Just a casual discussion, we all have our favorites no doubt, but the ones that really make you think “Ah jeez, really?” when they are dealt to you.
J 2 off suit for me. 7 2 is bad enough, but it feels with J 2 like I’m getting the worst of the number card and the worst of the picture card combined, something about it just spells awful.
JJ, it’s a tough hand to play. It looks pretty, but far too often you’ll lose lots of chips with it. I’d rather be dealt 72o, since I know what to do with it, but JJ will get you into deep trouble.
In tournaments, I think it depends a bit on when during the tourney, my stack and my position, that I get certain cards and I think “Jeez, really”.
A lot of times late in tourneys A4o fits the bill, knowing that if the ace hits I’ll probably get outkicked and lose a ton, but I really don’t want to fold the ace. 84o 94o, lot easier to fold without fretting.
AK top pair really sucks to lose with Vs a flopped/turned set for all the marbles. Happens and hurts! Also calling an all in to see AA or KK is also painful.
And YES! 7 2 is also annoying bc if i get 72o I shut down, FOLD & go into hibernation, and also my least favourite hand to see for two reasons:
I have a friend that likes to 3Bet me with 7 2, for fun? I guess? and its always annoying when I fold and they show me! So I guess its their favourite hand to torture me with and therefore its my least favourite hand to see!
I had a different friend years ago that would send me their winning hands with 7 2 all day long! I’m not sure if they understood how annoying it was but I hope they did. Sometimes I’d get 3 or more a day. It was a little funny, but also annoying…
Winning two final hands of an MTT is spooky! Its got to make you superstitious and addicted to it!
When someone limps before me and I stare at this hand, I have no clue what to do.
I can’t raise with it, because the hand is too weak to raise, and I end up isolating myself against better.
I can’t overlimp, because it has poor postflop playability, and even when the ace pairs, I have no clue if I’m outkicked.
And yet when I fold with it I often see a showdown where an ace pair would have won.
Here’s another one:
43s.
When I first started playing, I thought suited connectors suck. I’d rather play broadways, they have way more equity.
But then I learned suited connectors are quite good. Raise them to make a polarized range, where they maintain good equity against the hands that would crush mediocre broadways. Or flat them and get into a big multiway pot, where suited connectors play great, making good combo bluffs and taking down huge pots.
So suited connectors are great! But not this one!
The low numbers mean you don’t get equity from top pair, where higher suited connectors could.
The low numbers also mean that you have less straights.
Not only that, but you generally get bottom straights and flushes, leaving yourself on the wrong side of a cooler.
And when you do somehow manage to make two pair with this, you’re often at risk of a wheel.
I fold 43s a ton now, it feels incredibly difficult to play.
The problem with 43s as with other low suited cards is that they are the low end of the totem pole when it comes to both flushes and straights. I’ve won and lost with them, but lost far more than I’ve won.
Suited broadways below KQs are hard to play. KJs under the gun is particular tricky. It’s way too good to fold; at the same time, there’s like 7 or 8 players waiting to act after you, and if even one of them has AK or KQ you’re basically screwed. And if someone has a suited ace of the same colour and suit you may also be in trouble. Indeed, unless you flop the stone-cold nuts, you’re basically always in trouble with this hand. On most textures I just fire out my usual c-bet and then fold the turn to basically any aggression, even if I’ve made top pair. KTs is similar but a bit easier to fold, especially from early position. In general, I feel that suited broadways weaker than KQ require more skill to play than most other hands.
Also, as others have mentioned, low suited connectors are also tricky, especially when they’re below 65s. In general, my opinion is that there’s not much point in playing low suited connectors here on Replay, as you need a heap of fold equity preflop and a heap of implied odds postflop for these cards to actually be useful. Against really strong opponents you need to mix them into your range though in order to be less predictable and to prevent them steamrolling you on low connected boards, but players this difficult are seldom found on free poker sites.
Also, as others have mentioned, high but non-premium pocket pairs like JJ and TT are tricky. I mostly just flat with these hands, though 3-betting them once in awhile is also okay and makes you harder to play against. You’ve just gotta understand that after your initial flop c-bet you need to go into check-call mode and then fold the river to any meaningful aggression.