Trap Hands in No Limit Poker

This article is, generally speaking, for poker players who are making the switch from limit hold em to no limit, although newer NL players can benefit from it as well. The title is pretty accurate, so need for a long intro. Be careful playing these hands:

1) QQ. Too many players commit far too many chips to this hand, especially preflop. Yes you will win some monster pots when you run up against JJ and all undercards flop. But in any decent game, committing your stack with an unimproved QQ is a loser in the long haul. See our related hand quiz.

2) AK or AQ where you flop pair of aces. This is the classic hand that good NL players will kill amatuer players on. Think about it – if you hold AK and flop comes, i dunno, say As 10h 3c, what hand is going to pay you off? On your lucky days at weak tables, AJ and AQ MAYBE. More often than not other players are only going to call you if you’re beat. I’m not saying this isn’t a good hand – it is. I am just saying you don’t want to overplay it, especially when you’re out of position. Bottom line: if you’re consistently putting all your money in the middle on top pair, you’re in trouble long-term, especially at higher limits.

3) Split or bottom two pair. These hands are easily the WORST good hands in poker – it’s very easy to feel committed to them, but they rarely result in a good payoff vs. a player of any quality and they are so easily outdrawn it’s goofy. See our article on 2 pair in NL.

4) One card straights. If I had a nickel for every time someone with a one card straight [say they hold A8, board 45K76] had paid off my nut straight – well it would be a lot of nickels, but I wouldn’t need them because of all the money I got from being paid off. These hands have no value when you make them and someone with 89 in that situation is gonna kill you – and that’s what good players wait for: situations where they have a good hand and someone else has a chance at a sucker 2nd best.

5) Trips with a bad kicker. You know, those BB specials where you hold 93o and flop comes J99. If there’s a lot of action and you don’t fold, you’re in trouble. What kind of hand – that you can beat – is going to give you any action here? 92? C’mon. fold. If someone shows you AJ, say nh and move on.

It is also important to understand that at very low levels with very weak players these rules don’t apply as well. Bad players aren’t nearly as patient. They will pay you off with weaker hands. They will try to steal when they shouldn’t. Like the man said, play your players not just your cards.

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