Playing Marginal Hands

The thought of playing marginal hands to a tight player makes their stomach churn. To a savvy poker player a marginal hand can be as inviting as a pot of honey. As much as most no limit players are told to stick with strong fundamentals there are times when playing marginal hands makes sense. The question is when should you get involved with a marginal hand? In my opinion there are two scenarios that need to be discussed. The first of these is the cash game. In cash games players can always re-buy if they go broke and in some cases it increases the amount of risk a player may be willing to take. This is particularly true if they feel there are players that they can easily take advantage of. We must also consider that in a cash game the blinds do not increase and the standard raise is typically between two-and-a-half to four times the Big Blind. This means that a player that happens to be playing particularly well or has a very good read on the table and his opponents can take advantage of this just a little more easily.

Premium hands are always going to give you an edge against the lesser hands pre-flop. However, with the blinds being only raised to four times the Big Blind a big stack in a cash game has many options at their disposal in what and whom they will call with marginal holdings. Hands like suited connectors, gaped connectors and flush hands lower than a Jack are inviting to a skilled player that has position and chips over his opponent in the pot. With no blinds crashing down on them the thinking is that if they hit a big hand for a straight or flush against a premium pair they are going to earn a considerable profit from the hand. Against mediocre and weak opponents this is true and those are the players you are going to earn most of your profit from. Generally speaking a strong player will know when they are beat and minimize their losses.

So, the general rule of thumb when getting involved with marginal hands is as follows:

- Position over your opponent is key in the hand.

- Your chip count plays a large part in your decision making when calling raises with marginal hands.

- You must be capable of folding your hand when you are faced with a large amount of aggression.

When you are playing in poker tournaments the same thinking applies. However, you now have the blinds to contend with in relation to where your stack size is and how you will navigate the rest of the poker tournament. You also want to be very careful if you should get involved in a hand with someone that has as large of a stack as yourself. On the other hand, some players do quite well playing marginal hands early on in poker tournaments because their hands are well hidden and when they hit the hand they get paid off. Ultimately, it still comes down to making good decisions and exercising good discipline when necessary. But believe me, you do not have to play premium hands to be a good poker player.

Did I say that?