I can remember a time in the past when I used to get JJ in a no limit holdem ring game. In short, it wasn’t the greatest hand in my opinion. The biggest problem with JJ was raising preflop because if you raised preflop there was no turning back. There were times in no limit holdem that I would have rather have KK or even AA. deposit 50 bonus 30 to 5x But, those days are clearly gone and are not coming back no matter how much I get drawn towards JJ.
JJ is a very tricky how hand to Play and raises a lot of questions. Even after studying poker books and playing hundreds of thousands of hands, I still will have tough times with JJ. Luckily, most of the time my opponents have no idea what I have or want. But, every once in a while, I do have opponents that are surprised with JJ and they salivate over my loss. It is one of the easiest hands in poker to trash and still lose. As I said before, the biggest problem is JJ is JJ.
You might be asking why JJ is better than KK or AA. Simply put, they are worse. But, they are still much stronger than JJ. So, rather than playing JJ every time, I will search for situations to get value out of the hand. Using JJ as a main hand is very profitable in situations where you can get a strong read on your opponents. Here are some situations you can jack up your JJ range:
- Raising preflop with JJ and having top pair or better = most situations.
- Raising preflop with JJ and having a lot of tournament chips = most situations.
- Raising preflop with JJ and having middle pair or better = some situations.
- Raising preflop with JJ and having a few other players in the pot = high percentage of situations.
- Raising preflop with JJ and everything going around = high percentage of situations.
- Raising preflop with JJ and 2 other players in the pot = low percentage, but situations are primed for stealing.
- Stealing preflop action when you have aces or kings or aces or kings on the board.
- Stealing preflop action when you have a set of Queens or Nines or something similar and the flop has a flush draw or straight draw.
Of course, JJ is a wonderful how hand to Play in any situation. But, JJ especially in my opinion is a hands that should be played with caution. The reason for this is because many players, although they may be saying that JJ is weak, will actually make a big raise when they are drawing. Be careful with JJ, especially when there are multiple players in the pot.
Conclusion
Be concerned with JJ. Don’t be enticed with the early speed. Or, if you have a pocket pair go ahead and raise with JJ. At various times in a game, your hand is weak. But, if you are drawing to something, a small bet will take down the pot. JJ is almost always a hand to play in early position. But, it is almost never a hand to play from the dealer button.