Limit Texas Holdem: The Trap Hands
A very common mistake for beginner/intermediate players is to
play any two big cards or any Ace from an early position and call
raises with the same type of hand. This is one of the biggest
mistakes a player can make as these hands so easily become trap
hands. A trap hand is any hand that has a high probability of
becoming the second-best hand, costing you a lot of money if you
flop to it. The most common trap hands are AT, AJ, KQ, KJ, KT, QJ
and QT. Many players limp in from early position and call raises in
middle/late position with this type of hand. Thus, if you limp with
KJ from early position, and someone in late position raises it, you
could easily find yourself trapped against common raising hands such
as KQs, AK, AJs, AA, KK and QQ.
This also applies when you call raises with this kind of hand.
This is a mistake. The most frequent raising hands from early
position include AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AQ and AK. Why would you want to
call a raise with a trap hand when the raiser is likely to hold one
of the above hands? Nonetheless, trap hands are playable in the
right circumstances. For instance, if you are in late position and
are first in, the trap hand now becomes a raising hand.
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