How Should You Play Middle Pairs and Underpairs?

Introduction

In this article

• When you can take your hand to the showdown
  
• Which boards are most suitable for bluff bets
  
• When you should not bluff
  

When you play pocket pairs (other than aces) you will sometimes find yourself facing overcards on the flop and only holding a middle pair, or even an underpair. The question is, how should you continue playing your hand in such a situation? How strong is a middle pair? Can you continue to play an underpair at all? What things should you be paying attention to?

This article will show you what to pay attention to after the flop to avoid making unnecessary mistakes when holding a middle pair/underpair.

We'll start by looking at the probability of holding a middle pair/underpair on the flop. The table below shows you how likely this is for the pocket pairs 22-KK:

Probability of seeing overcards on the flop

(All values in %)

This table shows you exactly how likely it is that you will be facing one, two or even three overcards on the flop and not have improved to a set or quads.

Notice that you will be facing at least one overcard a little over half the time after calling with JJ before the flop. This knowledge may lead you to make a different pre-flop decision, for example, when you know that you will run into post-flop action against a given opponent and won't know where you stand if you end up with a middle pair/underpair on the flop.

But this article isn't dedicated to pre-flop play with pocket pairs; we will focus on what to do after you've seen the flop and are facing overcards.

Once you've gotten a feeling for the probability of holding a middle pair/underpair on the flop, the next step is understanding the post-flop strengths and weaknesses of middle pairs and underpairs.

The strengths of middle pairs and underpairs

Your opponent will generally miss the flop when he doesn't have a pocket pair. You don't have a strong pair, but you can beat A and K high at the showdown. If you are facing an aggressive opponent who likes to bluff and semi-bluff, you can play your pocket pair passively and turn your hand into a bluff catcher.

When you call your opponents bets with a middle pair/under pair, the only hand you can really beat is a bluff. Still, this can be very profitable when facing a very aggressive bluffer.

If you raise first in with a pocket pair before the flop, get a call, and then see an overcard on the flop, you will usually be in an important spot for a contibet. You may think you wish to contibet the flop for value and protection when you have a strong hand and want to use weak, unpaired hands to balance your flop contibets.

You might then think you would prefer to see a cheap showdown with middle pair, since it has some showdown value and you don't want to turn your hand into a bluff with a contibet.

This may be a very good way of playing such a hand against a passive opponent, but keep in mind that you don't want to have a polarized hand range after you contibet the flop. If you're facing an opponent who might try an in position float after the flop, it is usually better to contibet when holding a middle pair that isn't threatened by too many overcards/scare cards. You have a number of advantages after you make this contibet:

If a blank shows up on the turn and you are oop, you can provoke a float and make use of your hand's strength as a bluff catcher. And even if your opponent checks behind and takes a free card, you won't be in bad shape. You were able to control the pot oop and will be in a good situation on the river. You can then, depending on the board texture, make a thin value bet, or use your check/call line again to induce a bluff. Your opponent may even mistakenly believe he can value bet.

Contibetting not only allows you to induce a float on the turn, it helps you play your hand more profitably overall. If your opponent calls and an overcard (in a best case scenario, an absolute overcard) shows up on the turn, you can use this overcard to fire a 2nd barrel, since it could also be a scarecard for your opponent.

You represent a much stronger hand than you actually have with your 2nd barrel. You can then generally proceed by playing check/fold for the rest of the hand. This 2nd barrel/fold line helps you, in that you now no longer have to worry about going broke with TPTK on the turn or getting action for your overpairs, sets, etc. when facing the right opponents.

Take a look at the following example to get a better idea of what is meant:

0.50$/1.00$ No-Limit Hold’em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats
Hero (MP) 100$
Villain (BU) 100$

Pre-flop: Hero is MP with 9, 9
UTG folds, Hero bets 4$, CO folds, BU calls 4$, 2folds.

Flop: (9.5$) Q, 5, 8 (2 players)
Hero bets 8$, BU calls 8$.

Turn 1: (25.5$) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks

This is a good situation for inducing an aggressive opponent to float by playing check/call on the turn. This keeps the pot small and you still have a chance at winning the showdown. If you were facing a more passive opponent, who would be much more likely to be holding a flush/straight draw, it would be better to fire a 2nd barrel for protection.

