WHAT IS A PLAYABLE HAND?

Of course, anytime we think we have the best hand, it’s playable, but here’s the answer we’re looking for: The nuts aside, a playable hand is one that has a chance of winning the pot or one that will make the oppo­nent think we have the best chance of winning the pot.

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By the same token, just because we have a good hand does not make it playable. In fact, a good hand – some­times it’s the best hand – often loses because it is beaten by a weaker hand, one that is more playable, And that statement deserves some explanation.

A DEFINITION

A playable hand must be in the right posi­tion against the right players with the right stacks at the right time, and the hand must offer a good chance of win­ning. When those elements are present, the hand is playable. (The superior hand we hold in a wild game where the other players are doing our betting for us is not a hand being played; it is simply a hand waiting to collect.) For purposes of this discussion, we’ll address only the playable hand, not the hand waiting to be paid. Party Poker Bonus

Every time we bet a hand, we’re telling the opponents a story. “I’m betting this much because I have the best hand.” If the players and the situation are right, they will believe our story and the pot is ours. Sometimes we count on them not believing us when, in fact, we have the best hand – a fake bluff. In that case, the hand is quite playable and our recent advertising and play history will pay off. Let’s say we have pocket aces. We’ve made the usual raise and we have three callers. The flop is A-J-10 rainbow.

We are pleased with our set of aces but let’s consider something. In good company, if we have the aces, what do some of our opponents have? Kings? Queens? A king and a queen? Our three aces may be the best hand but is it playable in a no-limit game? While we’re usually pleased to have a set of any kind, one of our opponents may easily have flopped a straight. So, in no-limit, our hand is usually checked. It is no longer aggressively playable against certain oppo­nents. If a player in front of us bets into us, we’ll think about what we know about him for a moment and then probably throw our three aces away. The same thing will apply to a raise from a player behind us.

Throwing away three aces is hard to do while we’re learning to play no-limit. It begins to get easier after we lose with those aces a few times. And it’s quite easy to throw them away when we have considerable no-limit experience.

PLAYABILITY GONE

In the above example, when there is a raise or a call from an experienced play­er, the big set of aces loses its playability because we’ve lost control of the action. If we calla bet, we’ll be riding on hope for a board pair, and transparent hope does not make our hand playable. We could lose a large sum of money on the following two streets.

When anyone, at any time, makes a bet or a raise, we always review our litany of questions: What’s his starting-hand range? Is he a bluffer? Does he make a habit of betting when he’s in last posi­tion? Did he raise before the flop? Did he cold call our raise? What kind of cards has he played lately? What did we put him on before the flop?

The above questions are important. No-limit hold’s is a game of people and how they play. In good company, it’s also about bets that keep growing in size on the turn and the river. If we’re not sure what kind of player our opponent is and we can’t put him on a hand, our hand is not playable. We often throw it away and sometimes it’s the best hand.

Weaker hands are playable more often from the late positions. For instance, jack-ten suited is usually more playable on the button than king-queen suited is playable under the gun. Likewise, a straight or flush draw on the flop are playable from last position, but more awkward to play aggres­sively from early position.

We continually see a good player play­ing in a low-blind no-limit timid game and raising the pot from the button with virtually no hand. Now, let’s say the small blind calls. The flop is neutral, helping neither the blind nor the raiser. The blind checks and our player makes a continuation bet, taking the pot. No one knew which hand was stronger, but the button hand was playable because of the preflop raise and a bet opportunity against the right opponent.

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