Second Pair
You will encounter a lot flops of second or third pair, for example, holding A 
T with a flop of
K T 
4 
or holding T 
9 with a flop of J T 5 .
In these examples,you should probably fold if someone bets unless the pot is fairly large.
It’s likely you don’t have the best hand, and you’re about a 9-1 underdog to improve.
Even if you do improve, it may make someone else a better hand.
For example, in the A T example, an Ace on the turn could make someone a straight; in the T 9♣ example, a 9 on the turn could make someone a straight.
It’s important in Holdem not just to have the best hand, but to be fairly confident that your hand is best.
If you’re not certain enough about your hand to bet or raise with it, then you aren’t likely to be able to earn any extra bets those times you’re best, but you’ll be losing extra bets those times that you’re not best.
This idea of avoiding situations where you won’t win much if you win but might lose a lot when you lose is a fairly common principle in Holdem. Keep it in mind.
Missing the Flop with Pocket Pairs
When you play medium-sized or small-pocket pairs, you usually are looking to flop a set.
Most of the time you won’t do that.
So, most of the time you’ll be folding pocket pairs on the flop, but there are a few times that pocket pairs might be played past the flop.
Of course, the most obvious time is when you have an over-pair to the flop, when your pocket pair is larger than any card on the flop.
That sometimes happens even with fairly small pairs, like 7s, but the smaller the pocket pair, the more likely the flop contains straight danger if your pair is an overpair to the flop.
Another situation where you might call a bet on the flop with an underpair is if the pot is large.
An example is a flop of 9 8 3 and you hold 4 4 .
If the turn card is a 4, you probably will have the best hand, but the odds of this happening are slightly over 22-1.
If you do get lucky and spike a 4 on the turn, then you’ll probably win a few extra bets.
So,you need to be getting about 20-1 pot odds to make a call with this hand.
if the pot is any smaller than that, and it usually is, then the call is just not worth it.
There are two other things you need to make sure of before you make this kind of call.
It’s important that one of your 4s be of the same suit as any flush draw on the board (in this case the 4♥ ).
This is because you don’t want to be in a position where the card that makes you three 4s also makes someone a flush.
It’s also important that you are sure that no one is going to raise.
A raise completely destroys the pot odds you’re getting.
If there are still players left to act behind you, then this call is usually not a good idea.
Another situation where you might want to play a small pocket pair past the flop is when the flop has a pair.
For example, you might have 4 4 with a flop of 8 8 3 .
Only do this if the pair on the board is a middle-sized rank or smaller,decreasing the chances that another player has a card of that rank and if the odd card on the board is smaller than your pair.
In the above example, your two-pair of 8s and 4s will beat the likely two pair of 8s and 3s of an opponent.
You shouldn’t always call in this situation, but you should often consider calling.
Sometimes you should even consider raising.
Entering a Public Cardroom / The Play of the Game / The First Betting Round