Turn 2: (25.5$) A (2 players)
Hero bets 20$

This time the turn card is by no means a blank. This ace fits well into your range after raising from MP and contibetting the flop. Now you are in a good spot for turning your middle pair into a bluff and forcing your opponent off any draws, the Q, or a better pocket pair (TT, JJ). If he keeps up the action, you can then fold knowing you didn't have the best hand.

If you check the turn, you create a big problem for yourself: You won't know where you stand with your hand and are putting your opponent in a good position to extract the most value for his hand. If your opponent calls your 2nd barrel on the turn, you can still try to force him off a Q or weak A with a 3rd barrel bluff.

The weaknesses of middle pairs and underpairs

You will have trouble knowing the strength of your hand at times. Against some opponents, you can't be sure that your middle pair is behind just because they call your contibet.

Keeping an eye on the board texture and your opponent's general style of play is very important in such situations. Some players call a flop contibet with a draw or a pair as a matter of principle. Others are somewhat weaker and will fold a large portion of their hand range to a contibet. The strength of a middle pair/underpair depends on the board texture; you are more likely to be behind against your opponent's calling range on a dry board than on a draw heavy board.

If you decide against contibetting the flop, you will have trouble correctly estimating the strength of your hand. Some opponents will then bet 100% of their hand range on the turn, others won't. Either way, you will have to wonder if you aren't already beat and know you can't call an unknown on two streets if you don't have a read. They will usually have you beat.

Correctly estimating the strength of a middle pair/underpair is the biggest problem you will have to deal with. You can't assume an underpair would automatically be weaker than middle pair in the same situation, either. And always assuming you are behind with an underpair is fallacy, as well.

The next problem, which results from not being able to know where you stand with your hand, is that you will usually be playing with reverse implied odds after the flop when you play your hand passively. Only in exceptional cases, and then only if you have an unusual read on
your opponent - that he is playing extra agressive and is bluffing with
a polarised hand-range - can you reduce the reverse implied odds factor
while using a bluff induce.

Do not disregard this aspect with regard to both your strategy and your opponent's strategy. If you spot a player trying to solve his own problem of not knowing where he stands with his hand by using a passive calling station line, write a note on it and take this as your cue to do a better job of adjusting your hand ranges when facing this opponent.

You will never find yourself in a profitable situation for semi-bluffing when holding a middle pair/underpair. You simply won't have enough equity to continue playing your semi-bluff profitably if your opponent doesn't fold.

Be aware that any bluff you make after the flop is not a semi-bluff, but a pure bluff, which is also why bluffing all-in with a middle pair/underpair is a very big mistake. You would have to generate an enormous amount of fold equity to make your bluff +EV, since you will have so little equity if you get called. You will almost never be able to generate enough fold equity to justify going all-in in a 85/15 underdog situation.

The most important concepts when holding a middle pair/underpair

In order to get the highest possible EV after the flop with your middle pair/underpair, it's very important that you do not choose your lines based solely on your opponent and the board texture. One of the most important questions in such a situation is how you got to where you are. There are two situations to differentiate between:

• You were the pre-flop aggressor and were called. You are now on the flop with a middle pair/underpair and the initiative.
• You only called/limped pre-flop and were playing your pocket pair for set value.

Your post-flop options vary, sometimes greatly, depending on which of these two scenarios you are in. This, in addition to your position, is a very important aspect to consider when you start analyzing the situation. Remember, you aren't playing middle pair/underpair on the flop, you are playing your entire range for such a situation. This is why you can contibet a KA2 rainbow flop with pocket fives as the UTG raiser to balance your good made hands and take advantage of the credit your opponent gives you due to your position and the pre-flop action.

A similar case arises when you cold call a MP raise from the BU with 33 for set value and the flop is something like T52r. Even if your opponent bets, this is not an easy fold, nor is it an easy call or an easy raise. You could basically take any of the three possible courses of action in such a situation, the important thing is knowing why.

Your opponent will rarely have a monster on this board. His contibet can easily be anything from A high or 8 high, to a set or an overpair. And it is his wide range that makes you aware of just how weak your middle pair/underpair is in this situation.

There is almost no way to accurately estimate your hand strength. You will be ahead often, which gives you a reason to call. You could also argue that you probably won't be able to call two post-flop bets due to reverse implied odds and the fact that almost any future card is a danger to your threes.

Simply folding to such a wide range can, on the other hand, prove to be too weak, since you would be giving up the decent amount of equity you have against your opponent's entire hand range. You don't want to make your hand range too obvious, either. Your opponent shouldn't know you have a set when your raise his contibet and a middle pair/underpair when you call.

