, if you are open-raising from the late position and you’re trying to steal the blinds.
In a situation like this, you’re not really concerned about the post flop playability of your hand, because you’re aiming to win the pot outright preflop.
This means your hands strength (or lack thereof) is irrelevant.
What matters more is your opponent’s playing tendencies and your fold equity.
Fold equity simply means the percentage of time you expect your opponent to fold to your bet.
The bigger the fold equity the more often you can bet (i.e. bluff) profitably.
Example Hand #1
You are dealt A♥3♣ on the BU (button).
You: ???
You should open-raise to 2.5 BB.
In this spot, open-raising with a mediocre hand is totally acceptable.
That’s because you aren’t really looking to play a big pot post flop, but take down the pot right then and there.
Since there’s only two players left to act, you can play a much wider range than you would from earlier positions.
If your opponents fold too often to stealing attempts, you can try to steal their blinds with a very wide range.
And even if you get called from time to time, you can still try to take down the pot post flop with a simple c-bet.
You’ll be playing the rest of the hand in position, meaning you can exert a lot of pressure by continuing to barrel on future streets.
By the way, check out my latest video for how to bluff them even if you're card dead!
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2. King-Nine Offsuit (K♦️9♣️)
A hand like King-Nine offsuit may seem playable at a first glance, but it’s likely to get you into a lot of difficult spots post flop you’re better off avoiding.
Similar to rag Aces, K9o has the potential of making a top pair post flop, but its mediocre kicker can often get you in trouble.
That’s because good poker players will never play a Kx hand with a weaker kicker, like K8 or K7.
This means that even if you flop a top pair, you aren’t likely to get action by weaker hands.
Instead, your opponent is more likely to show up with hands like KJ or KT that completely dominate you.
Playing a hand like K9o is especially troublesome if you flat call with it preflop.
When you call preflop, your range is capped, meaning there’s a limit on your range strength.
On the other hand, the preflop aggressor’s range is uncapped, meaning they can have a number of strong combinations in their range that dominate your hand.
Think hands like Ace-King, King-Queen and so on.
As mentioned, there really aren’t any Kx hands in their range you’re ahead of.
So even if you flop a pair of Kings, you’ll often just end up with a second best hand, which is the worst hand to have in poker.
Aside from making a mediocre top pair, a hand like K9o has very little going for it in terms of post flop playabilty.
You can’t make any flushes since it’s an offsuit hand, and you aren’t likely to make a straight, either.
That’s because there’s a big gap between your hole cards, so you can only make a straight one way.
The bigger the gap between your hole cards, the harder it is to make a straight and vice versa.
Check out my other article on how to play straight draws for a much deeper dive on this.
Example Hand #2
You are dealt K♦9♠ on the BU.
A tight and aggressive (TAG) player open-raises from the (MP) middle position.
You: ???
You should fold.
Even though you’re playing on the button and can play in position post flop, you’re usually better off folding in spots like these.
If you call here, your hand will often be dominated by a lot of stronger Kx hands.
As mentioned, skilled players will never play weaker Kings in similar spots, especially from earlier table positions.
Another reason you shouldn’t call in this spot is the fact that you’re not the one closing the action.
You still have two players left to act behind you.
If one of the players is likely to 3-bet squeeze, you can’t really call a 3-bet profitably, meaning you’ll be forced to fold the hand anyway.
A squeeze preflop means 3-betting when there has been an open-raiser and at least one caller before you.
This is an incredibly powerful play.
And that is why it made #14 on the list of my 15 proven strategies for beating small stakes poker games.
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3. Three-Two Suited (3♦️2♦️)
Suited connectors are great speculative hands that can connect with the flop in a variety of different ways.
However, you should be careful when playing small suited connectors like Three-Two suited.
32s suffers from similar problems like other suited junk hands on this list, namely the fact that you are not drawing to the nuts, i.e. the strongest possible combination.
For example, if you make a flush with 32s, there are a number of stronger flushes that can potentially beat you.
This means you need to take the reverse implied odds into account.
Three-Two suited can also make a straight, but you’ll often be drawing to the bottom end of a straight.
For example:
If you are dealt 3♦2♦ and the flop is K♥4♠5♣
You have an open-ended straight draw, and any Ace or Six gives you the straight.
However, if a Six rolls around on future street, your opponent can still beat you if they hold 87.
If you play small suited connectors, you’re running the risk of having only the second best hand.
These hands can be particularly troublesome because a lot of players simply can’t fold their hand if they get something they perceive as a strong hand (like a flush, for example).
