What is the most difficult starting hand to play in hold em?

Question

I was reading this article about how AJ and JJ were the most difficult starting hands.

I agree that AJ is difficult in that J is a great kicker, so when the A drops, it's hard to let go of, and if a J drops, it can still get you into trouble, but I disagree with JJ. JJ is one of my favorite hands for that reason. If a J drops, players with AK, AQ or KQ are often tempted to stay in the hand even though you have them dominated, and if an overcard shows up, it's pretty easy to drop (for me, anyway).

Personally, i find small pairs (22-55) difficult hands to play. What do you think is the toughest starting hand to play (both IP and OOP) in hold em?

Answer 1

While I agree with all the talk about AJ QQ and JJ, I actually think AK is the most difficult starting hand to play because it is the trickiest and most dangerous.  There is a saying that AK is Anna Kornikova, looks real good, rarely ever wins.

AK is the strongest hand to start without a pair, and therefore deceptively strong.  Most people forget all AK is, is a great drawing hand and when a flop comes that doesn't hit alot of people do not have the ability to walk away, even when they know their opponent hit... "hey I got AK, I can push him off the pot."

QQ not so difficult, you raise, get a strong caller, an A ar K (or both) come on the flop and I run away like scared little girl.

Same with AJ, not so strong at a full table and easy to walk away from after the flop misses you completely.

JJ, as far as I am concerned it is the scariest pocket pair to be dealt, but it is strong pair none the less and therefore stronger and less scary then AK.  (you can drop JJ when an over card comes out, but to many people won't walk away from AK becaus there is no over card.)

Imagine you are ithe big blind; a middle position player with a short but reasonable stack pushes all in, no one else calls and you got the bettor covered.  Do you wlak away from the hand??? you could have two overs, there are only two hands you are worried about (AA and KK) otherwise you are in a race (40% likelihood of taking the pot).  What do you do???  this is true in the smae scenario where you are any late  position.

I think it is much easier to walk from AJ, QQ and JJ in the same situation.

Therefore AK is the most difficult starting hand in poker

Answer 2

yeap. low and middle pairs are the most difficult hands to play. I only play these if I am on the blinds or the limits are still very low. Otherwise it's not worth a try.. I'd say 55 or 66 is the most complicated pair to start the game with..

Answer 3

Depends on the game -- but I'll assume the stakes are low, there are plenty of bad players at the table, and the stacks are relatively deep.

The hardest hands to play are the following: K9, KT, KJ, QT, and QJ.  If you catch top pair, you never really know if your hand is good, since you're often outkicked.  You often have the best hand, but you won't get much action if you do.  This means you really won't like the flop much unless you get at least 2 pair or a straight draw.  For this reason, good players often either fold these hands preflop, or see a cheap flop with the intention of bailing out unless they get 2 pair or better.  

You mentioned AJ.  If you catch an ace, you can run into the same problem as the hands I listed above.  With AJ what you want is a J high flop, which usually gives you the best hand against loose/weak players.

AQ is tricky if someone raises.  If you catch an ace, you're worried about AK and if you catch a Q you're worried about KK and AA.  This is where reads can be important.  If a tight player raises, you might consider folding AQ preflop. On the other hand, if you're the one raising and someone just calls, you're usually good on an A or Q high flop.

QQ is easy -- raise preflop, after the flop, get rid of it if an A or K comes.  Maybe throw out a bet if you only get one caller and s/he seems weak.

JJ isn't much different from QQ, except that if the preflop action is real crazy, you might consider laying it down.  I would never fold QQ preflop in a low stakes tournament.  Obviously, JJ is more likely to have overcards on the flop.

55 is also very easy -- see a cheap flop, and get your stack in the middle if a 5 hits.  If no 5 hits, dump it.

72o, as you mentioned, is easy.  Of course sometimes you get to see the flop for free from the big blind, in which case you're looking for 2 pair or better with these kinds of junk hands.

