Advanced Strategy High Hands
In heads-up situations, the high hand is usually the favorite over four low cards without an ace.
However, the four low cards often will be able to outplay the high hand, since the flops will tend to get scary and the high hand will have to go out.
When playing the high hands heads up, you have to call a lot of times and see how the hand develops.
You often will split the pot with a low hand, but sometimes you will scoop the whole pot.
However, when the board becomes real scary and a player shows strength, you will have to get out.
Assuming that you are an advanced player, you should be able to read your opponent and have a good indication of how strong he is and to determine whether you have a split or a probable loser.
If you think your hand is a likely loser, you frequently should fold. Making these decisions well is where some real skill comes in the game.
With work, you eventually can develop the requisite skill to correctly assess these situations, and this will add significantly to your winning percentage.
Here are a few hints that will help you in this area.
1. Pay attention to the game. This includes observing not only those hands you play, but all other hands as well.
2. Try to understand the meaning of someone’s check, bet, or raise. Does your opponent bet or raise only when he has the nuts? Is he willing to make a play, especially short-handed?
3. Is anyone currently steaming? If someone has just absorbed a couple of “beats “ and you think this has affected him, you may want to call him down with a marginal hand.
4. When in a tough situation, take all the time you need to make your decision. This may include reconstructing the hand in your mind from the beginning and trying to determine the best course of action.
5. spend time away from the table thinking about some of your tougher hands. This may be the most helpful hint of all.
You don’t want to play high hands too aggressively when the flop is such that a lot of scare cards can come to beat you. This is particularly true when you flop a set and the other two cards on board are close together. For example, suppose you have.
Even though you have a set of jacks, an ace or a king can give someone else a larger set. An ace, a deuce, a five, a six, or a seven can make a low straight. Any spade can make someone a flush.
An ace, deuce, five, six, seven, or eight can put the low out, and an eight, nine, ten, queen, king, or ace also can give someone a straight draw to beat you. Notice that you won’t really know whether to continue playing or to fold after fourth street.
This type of situation may not be avoidable. Consequently, when you are in a multiway pot and find yourself in one of these spots, you should play very cautiously. The seven cards often will come, and you will run the risk of being jammed in when you don’t have the best hand.
It is difficult to scoop a big pot with just the high hand, because big pots usually don’t develop unless someone has the low locked up.
If the pot is multiway and no one has a low hand made, don’t expect the pot to be jammed (even though there are quite a few hands that would be worth jamming if you knew that someone else had the current lock high and you had a draw at a low with some other draws).
An exception is when two players have the same high hand with the lows tagging along. If one of the high hands also has a redraw and hits it, he can win a monster pot. However, these types of hands are infrequent.
In conclusion, the high hands do very well in heads-up pots and short-handed pots. In the big multiway pots, when three low cards are on board, or in the jammed-up pots, the high hands will either win half the pot or get scooped.
Consequently, as you see the pot developing, you can start speculating on the value of your hand and make appropriate poker strategy concept decisions. You may decide that the best way to play your high hand is simple to throw it away.
Introduction / General Concepts / Position / Low Hands / High Hands / Your Starting Hand / Starting With Big Pairs / When You Are First In / How To Play Your Hand / Play on the Flop / When Your Have the Best Hand / Afterthought