This makes raising with a middle pair/underpair a good alternative in such situations. You are, of course, turning your hand into a bluff and relinquishing any showdown value you might have, but it allows you to open your hand range to include more than just sets in such situations.

Since your post-flop options differ so greatly, you should have an idea of how you are going to play your hand after the flop and put your opponent on a hand range when making your pre-flop decision. Passively defending your blind with a middle pair against a LP stealer can put you in a very marginal spot.

You won't lose a lot of money in these spots if you play weak (and usually end up folding to a contibet), but you will miss out on a lot of value in these situations if you don't take these factors into consideration.

If you decide not to fold your middle pair/underpair as soon as your opponent shows aggression after the flop, there are a few important aspects to pay attention to:

• 1. An attempt to induce a bluff should be based on a read on opponent. Simply calling because you aren't sure if you have the best hand is usually a bad idea. This is, however, a good line to use against a very aggressive opponent capable of firing a 2nd and even 3rd barrel bluff.
• 2. The board texture is very important. The more overcards/scare cards that could come, the more likely you are to find yourself in a reverse implied odds situation and your opponent has the chance to hit his 3-6 outer and get a value bet in by the end of the hand. Your pair is rarely strong when the gap between your pair and the high card on the flop is particularly large. You also don't want to end up folding the best hand to a scare card and don't want to create good spots for your opponent to bluff, either.

• 3.
  Your position is also an important aspect when trying to induce a bluff. In general, a bluff induce line is best when you are in position. When you are out of position, your opponent will often check behind if he picks up a draw or makes a medium made hand, either to take a free card or to keep the pot small. Then problem that you can rarely value bet the river oop with your middle pair/underpair arises.

If you then check again, your opponent will usually check behind with any hand that has some showdown value but is weaker than your pair, while betting better hands and throwing in an occasional bluff. Your problem is that you get too little value from his weaker hands/bluffs and pay off his good hands too often.

If, however, you are in position, your opponent will have fewer post-flop options out of position. He will often bet the turn with a draw or A high hand. If he doesn't improve on the river, he will still be tempted to fire a third barrel with his draw or A high hand in the hopes of making you fold a weak pair (assuming he is aggressive). This is exactly the type of situation in which a bluff induce line is most profitable.

If your opponent checks to you, you can decide between checking behind to control the pot or betting for value/protection. Just be sure to think about your opponent's range before you act if he checks to you on the river.

Betting with a middle pair/underpair is often a mistake, since your opponent will usually only call you with a better hand and fold the hands you would have beaten at the showdown anyway. A bluff may be +EV if you can generate enough fold equity, but checking behind is usually better.

Take a look at a few examples to get a better idea of the problematics involved with inducing a bluff when holding a middle pair/underpair.

0.50$/1.00$ No-Limit Hold’em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats
Hero (BB) 100$
Villain (UTG) 100$

Pre-flop: Hero is BB with 8, 8
UTG bets 4$, 4 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: (8.5$) K, 5, 2 (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG bets 7$, Hero calls

An aggressive opponent will usually contibet such a dry board in order to make you fold. You don't have to worry about too many overcards and think for a second about bluffing, but then decide to simply call and try to see a cheap showdown.

Turn: (22.5$) K (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks.

River: (22.5$) T (2 players)
Hero checks, UTG checks

You will have a hard time playing your pocket pair on the river. Would your opponent call with a weaker hand? Most likely not, which is why you decide not to value bet. The problem is, if your opponent bets, you will be sitting there with a bluff catcher, but can't make a standard call, since your opponent's bet won't be a bluff very often.

0.50$/1.00$ No-Limit Hold’em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats
Hero (Button) 100$
Villain (CO) 100$ (pretty aggressive regular)

Pre-flop: Hero is BU with 7, 7
2 folds, CO bets 4$, Hero calls, 2 folds.

Flop: (9.5$) 8, 5, 3 (2 players)
CO bets 7$, Hero calls.

Turn: (23.5$) 2 (2 players)
CO bets 17$, Hero calls.

You call the turn bet simply because you put your opponent on a wide range of overcards/flush draw/gutshot and assume he will fire a 2nd barrel quite often in this situation.

