Playing pocket jacks – JJ

Dear Antonio,

They say, “There are three ways to play pocket jacks — all wrong.” What do you say about that?

Headly

Dear Headly,

Yeah, jacks can be tricky. Trouble is, if you treat them like a big pair and push them hard, the only hands you’ll get action from are aces, kings or queens, plus A-K, A-Q, maybe K-Q, the kind of hands that can kill you if the board comes with even one high card (which it will most of the time). If you treat it like a drawing hand and just call, you’re trying to flop a set, which only happens 1 out of every 7.5 times. Sucks. You could fold jacks, but who does that?

Me, I just try and match the hand to the table. If my enemies are weaker or looser than average, I play jacks strong. If they’re tighter or stronger than average, I play my jacks a little more snug. And yeah, if there’s a big raise, reraise and call in front of me, I just chuck ‘em away. Jacks are good. They’re not that good.

· Antonio