The good news is that any single opponent is also unlikely to have hit. If you hold unpaired cards pre-flop, your chance of making a pair on the flop is just 1 in 3. Relax: now you know you are dealt them every four hands, you can afford to wait for better ones. It’s best to play them only when they are high cards in their own right, or when they are connected to give you an additional chance of a straight draw. Suited cards look pretty, but can quickly drain your chips. A smaller pocket pair should usually “set mine”, ie call if it’s cheap, and hope for a set on the flop. A large pocket pair (QQ, KK, AA, plus JJ or 10-10 depending on previous bets and your position) should raise or re-raise pre-flop, then bet the flop unless an overcard hits. It’s rare to be dealt a pocket pair, so don’t waste them.

You’ll get AK, however, once in every 82 hands. That’s no more than once a day in live play. If you are so tight that you will only play with Aces, you will have a long wait! You’ll be dealt pocket Aces – or Kings, or Queens, or any specific pair – just 1 in 220 hands. Odds of getting these cards dealt pre-flop Pocket Aces: 1 in 220 I have added playing tips to each one, to show how knowing the odds can improve your strategy. I promise it will revolutionise your game. So be sure to learn this list of the most useful poker odds. In my last three articles in this mini-series on poker odds, I explained why they matter how you can calculate them with a simple magic formula and how to apply the odds in your play using a nut flush draw as an example.īut in the heat of the moment, you may not have time to calculate the odds, even using the magic formula. Paul Phua gives tips on how they should affect your strategy The Paul Phua Poker School chart of common poker odds will dramatically improve your game.

Texas holdem poker hands odds