Playing Two Pair

Holding two pairs in poker is another hand that should be played with a degree of caution. It is often played too much without considering how strong this hand is on the current table.

Like every hand in poker, there has to be some consideration to how the community cards have helped your opponents. When you play poker online it's important to remember two pairs is the third lowest ranked hand in poker so you can't expect it to win every time.

Obviously in heads up poker, two pairs would be considered to very strong and wouldn't be beaten often. However, if there are 3 players left after the flop, there are all kinds of possibilities that could beat you so before you throw in the chips, think carefully.

There will be times when you have two pairs but only because there is a pair in the community cards. You need to consider that your opponents also share these cards and there is a strong chance that they will have two pairs too. A board pair also opens up the opportunity of your opponent having three of a kind or a full house and those who play Texas Holdem poker need to watch out for this.

If you have Aces, with one of them in your hole cards, then there is no need to worry about your opponent also holding two pairs. On this occasion it is possible to pick up a good pot because they may study the cards in the middle and think two pairs is a strong hand in the circumstances. They would be right in this thinking but they may fail to consider that you have a couple of pairs too and with the top pair possible.