This article was written by blackrain79.com contributor Fran Ferlan.
These days, everybody knows how to play strong hands like pocket Aces or pocket Kings. These hands are so strong that they practically play themselves.
But the problem is, these hands don’t really come around often in no-limit hold’em.
Most of the time, you won’t be dealt a premium poker hand, so it’s important to know how to win even without a particularly strong hand.
In today’s article, we’ll go over 3 underrated, but potentially very profitable starting hands you can use to win a lot more.
Let’s get right into it!
Underrated Poker Hand #1 - Pocket Tens (T♥️T♦️)
Pocket Tens don’t get as much love as stronger, premium pocket pairs.
In fact, it’s questionable whether or not you can actually consider pocket Tens to be a premium poker hand to begin with.
The reason pocket Tens often get overlooked or outright shunned is the fact that they’re a lot trickier to play compared to stronger pocket pairs.
The same can be said for pocket Jacks, which is another underrated hand.
In fact, some players outright hate pocket Jacks, even though it’s one of the strongest starting hands in no-limit hold’em.
If you have trouble playing pocket Jacks, check out my article on how to play pocket Jacks like a pro.
Similarly, pocket Tens are often tricky to play because they won’t flop an overpair as often as stronger pocket pairs.
An overpair is a pocket pair that’s stronger than the strongest card on the board.
For example:
On a flop like: Q♣️8♦️5♠️, pocket Aces and pocket Kings are overpairs.
Pocket Tens will flop an overpair only 25% of the time.
And even then, you still have to dodge quite a few overcards on future streets, which threaten to make your pocket Tens relatively weaker on a given board.
When you flop an overpair, you can be sure that you have the best hand most of the time.
This means you can often bet for value, i.e. bet and get called by a lot of weaker hands.
With an overpair, you can get called by top pair, second pair, as well as a number of drawing hands.
Against such a range, you usually have an overwhelming amount of equity.
Your hand equity simply refers to percentage chance of winning the hand if all the players took their hand to showdown.
If you don’t flop an overpair, things get a lot more confusing, because you’re not sure whether or not you have the best hand on the flop.
This begs the question of how to actually play pocket Tens to maximize your chance of winning.
Pocket Tens are still a relatively strong hand, which means you should usually play them aggressively, especially preflop.
Paired hands have an equity advantage over unpaired hands for an obvious reason; you already have a made hand preflop.
So you should usually push your equity advantage and build up the pot preflop.
This means open-raising or 3-betting if another player open-raises before you.
A 3-bet preflop is a raise made by another player’s open-raise.
I recommend 3-betting your pocket Tens most of the time as opposed to flat calling preflop.
Example:
Somebody raises to $10 and you have T♥️T♦️
You should re-raise to $35.
This is also referred to as "fastplaying" your hand.
Here’s the 3 reasons why you should usually fastplay pocket Tens preflop:
As mentioned, paired hands have an equity advantage over unpaired hands, and your opponent is much more likely to have an unpaired hand than a paired hand.
A) To push your equity advantage
As mentioned, paired hands have an equity advantage over unpaired hands, and your opponent is much more likely to have an unpaired hand than a paired hand.
There are 6 combos of each pocket pair, but there are 16 combos of each unpaired hand.
This means that if you get dealt pocket Tens, you are quite likely to have the best hand preflop.
B) To discourage multiway pots
A multiway pot is a pot with more than 2 players involved.
Similar to other premium pairs, pocket Tens don’t really perform well in multiway pots.
That’s because they are vulnerable to getting outdrawn, so you don’t want to allow a bunch of random hands to see a cheap flop and realize their equity against you.
It’s much better to get to the flop against only one opponent. This will drastically improve your chances of actually winning the pot.
C) To create a smaller stack-to-pot ratio (SPR)
As the name suggests, a stack-to-pot ratio represents the ratio between the effective stack size (the smaller stack of the players involved in the pot) and the pot size.