Although a flush is a strong hand in absolute terms, you should also consider your relative hand strength.
Absolute hand strength tells you how strong your hand is in the overall hand rankings. For example, a single pair hand is weak, while a full house is very strong.
Relative hand strength, on the other hand, tells you how strong your hand is in relation to the board and your opponent’s ranges.
For example:
Let’s say that you are dealt 3♦2♦ and the board is:
K♦T♠8♦T♣5♦
You have a flush, but there are a number of stronger flushes that can potentially beat you. Also, the board is paired, so there are a number of possible full houses that beat you as well.
Now, let’s consider a different situation.
Let’s say you are dealt 3♦2♦ and the board is:
A♠9♥4♦5♣T♥
Even though a flush is stronger than a straight in absolute terms, your hand is stronger on the second board. Now you have the nuts straight, meaning your hand is a lot stronger in relative terms.
When making decisions, you should always consider your relative hand strength, not just your absolute hand strength.
Recreational poker players tend to overestimate the absolute hand strength, while disregarding their relative hand strength.
This is why they often have trouble folding if they have something they perceive as a strong hand.
In fact, one of the most common amateur poker mistakes is calling down too much because they get too attached to their hands.
In poker, being able to let go off your hand at a moment’s notice is what separates great players from the rest.
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4. Seven-Four Suited (7♠️4♠️)
Seven-Four suited is another hand that may look playable at a glance, but it is likely to cost you money over the long run.
It does have limited playability post flop, but even if you connect with the board, you aren’t guaranteed to make the best hand.
For example, if you make a flush with a hand like 74s, there are a number of stronger flushes that can potentially beat you.
This means you need to take the reverse implied odds into account when playing it.
74s can also make a straight, but it won’t make straights as often as connector hands, for example.
One-gapper and two-gapper hands make straights significantly less often than connector hands.
The bigger the gap between your hole cards, the less often they will make a straight post flop.
Even if you make a straight with 74s, your opponent can still potentially make a stronger straight.
For example:
If the flop is 6♥5♣8♦
You are still losing to 97.
And as mentioned, strong hand combinations like straights and flushes aren’t likely to complete in the first place.
What will happen far more often is that you will either miss the flop completely or make a mediocre hand like second pair or third pair.
Hands like 74 suited will very rarely flop a top pair, and even if they do, you still have a weak kicker to worry about.
Also, single pair hands are vulnerable to getting outdrawn, so you won’t be able to extract a lot of value with them on multiple streets.
Bottom line: weak hands like 74s will either miss the flop completely, or make mediocre hands at best.
And even if you flop some kind of a draw, you’re often not drawing to the nuts, so you run the risk of having only the second best hand.
For these reasons, it’s best to ditch weak hands like these from your range altogether.
Instead, stick to playing hands that have better playability post flop, like suited connectors, for example.
Check out my other article on EXACTLY which hands you should play preflop for more info on the topic.
4 Poker Hands That Are Costing You Money - Summary
You don’t need to learn a ton of advanced poker strategy to be a long term winner in this game.
All you have to do is follow the simple tight and aggressive strategy which includes only playing strong starting hands.
This means you should avoid playing weak to mediocre hands that are likely to get you into a lot of trouble post flop.
To sum up, here are 4 hands that may cause you to bleed money over the long run.
1. Ace-Three offsuit
Rag Aces can often get you in trouble due to weak kickers.
The most common combination you’re going to make in no-limit hold’em is one pair, so a kicker can often determine the winner of the hand.
Also, offsuit Aces have very limited nuts potential, so they don’t have great playability post flop. Suited Aces have much better nuts potential with the ability to make nut flushes.
2. King-Nine offsuit
K9o is a mediocre hand that will often have kicker problems. Decent players simply won’t play any weaker Kings, meaning your hand will often be dominated by stronger Kx hands.
King-Nine offsuit will also very rarely make a straight because there’s a huge gap between your hole cards, so it has very limited nuts potential.
3. Three-Two suited
Suited connectors have great playability post flop, with their ability to make both straights and flushes.
But the problem with small suited connectors is the fact that you’re not drawing to the nuts. This means you will often end up with only the second best hand, which is the worst hand to have in poker.
4. Seven-Four suited
Hands like 74s will very rarely make strong combinations like straights and flushes, and even if they do, you often won’t make the nuts with them.
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This article was written by Fran Ferlan
Poker player, writer and coach
Specializing in live and online cash games
For coaching enquiries, contact Fran at email@franferlan.com
Or apply directly for poker coaching with Fran, right here
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