Dominant Poker Hands

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by: Lou Krieger©

One of the recurring themes discussed on the Internet newsgroup, Rec.Gambling.Poker, deals with the concept and consequences of dominated hands. If I’m in a hand holding A-10, and you have A-K, my hand is dominated. Miraculous straights and flushes that might accrue to A-10 notwithstanding, I have three outs and three outs only to win this pot. Sure, there are a few more hands that will enable me to split the pot, but, that’s beside the point since your objective is to win, not play a lesser hand in hopes of getting your money back, and then only if you get very lucky.

A dominated hand, by definition, has three outs. Except for miraculous straights and flushes and a few oddball split pots, there are only three cards that will enable the dominated hand to win the pot; the dominator has the rest of the deck! I’m not telling you anything new, anything you don’t already know. No poker player wants his opponent’s foot on his throat, with only three cards enabling escape. Sometimes it’s even worse that that. If the dominating hand is fortunate enough to make two pair, then you’re drawing dead for all intents and purposes. Imagine that. You pair your kicker on the turn or river and bet, thinking yours is the best hand. But your hand is still dominated; and what’s worse is that your two pair might even cost you more money.

Dominated hands are trouble. That’s right, trouble ¾ right here in River City, and in Flop City and Turn City too. And when you’ve got trouble it’s time to ask yourself, “What can I do about it?” and “How can I avoid getting in situations like this in the first place?”

Most poker authors who write about Texas hold’em have gone to some lengths to discuss what they euphemistically call “…trouble hands.” After all, lots of hands fall into this category. In early position, hands like A-J, A-10, K-J, K-10 and Q-J are classic trouble hands. “Call with hands like these in early position,” you’re invariably admonished, “and you are in big trouble if an opponent raises.” After all, conventional wisdom holds that most opponents raise most of the time with better hands than those. Whoever is raising is much more likely to have a hand like A-A, K-K, A-K, A-Q, and K-Q than a trouble hand.

While that’s true as far as it goes, the fact remains that many of your opponents have never read the book, and they don’t play by it, either. Some players have raising requirements far less stringent than others. I’ve seen players who will raise with any suited ace in any position, as well as raise with hands like K-J, K-10, Q-J, J-10, and any pair of sixes or higher. When you are facing an opponent who raises with a wide spectrum of hands, you are not necessarily dominated if you hold a hand like A-J. In fact, the raiser might be the one who is dominated, and while he thinks otherwise, it just might be your foot that’s firmly planted on his throat.

Nevertheless, when you’re holding a trouble hand, you’re seldom sure whether you’re in the lead or not. Because you have to consider that your hand might be dominated, you’re apt to play passively by checking and calling instead of betting and raising. Even when you win these confrontations, caution minimizes your wins, while your opponent ¾ who seized the initiative with aggressive play ¾ will maximize his or her wins.

File that thought away and don’t lose touch with it. It’s another example of why selective and aggressive play is a major factor underlying winning poker. It’s also an example of the “It depends,” line of reasoning: You know the mantra; strategy depends on the situation ¾ and a hand that’s playable against John might not by playable against Mary. When you’re in early position, you won’t know which of your opponents might come out firing. It could be Mary, the gal who never raises unless she holds a premium hand. But it might also be John, the maniac who is always on tilt and just as likely to come after you with 7-6 or K-2 as any other holding.

One way to deal with the unenviable consequence of finding your hand dominated by an opponent who also has the advantage of acting last is to avoid getting into this kettle of fish in the first place. You can avoid that kettle by severely constraining the hands you play from early position. While face cards are pretty, they’re not equally desirable, and a hand like Q-J in early position ¾ or even in middle position in an aggressive game ¾ flings the door to domination wide open.

If you don’t play hands that can get you in trouble, you won’t find yourself staring up at three-outers and improbable odds. Remember, the first decision in a poker hand is usually the decision that’s most important, because all subsequent options are driven by that initial choice. Although you cannot avoid holding a dominated hand with 100 percent certainty ¾ unless you refrain from playing all hands save a pair of aces ¾ it’s your first decision that matters most. If you are nimble enough to avoid getting yourself in this kind of trap in the first place, and deft enough to extricate yourself from its clutches at the earliest hint of trouble, you’ll find yourself doing just about all you can to minimize the adverse impact of finding yourself dominated when holding a troublesome hand.