In Texas Hold em real money and free online poker games you play intermediate connectors like 8-7 or 7-5 because they are the best hands with which you can hit a Straight with. With 8-7, you can form four Straights (three of them nuts), and with 7-5 you can form three Straights (two of them nuts). In this free poker tips article we’ll look at ways to play these hands.
Intermediate connectors aren’t played as strongly if they Pair. For example, should you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you can be justifiably worried about the King and you can fold.
Also, it is likely you can flop Two-Pair. With 8-7 and a Flop of 8-7-A, you can get a person with A-K in trouble.
If you both keep going until the end, and your opponent’s hand does not get better then he will most likely slow it down in order to show it down. If the hand does improve it will be obvious as when he bets and you can just pay him off. He can pair his kicker or not, but either way you’ve still got a decent showdown hand.
The best play (for you) the opponent can make is to call all-in or move all-in on the Flop (in a tournament). However, this is only so if the difference in chips between you and your all-in opponent is great. If you have almost the same amount of chips, your 8-7 may not be good enough because your opponent may be willing only to call you with something like A-8 or, worse, 7-7.
Or he may call you with A-K and suckout when he pairs his Ace, his kicker, or when, say, a Ten hits the Turn, and another Ten hits the river then his Two-Pair is better. If one stack is small and the other large, and you have the small stack then you have a good hand someone holding an A-K may be willing to call. If you’ve got the large stack, your all-in opponent could be desperate for a call with his A-x (without Two-Pair) until they know you have him steamrollered.
Usually you stay in the hand Two-Pair until you hit a Full House. With this hand, play it as if you would play a made 5-card hand – value betting, pretending to bluff, slow-playing (pick your option). However, should the Board comes 8-7-5, you might be willing to play it more slowly because if the Board comes 4, 6 or Nine, your Two-Pair could be almost unplayable.
In the Flop, bet substantially to push a Straight draw out. If your opponent calls, it might signify a Straight draw. In case your opponent moves all-in or pushes you all-in, then call – or not call.
You are still the favorite over a Straight draw. You can also hit a Full House later. But in addition you can decide not to call since your opponent might have a made Straight. In an 8,7,5 board, the probability of a Flopped Straight is fairly small as players don’t play 9,6 or 6,4 very much.
But you should be careful in a Board of 8-7-J or 8-7-4, as their connectors are consecutive numbers, i.e. 10-9 and 6-5, and players, especially experienced ones, play these more often.
However, even if the Board comes something like 8-7-4-5-Q, providing you are sure, or even half-sure, that your opponent does not have the 6, bet a small bet on the river. Should your opponent has 9-8 or Q-x, you might be paid off.
If your opponent had the 6, you may be pushed, but you can fold without losing much. The thing is that, you should maintain your aggression most of the time as part of your image, and you will do this by value-betting. If your opponent didn’t have the Six, he may think that you had the Six, and he may fold, too.
And lastly, here is an addendum to our earlier example. If you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you can fold. However, you can also call a bet – you hope that your opponent had A-K – and if an 8 comes and you bet big, how will your opponent know you had another 8 in the hole? So long as you feel your opponent doesn’t have K-8 or K-7 (not likely) both of you can get it all-in on the Turn – and you’ll emerge almost a victor.
This is a fairly complex subject so if you’re not quite getting it then go play poker online free to learn it the only real way you can which is to do it for real but learn how to play poker so that any mistakes you make don’t hit you up for anything apart from time.
