Flopping Middle Pair

• 09.06.2025 5:54 pm
• headhunter
• 0 Comments

Hitting a middle pair on the flop can be tricky. This means that if you are holding A-8s and the flop comes J-8-3, you have the second highest pair on the board. It easy to misplay this type of hand if you are an inexperienced player.

There are a few things you have to consider: your kicker, other player's hands and your odds. If you are playing middle pair and someone has top pair, you are drawing very thin. You have just five cards in the deck that are going to improve your hand, which is hitting your second pair or trips. You aren't getting great odds to complete the hand, so you need great pot odds to continue further. It's easy to lose this hand as well because if you hit two pair, it can be counterfeited in a couple of ways. Your opponent can hit two pair and if the board pairs, your opponent now has a higher two pair as well.

If your kicker is higher than the board this might give you more incentive t o play on. In the end, the only thing that really justifies calling here is getting the right pot odds. You need better than 8-to-1 on your money to call. If you are in early position, this hand isn't even worth playing.

However, if you think you have the best hand with middle pair, bet and raise to get anyone off their draw or hand unless you know the players are calling stations. You have to have a good read on your opponents to know when your hand is best. This is why position is important. Many times if no one has bet and you are in late position, you can take the pot down uncontested.

Flop texture is important in this situation as well. If the flop comes down with three of the same suit and you don't have a high card of this suit, don't waste your money. You are nearly drawing dead to anyone who has made the flush or someone who is looking for the nut flush. The same rules apply to flops that are three cards to a straight. These kinds of flops could limit your outs down from five to four or even none.

If you have a medium pocket pair such as sixes through tens, play them similar to small pairs. You want to enter the pot as cheaply as possible. Don't call multiple raises because the odds of hitting a set on a flop are 8 to 1. You have implied odds if you think you will get paid off if you hit a set, but middle set can be a little scary when facing a lot of overcards on the board, especially if the initial raiser has bet into you.

Set over set doesn't happen often, but it does. Most people don't worry about that situation too often and will send in all their chips, which is not an awful play. You want to be careful and think about each bet before you make it to try to extract the most amount of chips for your opponents.