We all love hands like aa23 and ak23 but what unconventional hands do you like or find the most profitable to play?

I will go first I have grown quite fond of hands that contain a low pair and any wheel card like a455/a366. Heads up I find people underestimate the value of a pair in this game so I think this sort of hand can be underestimated.

AK55

kk23 or 2345, especially if ds

I like hands that contain cards I think it less likely my opponents will also hold when raising or calling, especially when 3 or more see the flop - so a 3 3 4 5 ds or a Q Q K K - something I can hit monster boards with and still fly a little under the radar. Nothing better than holding 3 4 5 on the A 2 8 flop when villain has AA or A 3 5 K or something

Except for the obvious ace hands I like double suited hands with a low possibility. They can be surprisingly strong all in. 23 hands are nice limping with.

7788 when on a nit table and on the button lol

Interesting

Hands with two pairs definitely have some value they can be really tricky to play though.

Yeah this sort of thinking is crucial to success in the draw games and yet is very rarely thought about in our game. I definitely try and incorporate this too some degree in my game but probably should more. Another obvious example is how much better kk is if all 4 aces our held in someones hand or even 3.

KQJT baby!

Almost all hands in the thread seem pretty conventional to me[1]. I mean if I was to do a super tiny intro. to O8 it'd probably be something like:

Level 1. Play A3+/AA5+/KK43/QQ42 hands, fold everything else.

Level 2. Play any4 (ignoring trips) within the top and bottom 1/3 of the deck, so 2-5 and T-K but not 6-9.

Level 3. Life gets complicated and you have to take a lot of stuff into account.

....so I guess as far as unconventional ... going to war sometimes pre. flop with hands like 7752, or maybe playing hands like QJ43 HU and maybe 3-way (this is "unconventional" because it's the opposite of the conventional rule "don't play two ok holdem hands").
I guess something like 7632 might count as unconventional, although a _lot_ of people who play plo8 have also played plo and so understand the 20 out wrapper hands from that.


[1] The one exception I see is AK55, it has decent pre. equity but it's really hard to play well. Eg. AK33 you can often play for value HU with pair+2nd nut low, but what exactly are you hoping for with A55? I'm not saying fold it 100% of the time in all spots, but this feels dangerously close to "call any4 with a pair" which I see a lot of fish do. Maybe I'm missing something though.

lol, I was kidding as basically any 4 cards can be raised on nit tables to get a fold so basically any bad hand I will raise here and any good/great hand I will probably limp since everyone folds to raises and plays fit/fold postflop.

A more serious answer for me would be hands like AQ35 single suited ace or even A4JT DS as long as I don't over play them. They have more hidden low/scoop potentials. Non thinking villians for the most part won't put you on low when 23x or 24x hands flop, specifically 23x.

9992 LDO!

Probably ds 2345 or 23/any pair, or dS TJQK. Freerolls are even sweeter when you get the max value from them so the 2345 might be better if your opponent/s jam a low only flop when they hit aces up and continue to jam w/it on later rounds.

meh my sarcasm/level meter must be broken today

Seriously though aq35 is a monster

Is this entire thread a level now? I've stacked off with AQ53 100bb deep before, and been in front. How is 2nd nut no pair and 2nd nut low not conventionally good?

99TJ

Sometimes, in a calm, tight game, when I'm fairly certain two or three of my two, three, or four opponents who will see the flop are playing hands with A***, I'll play hands with four coordinated middle cards, like
T,9,8,7, or maybe just single suited. This line of play is not recommended for beginners or those lacking in hand reading skills. And it's critical that you get a flop favoring your hand over A***+A*** to continue beyond the flop.

Middle cards are not very good cards to have in high low split games, but hands with middle cards improve remarkably against multiple opponents who all have hands similar to each other and dissimilar to yours.

In order to successfully play these coordinated middle card hands, you need to be able to read your opponents well, and in order to continue beyond the flop you need the flop to favor your coordinated middle card hand over A***+A***. Note that against only one A***, your coordinated middle card hand is an underdog.

I don't play much heads-up. I generally play A45* hands, but I think a small pair in such hands (ie. A445 or A455) is more of a liability than an asset. I'd much rather have an additional high card (but not a nine) than that small pair. In other words, I think both A445 and A455 lack high card strength.

A366 without a suited ace? I don't know... I think that's stretching it... but if you can get away with it in your games, more power to you. (You may have better card playing skills than I do). It's not so much that I'm only going to like a flop well enough to continue about one time in four as even when I do like the flop I'll too often end up with an expensive loser. I'm definitely not a fan of hand held small pairs... but like I say, if you can get away with it, more power to you.

Buzz

Trashy looking mid-low cards can make wheel plus bigger straight or nut low and straight and people don't fold their second nut lows giving you scoops.

That is actually not the reason. Middle cards are kind of misunderstood. True, if you have all middle cards, your hand is not good. That doesn't mean middle cards are bad in general. For example, A298 is a potentially great hand, and not just because of the A2. It's because it's one of the few hands that can make nut high and also nut low.

It's the big pots that make the difference in O8. If you play 9876, you have 2 choices. If no low is possible, then you make the sucker straight and can't win big pots long term. If a low is possible, you can't win it, and again can't win big pots long term. But that doesn't mean those cards in general are bad. With A298, you can both make the nut low and the high end of the straight.

The reason for what? I didn't think I gave a "reason" for anything in my post to which you have responded.

It is very possible that I misunderstand middle cards. My view of middle cards in high/low split games is relatively simple.

In general, when playing any high/low split game, I prefer not to see middle cards in my hand, while generally liking seeing them in the hands of my opponents. There are exceptions of course. But although any cards (low, middle, high) may win for high, high cards have a better chance of winning for high. And of course low cards have a better chance of winning for low.

Would you rather have K3, or almost any two cards, in place of the 98? I would. And if you would too, I rest my case.

The board on the river will have five cards, not just three cards.

Yes. (agreed)

I'd rephrase that. I'd say it's the scoopers that make the difference in O8.

A298 certainly is a better starting hand than 9876, simply because of the A2... but also because 9A is a better two-card combination for high than 98, 97, or 96. I realize 9A doesn't stretch for straights whereas 98, 97, and 96 all do stretch.

But the most common type winning hand in my games is two pairs. And because the most common type of losing hand is also two pairs, I'd rather have aces over nines than nines over eights for my two pairs. Or if I made a full house, I'd rather hand aces full than nines full.

I realize 9A doesn't stretch for straights whereas 98, 97, and 96 all do stretch. But those middle card straights are notorious for being losers. Having no straight at all is better than having a losing straight.

Just sayin'.

(Still, under certain conditions I'll see the flop with 9876).

Buzz

Loving this thread!!! I'm still learning the game but I like 4 broadway cards unconventionally as I feel like if you hit on the flop chances are you'll take the pot and if you miss it's easy to get away from... Especially multiway pots.

I've got a question as this came up today... Would you call an all in from a semi loose player with 2345 single suited?

kkqj or kqj10

Noooooooooooooooooooooooo it plays awfully heads up.We are a 47% dog against the top 90% of hands. This can only be a call if there is enough dead money in the pot or the blinds are big enough to make us priced in.

any hand with 69 of , if you know what i mean!

love cards never lose!

I like quads (not AAAA though). Folding decision made easy.