Limit Texas Holdem: Playing Two Pair

Two Pair Including a Board Pair

Two Unique Pair

Your Cards			The Board:

When you have two pair not made up of a pair on the board, then you have a strong hand. This is especially true if your two pair includes top pair.

You will generally see this type of hand to a showdown, how hard you raise depends on how your opponents are reacting and the texture of the board.

Enemies of Two Pair: Straights, Flushes and Sets

Your biggest enemies are straights and flushes. But the good news is you have re-draws against these enemies because you can make a higher hand--a full house.

At the flop you have (four outs multiplied by four equals) a sixteen percent chance of making a fullhouse. This is a nice bit of insurance.

You generally don't wish to fold top two pair unless there is four to a flush (e.g. four diamonds) or four to a straight (e.g. eight, nine, ten, jack) on the board. And even then, if you are at the turn you might have the proper odds to draw to your fullhouse. And if you are at the river, the pot might be so large that a call is automatic, just in case of a bluff.

On any board, if the betting gets heavy enough, however, you have to respect the fact that you can be beaten by a set or a straight which both can be well hidden. In this case, you are 'playing the player' and deciding just what their raises mean--some players won't raise without something close to the nuts, so if they raise your two pair...you should understand you are beat.

Also if two tight opponents start a raising war, don't get caught in the middle. Two pair is not generally a hand to be calling capped betting rounds with (especially if the board's texture is poor for you). You like to see tight players just calling your bets and raises with this hand, not re-raising you.

(Getting beat by sets is just a fact of life when playing two pair, luckily it happens very infrequently).

Enemies of Two Pair: Higher Two Pair

Having top two pair isn't that much better than having lowest two pair when you are at the showdown. This is because they both beat the exact same set of hands, apart from other two pair.

Two pair is a rare enough hand that it is somewhat unlikely you will be showing down against somebody else holding two higher pair.

So why are two high pair so much better than two low pair at the flop?

First, you want to be able to beat any other two pair currently out there, even if it is somewhat unlikely there is another two pair out there you don't want to invest a lot of chips only to have second best hand.

Second, you are in danger of being counterfeited by a board pair. Take the following example:

Your Cards			The Board:

Assume you have an opponent holding .

You have this opponent beat but they have a large number of cards to draw to. And king, any three or any ten gives them a higher two pair than you have, or a set.

Board pairs, in general, are the doom to two low pair, because it morphs any opponent holding one pair into two (higher) pair or trips.

If you have top pair then at least the board pair doesn't totally ruin your chances of winning the hand. For example, a player holding Kings and Sixes in this case would beat the pocket tens unless a ten hit the river.

As a result, two low pair is a more vulnerable hand than two high pair.

Two Pair Including a Board Pair