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Texas Holdem Hand Value

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The Erroneous Ideas of "Plays Best" and "Losing Value"
MadKarma3 wrote...
> AQo plays best against a small number opponents, where one pair
> will often be the best hand. Raising from the blind will almost never
> narrow the field.


"Plays best" leads to some really rotten thinking. AA "plays best" in this situation, but we don't have it. We got what we got. We got this many opponents, not some other number. AQ versus a bunch of crap hands is easily, clearly, undoubtedly more profitable for two bets than for one bet. If these players were all sneaky, tight guys, that's different. If people are playing J9o, you are just throwing away money by not putting more money in the pot.

> I think the weaker the field the more you should raise...the tougher
> the field the more you should just call. Is that fair?


The game described featured loose, non-tricky players. In this situation a raise is the only way to go. Against a tougher field there might be reasons to occasionally not raise six limpers, but then there might be reasons to not open your front door when Jennifer Lopez comes knocking. Even if you have to be concerned about the first two limpers, the next four people are virtually 100% certain to be giving up pre-flop value to you. If they are generally strong players, a raise is even more called for here. They are trying to sneak in cheap... don't let them.

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