Marginal hands are those that are on the edge of being absolutely terrific: QT, QK, KJ, KQ, AJ, etc. They have cards that are fairly strong individually but tend to cost players, particularly new ones, more than any other set of hole cards. How do you play these cards, which obviously should be played, profitably? If you don’t keep track of your stats — and you should — you’ll likely see that high pairs (AA, KK) create most of your profit at the tables.
That’s obvious, right? There’s a reason we all want pocket rockets. Meanwhile, once you clear the most blatant winners, you’ll see that the marginal hands are likely all over the place with most players seeing a near-even split: the losses they’ve endured with the hands and the winnings balance out in the end, with a few statistical outliers. Non-pair hands that you see to the flop can either make you money or break you almost immediately without some luck.
There’s a reason that pros call these “sucker hands,” after all, and will play them the same way they’d play a lower pair, which is how you should be looking at it. The problem with top marginal hands is that while the flop can help you, they can also blow you out of the water completely. You may flop top pair, or even two pair but then lose out to a straight. In general (and we’re speaking in the broadest possible terms,) players don’t go into a hand unless they’re holding something worth playing, and those very cards that you covet for the board may be in play by the guy across from you.
Let’s say you’re holding KhQh and the flop is TcJhQd. That’s a great looking flop, isn’t it? You’ve got an open-ended straight draw and top pair, right there. It’s easy to see how people get excited over hands like this and end up in over their hands. The problem is that other players will likely have hit big hands, too. Someone might be holding a pair of Jacks, for example. If you’re smart, you’ll assume that the other players will have also hit something worth playing, and out of all the hands that will (at a minimum) call on this flop, you’re only going to be able to beat KJ and AQ.
This is just one example, but there’s plenty more. A flop of QcKsAd is going to be supremely tempting, but the issue is that you’ve got bottom two and can’t do much more than maybe — maybe, if you know the person is a newbie — convince them that you have a straight and push them out of the hand.
As much as it seems like I’m working to scare you out of playing these hands entirely, the fact of the matter is that there are plenty of really good flops out there for a player that’s holding marginal cards. That’s why they’re marginal, as there’s a chance to succeed or fail. For the most part, players profit most with these hands when they are playing in smaller pots, as it’s more likely that other players aren’t holding big guns, and don’t be afraid to fold. It’s better to get bluffed off a series of smaller pots than lose your whole stack in one heroic effort.
by Bodog Poker
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