To calculate the SPR, you simply divide the effective stack size with the pot size.
For example, if the effective stack size is $100, and the pot size is $20, the SPR is 5.
The smaller the SPR, the more pot committed you are, meaning you should be more inclined to play for the rest of your stack.
When the SPR is very small (3 or less), you are automatically pot committed with a top pair (or an overpair), or with a very strong draw like a nuts flush draw.
When you 3-bet preflop, you are creating a smaller SPR, which makes post flop play a lot easier. This is one of my 4 best advanced poker tips.
If you flop an overpair, you can try to ship the rest of your stack in the middle. If not, you can choose between making a continuation bet, or checking and exercising pot control.
Underrated Poker Hand Example #1
Cash Game, Effective Stack Size: 100 BB
You are dealt T♥️T♦️ in the SB (small blind). Villain open-raises to 2.5 BB (big blinds) in the CO (cutoff).
You: ???
You should 3-bet to 10 BB.
In this spot, 3-betting is preferable to just flat calling.
If you flat call, you will be playing the pot out of position without the initiative.
You will be giving the initiative to your opponent, which allows them to make a continuation bet on the flop.
If you 3-bet instead, you will be the one that has the opportunity to make a c-bet.
This means you can often take down the pot with a c-bet even if you don’t see a particularly favourable flop.
That’s because the preflop aggressor has the range advantage, which allows them to credibly represent a lot of strong hands on the flop.
For example, on a flop like: K♥️8♠️2♦️
You can represent a lot of strong hands like pocket Aces, pocket Kings, Ace-King, King-Queen and so on.
By the way if you want to know exactly which hands to play preflop, check out my recent video.
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Underrated Poker Hand #2 Ace-Three Suited (A♥️3♥️)
Suited Aces are great speculative hands that can connect with the flop in more than one way.
They also have great nuts potential, with the ability to make the nut flush.
The nuts means the strongest possible combination on a given board.
Small suited Aces (A2s through A5s) also have an ability to make a straight, which further bolsters their nuts potential.
I have actually already written the number one guide available online on how to play your suited aces.
When I say something like "A2s" throughout this article by the way, this means both cards are the same suit.
Example: A♠️2♠️
But a great thing about small suited Aces is that you don’t necessarily need to make a nut flush to play them profitably.
In no-limit hold’em, it’s actually quite hard to hit a strong combination like a straight or a flush.
And it’s not different with a hand like A3s.
The chances of flopping a straight or a flush with A3s are 0.32% and 0.84%, respectively.
However, you have a much better chance of flopping an inside straight draw or a flush draw (both around 11% of the time).
With this in mind, you don’t have to play small suited Aces passively and just hope to hit a favourable flop.
Small suited Aces make for great 3-bet bluffing hands, so consider playing them aggressively preflop.
Unlike pocket Tens which can usually bet for value preflop, the point of 3-betting A3 preflop is to get your opponent to fold and picking up an easy pot.
Here’s why A3s makes a great 3-bet bluffing hand:
A) Great post flop playability
Sometimes your opponents are going to call your bluff, and you’re going to have to play some poker post flop.
If and when that happens, it’s better to have a hand that’s not totally unplayable.
As mentioned, A3s can connect with the flop in a variety of ways.
Apart from the potential of making strong combinations like straights and flushes, you can also make a top pair.
However, you do need to be careful when flopping a top pair, as you have a very weak kicker to worry about.
B) Blocker power
A blocker is a card in your hand that reduces the number of potential combinations (aka combos) from your opponent’s range.
If you have an Ace in your hand, your opponent is less likely to have strong combos like pocket Aces, Ace-King, Ace-Queen and so on.
This makes them more likely to actually fold to your 3-bet. That's why this is one of my 5 best preflop tips for beginners.
C) Equity advantage
Even if your 3-bet gets called, A3s is usually in good shape against your opponent’s calling range.
For example, let’s assume that your opponent calls your 3-bet with a range of medium pocket pairs (JJ-66) and suited connectors (JTs-76s).
