No Limit: Playing Middle Pairs and Draw Hands

There are very few hands that are more difficult for a beginner to play in No Limit than middle pairs and the draw hands. Unlike big pairs or marginal hands, there are simply more options to consider. For a player, it is important that you recognize some of the most effective ways to play these hands.

The first thing that you must understand about middle pairs is that, if you have a weak kicker, you cannot play them when you are under the gun. Not only is it weak, but you have no opportunity to gauge the strength of the hand. The best No Limit strategy here is to fold. This also holds true if the pot is raised.

If you have a high kicker, your best No Limit strategy from early position is to check, and hope that the other players will also check and that when the act shifts back to you, you can make a raise, and get to see the card on the turn cheaply or at no cost.

Of course if you are the last to act, the options and No Limit strategies before you become more varied, and you can make a bet, call, check or raise depending on what the other players before you do.

The complex situations that arise with playing middle pairs also emerge when you are drawing hands.

If you are drawing to the nut flush or straight, and the odds are correct, a good No Limit strategy would be to slow play it, and wait for the pot to grow. However, before you implement this strategy, it would be a good idea to assess the Poker table that you are in. If you are playing against calling stations, this approach will not work, as you will be called down with every kind of hand.

When you are playing the middle pairs or drawing hands, an indispensable part of your No Limit strategy is knowledge of the odds and the outs that you have left. This is the downfall of so many players; they simply do not know when the odds have moved against them, and keep on playing. Before competing for big money, make sure you have the Poker odds and outs firmly in your mind.

This means that you have to be constantly aware of what cards are still playable. By being aware of what is constantly going on in an ever shifting No Limit game, you increase your chances of winning the big pot.