Deceiving hands in poker and underrated hands

The most deceiving hand in poker is most definitely ace-king, ace-queen, or ace-jack off suite. Players get so realed into the possibilities of their face cards that they fail to realize that all they really have, in effect, is ace high. I've seen numerous players lose their stacks due to getting outflopped when they have ace queen or ace king. With ace-jack, there are so many hands that can beat that hand. Even if the player hits a 3 outer Ace, he still has to ponder the possibility that he's being outkicked ( ace-queen or ace king, maybe even pocket aces!).

Players often times don't take into consideration how weak these hands are in comparison to other hands. Players often push with these hands and see horrible results. Ace queen in my opinion should never see more than a pre-flop raise. If one were to raise pre-flop, he shouldn't become attached to the hand if he misses the flop completely. Ace high really doesn't have as much value in an actual game of 9 or 10 or so people. According to toppoker.org, ace queen has a very slim chance of winning against a lot of other better hands.



Hands that generally get overlooked, but are actually effective, are hands like 9 10 suited, 10 J suited, 10 8 suited, 5 6 suited, 4 5 suited, and 7 8 suited..obviously these are suited connectors. In my experience playing, these hands win overwhelmingly when played effectively. a 7 8 suited can overcome ace-king or ace-queen easier because it can catch much more cards. There are so many more outs associated with these hands. Think about it..if everybody raises with face cards, the flop would likely be cards 2-10. I usually raise with these hands to throw my opponents off. If my opponents believe I have ace-king suited when I really have a 7 8 or a 9 10 suited, and i hit the flop (these hands usually do hit the flop), I'm likely to be able to trap my opponent and put him in an uneasy situation. Poker is a game of manipulating your opponents, and the more often you do this, the more likely you will find success.

In conclusion, ace-queen and ace-king should be played with precaution. Although these hands do have value to an extent, they're value shouldn't be overstated. At the same time, marginal hands shouldn't be under-valued. Suited connectors are a poker player's best friend, and allow him or her a lot of flexibility when it comes to strategic betting and manipulating.



Sources: http://www.toppoker.org/poker-hands/starting-hand-analysis-aq-dm.html
http://www.truthbombers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/Gin-Pic-4.PNG