Against this range, A3s has 59% equity.
Of course, this range is just an example, and your opponents could play vastly different calling ranges against your 3-bet.
But the point still stands. If you construct a different calling range, you’ll find that A3s usually performs quite well in terms of equity.
So if your 3-bet gets called, you can often make a standard c-bet on the flop, and your opponent will often be forced to fold since you have the range advantage.
If you do decide to attempt a bluff 3-bet with A3s, it’s better to do so against late position open-raises.
That’s because late position opens (i.e. the cutoff and the button open-raises) usually have vastly wider ranges.
And a lot of hands in that range simply can’t stand the pressure of a 3-bet.
This means you can pick up a lot of easy money preflop, even without a particularly strong hand.
Underrated Example Hand #2
You are dealt A♥️3♥️ in the SB (small blind). Villain open-raises to 2.5 BB on the BU (button).
You: ???
You should 3-bet to 10 BB.
This example hand is similar to the first one, only here you’re not 3-betting for value, but as a bluff.
In this spot, you don’t mind your opponent folding right away.
If you flat call instead of 3-betting, you leave yourself vulnerable to getting 3-bet squeezed yourself.
A 3-bet squeeze is a 3-bet when there is at least one caller of the initial open-raise.
If there are no callers, your 3-bet is not considered a squeeze.
Even if the big blind doesn’t go for a squeeze, they could still call behind you, which means you’ll be playing
a) out of position
b) against two opponents
c) without the initiative and the range advantage.
On top of that, you have an easily dominated hand, as you’re potentially losing to a lot of stronger Ax hands.
For these reasons, it’s better to go for a 3-bet and try to offset your positional disadvantage.
You’re also attacking a very wide open-raising range from the button, so you can generate a ton of folds from your opponent.
Check out my 3-bet squeeze guide to learn you can pick up a bunch of "dead money" preflop.
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Underrated Poker Hand #3: Six-Five Suited (6♦️5♦️)
Suited connectors like Six-Five suited great post flop playability, with the potential to connect with the board in a variety of ways.
They also have great nuts potential, as they can make both straights and flushes.
65s is particularly useful in this regard, since it can connect well with different flop textures.
It can also be a very “sneaky” hand, as your opponents may often overlook a potential straight on the board.
For example:
On a board like: K♦️4♠️3♦️Q♣️7♥️
It’s relatively easy to overlook a straight, and your opponent may overplay certain hands like Ace-King, King-Queen, pocket Aces, pocket Queens and so on.
Speaking of pocket Aces, 65s has great “Aces-cracking” potential.
That’s because 65s has a lot of equity even against monster hands like pocket Aces or pocket Kings.
Six-Five suited actually has more equity against pocket Aces than some stronger suited connectors like QJs, or even AKs for that matter.
Against pocket Aces, 65s has 22.5% hand equity.
By the way, people always ask me what are the odds of getting your pocket aces cracked, so I wrote a whole article about it.
Contrast that with Ace-King suited, which has an abysmal 12% equity against pocket Aces.
The reason for this has to do with combos and blockers.
When you have Ace-King suited against pocket Aces, you have very limited ways of winning.
There’s a very small chance of making a flush, and you can only make a straight one way.
You can also make trips with your King, but that’s also a very rare occurrence.
The same is true for some other suited broadways like QJs or KQs.
65s has more equity against pocket Aces because pocket Aces don’t block the cards you need to make a straight.
This is not the case with KQs or QJs, because two blocker Aces in your opponent’s hand make it a lot harder for you to make a straight.
So if you really want to get under your opponent’s skin, try playing a speculative hand like 65s when you suspect they have a strong hand preflop.
Bonus points if you can play in position against them, because this will make it much easier to realize your equity.
However, if you decide to play 65s, you do need to exercise some caution.
65s usually has great implied odds, but you also need to be careful if you make a flush.
That’s because there’s a number of potentially stronger flushes you can lose to.
