THE PAIR POKER HAND EXPLAINED

Occupying the lowest rung of the poker hand rankings are pair hands, the least favourite hand combination in most poker variants.

Despite their notoriety for losing out to practically any other poker hand, pairs can still be the winning hand in dry board textures.

If there is even a slight chance of a pair poker being useful when playing poker, then isn’t it worthy of an article?

We’d tend to agree. In this post, we’ll explain what pairs are, how to make one, how they rank against other poker hands and how they should be played.

What is a one pair in poker?

As the name suggests, a one pair involves one single pair; that is, two cards of the same rank but of different suits, along with three cards that are not related.

Here’s an example of a pair as a five-card hand: Ad, As, 10d, 8c, Qc.

In this case, we have a pair of aces with a Queen kicker.

In Texas hold’em or any other poker game that uses traditional poker hand rankings, a pair is among the weakest hands, but it can still prevail when a strong hand is nowhere to be found.

How one pair works in poker

As we’ve mentioned above, you’ll need two cards of the same rank and three unrelated cards to make a pair.

What happens if two players make a pair in online poker? Who would win in that case? That’s a very easy problem to solve.

Simply put, a pair encounter is decided by the highest card used to make the pair. Let’s take an example.

Let’s say that one poker player holds Ac, Ad, 7c, 5d, 3d while another player holds 9d, 9s, 3s, 8c, Jd.

Although both players hold a pair, the first player’s pair of Aces beats the second player’s pair of nines.

Even though both players hold the same hand, the more powerful hand between the two is the pair of Aces, since Aces outrank nines.

Now, let’s take one final example in which both players hold the same pair: Player A holds Jc, Jd, 7c, 6d, Ad and Player B holds Js, Jh, 5h, 2s, Kc.

Seeing as five cards are used to make a hand in poker, several cards can be used to break a tie — called ‘kickers’.

In this case, Player A wins owing to their Ace kicker, which beats Player B’s King kicker.

The strongest pair in poker

The best hand featuring just a pair is the pair of Aces. This is followed by a pair of Kings, Queens, Jacks, and 10s. A pair of Aces is the highest-ranking pair, and, thus, the strongest.

How does a one pair rank in the poker hand rankings?

Poker pairs are far from the best hand in the game — at least, in most poker cash games.

Nevertheless, do keep an eye out for Omaha Hi-Lo and High Low Split poker games when browsing online poker sites, since, in this game, players can win the pot by forming either the strongest or weakest hand.

Seven-card Stud can also be an interesting game for you to try if you want to avoid playing with such low hands.

Shifting our attention back to Texas hold’em, the pair is a relatively weak hand because both marginal hands and strong ones can beat it. You can view such hands below.

Here’s how a pair ranks in poker:

• Royal flush
• Straight flush
• Four of a kind
• Full house
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a kind
• Two pair
• One pair
• High card

Poker hands that one pair beats

High-card hands are the only hands that pairs can beat.

With this in mind, you can see how pairs can prevail mostly on dry board textures, when not many hands can be made from the five community cards.

We’ll discuss how pairs can be played differently later on.

Poker hands that can beat a one pair

Should all the cards available on the table combine well with the hole cards of the other players, many stronger hands can be made than just pairs.

Here are each and every poker hand that outranks our esteemed pairs in the poker hand rankings:

• Royal flush
• Straight flush
• Four of a kind
• Full house
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a kind
• Two pairs

As you can see, all these hands topple pairs: royal flush, straight flush, four of a kind, full house, flush, straight, three of a kind, two pair.

Seeing how low pairs are ranked in the list of poker hand rankings, there’s not much you can do if you’ve made a pair on a wet board, where strong poker hands are more than just a possibility.

In this case, there’s really not much you can do. In the following section, we’ll give you a few pointers when playing with a pair in poker.

How to play a one pair in Texas hold ‘em

Although pairs won’t necessarily win you big in cash games, there is a way to get the most out of them. Here’s how.

• Bet on a pocket pair. Paying attention to your pocket cards pre-flop is one of the most basic things you should do, but what if you draw a pocket pair. Bet on it! Pocket pairs are pairs that can only improve as the streets progress, possibly even making two pair hands or better. Should you be dealt a pocket pair, do yourself a favour and bet, raise or re-raise if the situation allows.
• Fold a low pair on a wet board. Small pairs, such as a pair of eights, will rarely end up worth sticking with if stronger hands can be made. If you do try to stick through every street until showdown, chances are that you’ll have invested more money in the pot than the pair deserves. After all, why bet on a hand that you know will lose out eventually? The same goes if you’re dealt small pairs in the big blind position. Should the board texture allow for better hands, fold!
• Never go all in while in an early position with a pair. There’s no point in placing a large bet if you’re seated in the early position since any player after you can up the bet; indicative of the fact that they hold a better hand than you do. This is even the case for a two pair hand, so let alone a single pair! Placing a big bet in an early position pre-flop can sometimes be successful, but after the pre-flop comes the flop, where players can truly bet big if they combine, for example, five consecutive cards for a nice straight.
• Practice makes perfect. Practice really does make perfect when it comes to playing online poker, so feel free to hop by the poker tables of HotSlots to refine your pair-wielding hands! Newcomers can learn all about the hand rankings by playing poker at our tables, whereas seasoned players can partake in our several poker tournaments. Whether it’s a round of good-old Texas hold’em or a game of Pot-Limit Omaha, don’t miss the chance to impress at a poker game at our Casino!

One Pair probabilities

Here are the odds of making a pair during different streets in Texas hold’em.

CHART

Although making pairs is far from difficult, be careful when playing them.

If your opponents have a higher pair, your pair may not be worth as much as you think.

Additionally, if you see a lot of action pre-flop, it may be a sign that someone has a higher pocket pair or a better hand than your pair.

So, be cautious when playing your pairs, and only bet or raise when you have a good feeling about your hand strength.