Making a Pair in poker is easy. Knowing what to do when you hit this hand isnât. Thatâs why Iâm here. Iâll show you how to play Pairs in poker and avoid costly mistakes.
What is a Pair in Poker?
A Pair is two cards of equal value. In this instance, equal value means two cards that have the same rank, e.g., 9⣠9âŠ.
Poker Hand Rankings
Rank
Hand
Example
01
Royal Flush
02
Straight Flush
03
Four-of-a-Kind (Quads)
04
Full House (Full Boat)
05
Flush
06
Straight
07
Three-of-a-Kind (Set/Trips)
08
Two Pair
09
One Pair
10
High Card
What Are the Odds of Making a Pair?
The odds of making a Pair in poker depend on your starting hand and the variant youâre playing, but the general answer is 1.36:1. Another way of saying this is that thereâs a 42.3% chance of making a Pair with five random cards.
We get this figure by performing the following calculation:
Total number of five-card hand combinations in poker = 2,598,960
Total number of Pair combinations in poker = 1,761,020
2,598,960 / 1,761,020 = 0.423 X 100 = 42.3%
Thatâs the chance of making a Pair with five random cards, but this doesnât account for every situation in poker. In fact, the only time you receive five random cards at once is in Five-Card Stud.
If youâre playing Texas Holdâem, you make hands by combining your starting hand (two cards) with five community cards. Therefore, in Holdâem, you can make a Pair in two ways:
Youâre dealt a Pair as your starting hand.
You match one of your hole cards to a card on the board.
We need to analyze both of these scenarios to get an idea of how easy it is to make a Pair in Holdâem:
The odds of being dealt a Pair in Texas Holdâem are 17:1 against. This translates into one in every 18 hands (i.e., 5.88% of the time).
The odds of hitting a Pair on the Flop is 2.4:1 against. We can express this in a different way by saying youâll hit a Pair one in every 3.4 flops (i.e., 29% of the time).
When we consider both scenarios, it turns out that thereâs a 31.1% chance youâll hit a Pair at some point in a hand.
Once you get beyond the flop, the way to calculate your odds of hitting a Pair hinges on the Rule of 4 and 2. This rule states that you multiply your outs (i.e., cards you can hit to make a hand) by four when youâre on the flop and two when youâre on the turn.
With a Pair, youâve got six outs. Therefore, if you donât make a Pair on the flop, youâve got a 24% chance of hitting one by the river (6 x 4). If you donât have a Pair on the turn, youâve got a 12% chance of hitting one on the river (6 x 2).
How to Play a Pair: 3 Basic Strategy Tips
Playing a Pair can be tricky because its strength depends on the value of your cards. Another factor to consider is that there are eight better hands someone can have. Taking these factors into account, here are my three top tips for playing Pairs in poker:
1. Aim High
Low-value Pairs are the easiest way to lose money in poker because someone can easily have a higher-value hand. For this reason, Iâm happy to fold a Pair of nines or worse if someone is betting hard. The best way to avoid this trap is to start with premium hands, such as A-K, A-Q, A-J, and K-Q.
2. Kickers Matter
Itâs not uncommon to see people hit the same Pair in Holdâem. Itâs even more common for two players to have the same Pair in Omaha.
When two players have the same Pair, the winner is determined by a kicker. A kicker is a second card used to separate hands of the same rank.
Consider this scenario:
Player 1 has A⊠Kâ
Player 2 has A⣠10â
The board = Aâ„ 3⊠9âŠ8â„ 6âŁ
Result: Player 1 wins
Player 1 is the winner in this scenario because their second card (i.e., their kicker) is the Kâ . Player 2âs second card is the 10â . The 10â is worth less than the Kâ . Therefore, Player 1 wins because they have a better kicker.
The point here is that kicker cards matter. Avoid playing hands that only have one high-value card. For example, A-6 is a weak hand because the kicker is a low card.
3. Late is Better than Early
Playing in a late position, i.e., a place close to the button, is always best. Late positions are better because they give you access to more information due to the fact that people make moves before you. This gives you additional information that you wonât have if youâre first to act. This is extremely useful when youâre playing tricky hands such as Pairs.
Mistakes to Avoid with a Pair
The biggest mistake I see players make with Pairs is playing them too fast on the flop. Playing âtoo fastâ means you commit a lot of chips early in the hand.
Betting a lot of chips on the flop puts can put you in a position where youâre pot-committed. Being pot-committed means youâve invested such a large percentage of your stack that you have to call. Put another way, itâs mathematically worse to fold, even if youâre behind, because of the money youâve invested.
Playing Pairs too fast on the flop puts you at risk of being pot-committed with a vulnerable hand. Therefore, itâs often best to control the size of the pot when you flop a Pair.
Doing this gives you more scope to fold on a later street if necessary. It also helps you lose less if you get to a showdown and someone has a better hand.
Conclusion: How to Play a Pair in Poker
Novice poker players get far too excited about Pairs. Itâs a ranked poker hand, but itâs a relatively weak one. Because of this, you shouldnât bet a lot on it unless youâre sure someone is bluffing. Remember this, and you stand a much better chance of getting maximum value from Pairs while simultaneously minimizing your risk.
Frequently Asked Questions
Youâll be dealt a Pocket Pair once in every 18 hands when you play Texas Holdâem. This equates to odds of 17:1 or, expressed as a percentage, 29%. The best Pocket Pair in Texas Holdâem is Aces (A-A).
A Pair is the ninth-best hand in poker. The only hand it beats at a showdown is a high-card hand. Therefore, although a Pair is a ranked poker hand, it loses to eight other hands, including Sets, Straights, and Flushes.
You make a Pair by matching two cards of the same value. For example, 8⊠8â is classed as a Pair because both cards have a value of eight.