This is why you need to take the reverse implied odds into account.
Implied odds refer to the amount of money on future streets if you hit one of your outs.
Reverse implied odds refer to the amount of money you can lose if you hit your outs, but your opponent ends up having an even stronger hand.
So what’s the best way to play 65 suited preflop?
Like other hands on this list, you can occasionally 3-bet 65s preflop.
Example:
Somebody raises to $10, you should sometimes re-raise to $35 with 6♠️5♠️
By the way, this is one of my best strategies to beat aggressive players.
65s is a decent 3-bet bluffing hand, since it has decent post flop playability in case your bluff gets called.
However, unlike small suited Aces, 65s doesn’t really block any strong combinations in your opponent’s range, so it’s not the best 3-bet bluffing candidate.
If you’re the first player to enter the pot, you should still do so with an open-raise, of course.
If another player open-raises before you, you can just flat call and try to see a cheap flop.
Unlike strong pocket pairs and strong broadways, a speculative hand actually doesn’t mind a multiway pot.
In a multiway pot, you have better implied odds, because there’s a better chance that at least one opponent will be willing to pay you off if you make a strong hand.
Of course, the same is true for reverse implied odds, so you should exercise extra caution in multiway pots.
Underrated Poker Example Hand #3
You are dealt 6♣️5♣️ on the BU (button). A tight and aggressive villain open-raises to 2.5 BB from UTG (under the gun).
You: ???
You should call.
This is not an ideal spot to go for a 3-bet bluff, because you’ll be targeting a very tight and strong range.
Tight and aggressive players will usually play very strong ranges from under the gun (i.e. the first seat at the table), so if you 3-bet here, you will often encounter a 4-bet, and you’ll be forced to fold the hand.
If you call, you will rarely get 3-bet squeezed from the blinds for the same reason: players will usually respect UTG opens from tight players, and won’t 3-bet unless they have a very strong hand themselves.
And if the blinds call, that’s good news for you, since now you’ll be getting better implied odds post flop.
On top of everything else, you’ll also be playing the hand in position, which will make it easier to realize your equity.
In today’s games, it’s not enough to just wait around for the nuts to be a profitable long term winner.
You also need to know how to play in a lot of marginal spots, like playing without the initiative against aggressive players who won’t just roll over.
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3 Underrated Hands All Decent Poker Players Know to Play - Summary
You don’t need to study a ton of advanced poker strategy to know how to play pocket Aces or pocket Kings.
But if you want to be a profitable winner in today’s games, you can’t just wait around for premium hands all day.
You should also know how to play other hands that often get overlooked, but can be very profitable if you play them the right way.
To sum up, here are 3 underrated poker hands you should play more often.
1. Pocket Tens
Pocket Tens can be tricky to play because they won’t flop an overpair as often as stronger pocket pairs.
But you should still play them aggressively, especially preflop when you’re likely to have the best hand.
If you 3-bet pocket Tens preflop, you will get to the flop as the preflop aggressor, and you’ll create a smaller stack-to-pot-ratio, which will make it much easier to play this hand profitably.
2. Ace-Three suited
Small suited Aces make for great 3-bet bluffing hands due to their nuts potential and blocker power.
Even if your 3-bet gets called, you’ll be in a good spot, because Ace-Three suited can connect with the flop in more than one way.
3. Six-Five suited
65s is a more speculative hand, but it can connect with a lot of different board textures and it has great nuts potential.
It’s also a very sneaky hand that can hold its own even against strong combinations like pocket Aces or pocket Kings, so it’s a great weapon to try to catch your opponents off-guard.
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This article was written by Fran Ferlan
Poker player, writer and coach
Specializing in live and online cash games
For coaching enquiries, contact Fran at fran.redline@gmail.com
Or apply directly for poker coaching with Fran, right here
Lastly, if you want to know the complete strategy I use to make $3245+ per month in small/mid stakes games, grab a copy of my free poker cheat sheet.
