Playing King-Jack

K-J is a difficult hand to play, which is why it’s worth discussing.

It’s certainly not an automatically playable hand, like a pair of Aces, Kings, or Queens, but it’s also not a hand you’d fold every time. But, if I had to line up on one side of the ‘play/don’t play’ continuum – without good reason to the contrary – my default position for K-J is to throw it away.

But just throwing away hands is never going to net you much profit, so it’s important to understand when this hand should sometimes be played for a raise, sometimes a call, and other occasions tossed directly into the muck.

Limit poker is all about betting whenever you have a small advantage, and repeating this time after time in order to grind out wins by capitalising on every edge you have. When you realise that K-J whipsaws back and forth between being a raising hand and one that ought to be folded, you can see that it’s mainly position that determines what to do with it in a Limit game.

What Position?

From early position in a Fixed-Limit game, K-J is a hand that might allow you to win a small pot but lose a big one, particularly when the game is aggressive and players raise frequently. If you don’t know your opponents, it’s good practice to credit them with a decent hand – probably one with an ace and a good kicker (or better) – whenever they raise.

Playing K-J from early position, especially when you call rather than raise, leaves you vulnerable to an opponent’s raise. Even if you flop a king or a jack, you can’t know for sure whether you have the best hand.

When that’s the case, you’ll either have to call your opponent to find out, or try a speculative raise. That speculative raise might result in a re-raise that will leave you less sure of how your hand stacks up against your opponent’s than you were when you raised in the first place. Folding K-J in early position is recommended unless the game is very passive and play is characterised by lots of callers and very few raises.

Even then, you might not have the best hand if you call with K-J and attract a bevy of callers, but at least it’s not likely to cost you a bundle. It’s better to be raising with K-J rather than calling from early position in a passive, raise-free game in order to narrow the field. A raise can also help you project a strong hand to any opponent who might have considered calling if he could see the flop for just one bet. Nevertheless, your best bet is usually to fold K-J from early position.

In middle position, you can loosen up a bit because the chances of a raise are lessened.
If no one has acted, you can raise and try to seize control of the pot right there.
If others have called before you, you’ll have to think about the range and quality of hands they’ll call with from early position and determine whether you should fold, call, or raise with your K-J.
If there’s an opener and a raiser in front of you, K-J ought to be tossed in the muck.

Last Call?

When you’re in late position, like the cut-off seat or on the button and no one has entered the pot, I suggest raising. If your raise eliminates one of the blinds you’ll only have to beat one opponent to win a pot that’s now seeded with another player’s dead money. You probably had the best hand before the flop and you’ll have position for the remainder of the hand too. You can also play creatively if your foe decides to take a stab at the pot with a weak hand.

If you’re in late position and a number of players in front of you have already called, you can call behind them. You might have the best hand. After all…

If no one raised, the chances of your hand being dominated by A-K or A-J are slim, and if you flop either a Jack or a King you probably have top pair with the best kicker and you can bet if the action is checked around to you.

You can also raise if someone else comes out betting. Raising will help whittle down the field and get some dead money in the pot.

Dead money in the pot is an important concept in Fixed-Limit poker. If you begin with a family pot of five players, your hand might have a 20% or 30% chance of winning. But if you raise and can eliminate three players, you will succeed in getting some dead money in the pot.

Even if you are still not favoured to win (suppose your chances increased from 20% to 40% by causing some of your opponents to fold) in the long run you’ve created a favourable situation for yourself. The players who folded can never win dead money – it accrues to the remaining players in the pot. By eliminating players, your equity in the pot includes not only your bets and those of your opponent, but a portion of the dead money that remains in the pot when other players fold.