Like shoes, gloves or the cojones you’ll need to pull off a big bluff, pairs usually come in twos.
Poker pairs follow suit (pun intended), which makes a Texas Hold’em poker pair simply two cards of the same rank, like 66 or QQ.
What is A Pair in Poker
Since Texas Hold’em uses two hole cards and a poker board of five community cards, there are two main ways to make poker pairs:
- Using both of your hole cards
- Or one from your hand and another from the board
You'll have a pair when two of the community cards are the same, too, but so will every other player in the hand. So, let’s not get too giddy about that one.
An unpaired hand will make a pair around half the time, and a strong pair will often be enough to win a pot. When several players make a pair, the person with the biggest will win at showdown.
What Is a Pair in Poker: Kickers Explained
Now we can answer, "What is a pair in poker?" what if two players make the same Texas Hold 'em pairs? Well, we're glad you asked because this scenario happens all the time. When it does, the value of their second card decides things.
This second card is the kicker, and the poker player with the highest kicker will usually win the pot.
AK will beat a KT on a K4587 board.
Notice we said ‘usually.’… that’s because a complete poker hand consists of five cards, meaning a kicker won’t always play.
If players showdown A2 and A7 on a board of AK69T, for example, both would have the same 5-card hand (AAKT9) since neither of their kickers is strong enough to make the cut.
When this happens, the winning players will split the pot like the bill on a Gen Z dinner date.
What Is a Pair in Poker: Pocket Pairs Explained
When your two hole cards are the same, you will have what is known as a pocket pair. For example, if you hold two nines, you will have a pair of pocket nines.
Texas Hold’em pairs can be very strong because they can make a disguised 3-of-a-kind (a set in poker lingo), which can win you a lot of money!
As you might expect, the biggest pocket pair will win if two players hold one at showdown unless the board has improved it, which will happen around 1 in 5 times.
It’s worth noting that pocket pairs perform very well when all-in preflop, too. They are almost always ahead of any unpaired hand, which is why tournament players tend to play them very aggressively preflop.
Needless to say, you can expect to see carnage when several players are dealt big pocket pairs in an MTT.
As there are four of each card rank, it is possible for two players to have the same pocket pair, but it doesn't happen very often. When it does, players will split the pot unless one folds or makes a flush.
Losing like this is one of the grossest things in poker. It cost Connor Drinan $1,000,000 in the WSOP Big One for One Drop a few years ago… ouch!
What Is a Pair in Poker: Overpairs Explained
Overpairs are pocket pairs that are higher than the biggest card on the board. For example, you will have an overpair if you have KsKh on a Qh6h4d flop.
Overpairs are very strong in poker pairs because they can win a lot of money from players with strong one pair hands. A player with AQ is likely to feel very confident on a Q8395 board, for example.
So, they’ll usually get spanked whenever someone holds Pocket Kings.
Despite being very strong however, you can lose a lot of money with overpairs if you get too attached to them post-flop. New players tend to struggle with these scenarios.
Instead of playing Hold'em, they're playing pair poker and refuse to fold their overpair even when they are clearly beat.
Counterfeited Pocket Pairs
Another thing that often catches our new players is counterfeited pocket pairs.
Take a second to consider a hand like 66 on a board of Jc3sQdQhJs:
Which of the following poker hands would you beat?
- a) As3d
- b) AhQs
- c) 9c8s
Finished? Great! Well, if you said any of them, it's time to introduce your face to your palm because 66 actually loses to all three hands.
Remember, a qualifying Hold’em hand uses five of the seven available cards So, although you have three poker pairs (66, JJ and QQ), ‘3 pair’ isn’t a valid hand.
With 66, your best 5-card hand is QQJJ6, which loses to a) QQJJA, b) QQJJA and c) QQJJ9.
In short, the board has counterfeited your pair, and you can only use one of your 6s as a kicker—though you do get to pick which one!
If this quiz caught you out, don't worry. This hand-ranking malarky gets a lot of new players because the other hands seem to connect poorly with the board.
Aside from the A3, none of the other hands paired a hole card, but unfortunately for you, they don’t need to.
Strategy for Playing Pairs
While a pair will win many pots, they are way less valuable in big pots, which will usually win with two pair or better. People are far less likely to commit a lot of money with just one pair.
That’s not to say you should fold a good one-pair hand - quite the opposite! Winning as much money as possible with your one-pair hands is vital for poker your game.
You should get as many bets as possible into the middle when your opponents seem weak. Don’t bet your house on Texas Hold’em Pairs like you’re in some strip poker game!
It can take work to get the right balance, like cooking a curry. However, typically, the value of one pair will decrease as the pot size increases.
When to Play a Pair Carefully
There are a few red flags to look for when you have one pair, and you should play a little more cautiously if you see them.
Generally speaking, it’s a good idea to play more conservatively when you notice the following –
- The board gets scary
- You have a weak kicker
- A tighter player seems particularly interested in the pot.
These aren’t usually damming enough reasons to toss good poker combos in the muck.
Alarm bells should start ringing when opponents decide to raise, however. Most players only raise very good or very weak hands, meaning that even strong pairs will only be good enough to beat a bluff.
And the strength of poker pairs goes down in multi-way pots, too.
More players are in the pot, so it’s likelier that someone will have two pair or better.
How the Value of Texas Hold’em Poker Pairs Changes
The size of players’ stacks can change the value of a pair, too. A good, free way to see this in action is to look at the showdowns the next time you play a tournament.
Consider how the range of starting hands changes as the tournament progresses.
Lunatics aside, you’re unlikely to see many strong players going all-in with one pair at the start of a regular structured tournament. They have too many big blinds to take the risk at that stage.
However, as you get deeper into the tournament, you’ll see far more people taking their chances with pair poker play. The pressure of the ever-increasing blinds, which make stacks shallower, forces players to take risks.
With just 20bbs, for example, the 2.5bbs of dead money from blinds and antes represents a significant percentage of a player’s stack.
Players are presented with a better risk-to-reward ratio, making them more willing to go for it.
Pairs might seem tricky to play, but unfortunately, that’s true.
Thankfully, however, you’ll get them pretty often, so you’ll have many chances to practise!
Good luck.
See Also
Stud, Wired, Split, Omaha, Hold’em, Set, Hand Rankings, Pair
