What do you consider the most difficult Starting Hand to play in No Limit Texas Hold 'Em Poker?

Question

Why do people keep saying 72 offsuit is the worst hand? Statistically 32 offsuit is worse and so is 92 offsuit as it cannot make a straight

No, 92 cannot make a straight, but 72 can. According to statistics 32 offsuit is the worse hand to play

Answer 1

AQ, AJ, KQ, and KJ - they can create large pots causing stack commitment and forcing tough decisions post flop.

1) Rag hands (72, 93, etc.) are easy; fold pre-flop or if played, fold when you don't hit on the flop. If you do hit, but don't hit hard (no good draw, no two pair or trips+), play cautiously. Since you have a weak hand and without a good draw and no two pair/trips+, you don't want a large pot (large pots are for big hands).

2) Middle pairs can be difficult, but fold when forced with overcard(s) on the flop, bet when you have top pair, or bet/sandbag if you hit trips+.

3) AQ, AJ, KQ, and KJ are a problem when you hit one pair without a good draw (A on board with AQ,AJ, either card with KQ,KJ). You now may be in a kicker battle causing you a tough decison against a big raise/reraise.

Any hand that causes big pots and tough decisions (two+ players with paint pockets and paint on the board) causes tough decisions.

Answer 2

For me the most difficult or should I say the hand that has cost me the most chips is A Q suited. I almost always fold this from early position these days. middle position is more about who is at the table and is sitting to my left. In late position Ill just limp. If pot is raised before me Ill lay it down. Then you said......"Why do people keep saying 72 offsuit is the worst hand? Statistically 32 offsuit is worse and so is 92 offsuit as it cannot make a straight" 3 2 off suit can make a straight on the flop 7 2 cannot. so statisticly, 7 2 is worse. also 9 2 can make a straight just like 7 2 can, however the odds that you get the nut straight with 7 2 are very low.

Answer 3

at a 10 person table, 72 offsuit is statistically the worst hand to play. In heads up play , 23 offsuit is worse. This is mainly because at a 10 person table, a str8 or flush is more likely to win the hand than at a 2 person table. You can try the odds out for yourself at http://www.pokerstove.com

The most difficult starting hands to play without a doubt are AQ and AJ. These are great hands but are dominated by AK, and can cost you a ton.

For example, say you are in middle position and raise with AQ and someone calls. The flop comes up A 10 7 and you bet the pot and get called. the turn is a 2. What do you do now? If you bet and he raises you are likely beat. If you bet and he calls you have no idea where you stand. And if you check you are giving him a chance to bluff if you have him beat.

AQ and AJ are definitely the most difficult hands to play without a doubt

Answer 4

I agree with the answer about weak aces. If you play an A7 or something and an ace hits on the flop, you really have no way of knowing if you're way ahead or way behind. It can be very difficult to get away from top pair if someone bets into you.

You could also get into similarly tough spots playing hands like KJ or KT too aggressively.

7-2 offsuit is easy to play - fold it! What could be easier?

Answer 5

I think most people will agree that mid pocket pairs (77-TT) possibly are the most difficult hands to play because its hard to know where you stand and AQ-AT would probably be included in there too because you will frequently flop top pair with an inferior kicker to an opponent.

72 offsuit is the worst hand because it has the lowest chance of winning the hand against a RANDOM hand.

Answer 6

I don't consider 2-7 to be difficult to play, I fold it unless I'm in the big blind with the chance to check my option. For me the most difficult starting hands are the weak aces, where you have an ace and a ten or lower. Because if you come in with an A6 you KNOW you'll spike an ace on the flop. And you'll end up putting a lot of money into a pot, and somebody will beat you with a kicker. I've learned the hard way that if you're not in middle to late position and your kicker isn't a ten or better to let that hand go. It's still tough every time I do it though.

Answer 7

I think the correct answer to this is 2, 7 off suit; but personally I find it almost as difficult to play with pocket Aces or pocket Kings as it is with 2, 7 off suit, because I can't decide what to do. Play it low key and make no money or go for the jugglar and have everyone fold.

Answer 8

The hardest hand to play would be any middle pair like 6-6,7-7, or 8-8s are so hard to play Some say raise, some say just limp In i like to do both depending if anyone else has raised the pot in front of me. I like to limp up front with a small pair, so if it does get raised ahead of me i can still fold the hand. If i don't hit a set or draw i always fold to any aggressive action.

Answer 9

I find middle pockets i.e from 7's to 10's hard to play becasue you dont know if you want to take the hand down pre-flop or take a chance and hope nobody hits a picture pair. I also find AK(anna kournikova- looks pretty but doesnt win alot) hard to play because i never seem to hit anything with it.

Answer 10

The hand with lowest odds is 2, 7 off suit...but it still can end up beating A, A