River: (57.5$) K (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

You've probably noticed that you weren't faced with a river bet in these examples. This was done on purpose to show you that you need a good read in such spots. Any example hand for such a spot with a river bet would require an explanation of the table history and dynamic. There is no general concept to follow.

As an alternative to playing your hand passively, you can simply play the board. Your opponent will have to have a much better hand than your middle pair/underpair to give you any action. Here is an example:

0.50$/1.00$ No-Limit Hold’em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats
Hero (BB) 100$
Villain (CO) 100$

Pre-flop: Hero is BB with 7, 7
2 folds, CO bets 4$, 2 folds, Hero calls.

Flop: (8.5$) K, T, 3 (2 players)
Hero bets 7$

You could, of course, simply check/fold on the flop, but that's not your only option. This is a good spot to balance your donking range. Your opponent will need to have at least a high club to stay in the hand and won't be able to stay in the action for long with just a pair.

This is also a way to open the door for you to protect/value bet directly on the flop when you do flop a flush, instead of always checking the flop and seeing what happens on the turn.

A lot of poker players have a big leak - they don't know when they should protect a middle pair/underpair and when they should play for showdown value. The following example illustrates this problem.

0.50$/1.00$ No-Limit Hold’em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats
Hero (CO) 100$
Villain (UTG) 100$

Pre-flop: Hero is CO with 7, 7
UTG bets 4$, 2 folds, Hero calls, 2 folds.

Flop: (9.5$) J, 5, 2 (2 players)
CO bets 7$, Hero calls.

Turn: (23.5$) T (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

River: (23.5$) 8 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero checks.

Some players might think you've set up a good situation to try a float. But how would floating help in in this spot? Protection? Balancing your hand range?

If you bet the turn after your opponent checks, you should realize that you are robbing your hand of its showdown value by 100%. The only way for you to win the hand is by making your opponent fold before the showdown. If your opponent doesn't fold to your turn float (or to a further bet on the river), he is sure to have a better hand.

If you check behind, you can keep the pot small and still have a chance at winning the showdown against A high or a smaller pair. There is clearly no need to protect in this situation.

Hands like TP (which also have enough showdown value to win even if your opponent calls), pure bluffs and semi-bluffs (hands that can't be robbed of any showdown value by betting) are much more suitable for floating in such a spot.

0.50$/1.00$ No-Limit Hold’em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats
Hero (BU) 100$
Villain (MP) 100$

Pre-flop: Hero is BU with 8, 8
UTG folds, MP bets 4$, CO folds, Hero calls, 2 folds.

Flop: (9.5$) 3, T, 2 (2 players)
MP bets 7$, Hero calls.

Turn: (23.5$) 5 (2 players)
CO checks, Hero bets 15$

You can float with a middle pair/underpair on a draw heavy board, since you aren't robbing your hand of too much showdown value by betting. Your opponent can easily check/call with a drawing hand, and there are quite a few cards you don't want to see on the river, which is why you also want to protect your hand.

A similar situation arises when you were the aggressor on the flop and must decide between firing a 2nd barrel on the turn and checking. An example:

0.50$/1.00$ No-Limit Hold’em (6 handed)

Stacks & Stats
Hero (CO) 100$
Villain (BB) 100$ - TAG

Pre-flop: Hero is BU with J, J
2 folds, Hero bets 4$, 2 folds, BB calls.

Flop: (8.5$) 3, 3, 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 7$, BB calls.

Turn: (22.5$) K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets 15$, BB raises to 89$ (ALL-In)

You are over-representing your hand by 2nd barreling and can't stay in the hand if your opponent starts further action. Checking behind with your pair is, in principle, a better option against most of the opponents you will face.

Your hand has showdown value and checking gives your opponent the chance to bet the river with a busted draw (or check/call with a weaker hand). Firing a 2nd barrel in position is usually a mistake in such a situation.

Deciding between checking and firing a 2nd barrel is more difficult when you are out of position. You will, in general, have a higher EV for checking than for firing a 2nd barrel and playing for a pot too large in relation to the strength of your hand.

Conclusion

You should now be aware of the strengths and weaknesses, as well as the general problematic that arises when you play a middle pair/underpair. Here is a quick summary of the most important things to take to heart from this article:

• Your post-flop options vary greatly depending on the pre-flop action.
• Midle pairs/underpairs are never suitable for semi-bluffing.
• A bluff induce depends greatly on your opponent, your position and the board.
• Do not rob your hand of its showdown value with unnecessary bets.