Answer 4

obviously, all hands are easier to play in position, but i will split the vote between two hands

J-J...i think all experienced players can agree that they have at least one horror story involving jacks in some way, shape, or form...they are an extremely strong hand pre-flop, although there are circumstances under which they need to be thrown away, but they play so badly after the flop that i would rather just pick up the blinds with the hand

A-Q...another hand that i think we can all sit around a campfire and talk about for hours...the thing about this hand is that it is good enough to race against most big pairs, but if you get involved in a really big pot with it you are surely dominated, and if you flop the ace with it in a big pot you could easily end up walking smack into A-K

Answer 5

2-7

no doubt about it.

Answer 6

The first hand that came to mind is JJ.  small pocket pairs such as 22-55 are easy folds to raises.  With over cards on the flop JJ becomes a pretty weak hand too...Ace Jack is a certainly a nemesis hand for most and I agree with your logic for both hands...with an ace on the flop AJ is harder to play then JJ when there is an ace on the flop...it depends on the situation really.

Answer 7

Actually, I disagree with the small pairs being difficult to play.  I want to see a cheap flop, flop a set, and jam the pot.  If it's too much money preflop, or I whiff on the flop, I'm out, simple as that.  For me, the middle pairs (77, 88, 99, 10-10) are toughest to play.  I know in general I should be raising in certain spots, but more likely than not, I'm going to see an overcard to the board.  Or worse, I might have an overpair to the board, but with someone else holding a higher pocket pair.  Let's say I raise preflop with 88 and get called in two spots.  The board comes 2-5-7.  I bet and get raised.  Does the raiser have 99, 10-10 or better?  Or does he have a A7?   I never really know how to play the hand from that point forward.  Those to me are the toughest hands.

Answer 8

Wow i spent 25 minutes on this and i realized that wasnt even answring your question correctly :(.

Anyways AJ is definitly pretty tough to play especially OOP. When you flop a jack you feel pretty good. In fact stacking off feels good too and on certian flops against certain oppenents.

When you flop an ace on a dry board and get action its a horrible feeling especially since you are OOP and cant control the size of the pot. Its very hard to play and you find yourself in reverse implied odds situations alot. On a somewhat drawy board (Ac9h8h), its even worse. You dont know whether your oppenent is playing back with a draw or a made hand.

In position with AJ, you can control the size of the pot making things infintly easier to deal with.

JJ is a little better than AJ in terms of playability and alot better in terms of hand strength because of overpair and set value.

Unfortuantly with JJ, when you do flop an overpair, the board can be extremely coordinated making it tough to put your oppenent on a hand. On the turn things get worse, with numerous scare cards. So with JJ position is also very essential. Without it, its hard to extract value ahead, and reverse implied odds are maximized.

With 22-55, things can be extremely hard or extremely easy. It just depends on your oppenent, how well you play postlfop, and whether you are just playing for set value or not.

IP extracting value is alot easier and you dont have to play for set value, your pair is often good and is easy to play IP.

OOP its harder to extract value, and playing these hands should be for set value only making it less profitable.

My worse hand is TT just because it very hard for it to improve, lots of scarecards on future streets, and not too high of a chance of flopping an overpair in the first place. The last reason is that higher overpairs are apart of your oppenents range alot of the times when you get it in on the flop (Ex: 459 rainbow, you see JJ-AA 10% of the time)

Other hard hands to play are KT, AT, Axs because of reverse implied odds. To make things easier play these hands only in late position.

Answer 9

AJ, QQ, and JJ.  All three are big enough where you're going to feel you're in the lead after the flop, but all can easily be beaten.

With AJ, unless you hit top 2 pair or a straight, AK or AQ has you, and KK or QQ leaves you with 3 outs.

QQ looks a lot stronger than it is because if either an A or K hits, you have to worry that you're beaten.  JJ is the same, except you add any Q that hits to what could beat you.

Small pairs are easier because they're easier to get away from when 2 or 3 over cards hit.  JJ and QQ are a lot harder for most people to dump.

Answer 10

I believe its got to be AJ or QQ

Answer 11

Small pairs are simple to play.

You either made trips on the flop, or you didn't.  

In a limit game, it's not worth it to see the flop, unless you call one bet and 8-10 players see the flop.

In NL, you can make a small call, because if you hit, you'll get paid off.

JJ is tough, because if you don't hit trips, you're tempted to stay in, and that's when you get into trouble.

Answer 12

7&2 no doubt