First impressions mean everything, and when you’re dealt a pair in a Texas Hold’em hand, it won’t take long to make an evaluation. Knowing which pairs to play is the difference between winning and losing. Two cards into the hand are where the most important decisions are made. You have to evaluate your position, whether the game is loose or tight, the skill level of your opponents, the number of players who have already called. All of these components and those two cards face down in front of you, will determine whether you get in or get out.

Because five or the seven cards dealt in Hold’em are community cards, the game is about what you have in the hole, not about chasing pairs. The reason for this is if you improve, your opponent usually will too. If you don’t consistently start with higher cards than your opponents, no matter how many years you’ve put in at the tables, you will not come out a winner.

If you draw pocket pairs, where odds run 16-1, consider yourself lucky, and in good position to win the pot. This has always been the hardest hand to fold. But you still have to know how to play them correctly, whether you’re sitting with a pair or deuces or a monster pair of aces.

High Pairs
There’s a reason they call a pair of aces pocket rockets. This, obviously, is the best starting hand. You have the ultimate edge with this pair and the first thing that should go through your mind is maximum profit. But don’t get greedy and scare away the entire table away. If you’re in a game with 5-10 players, you want at least two to three callers left to pluck before the flop. Anymore callers than that and something bizarre might occur by the time the river comes up. In others words, a big pair plays well against a five-player table, but loses steam to a 10-player table.

Second to aces, of course, are pocket kings, which are almost as powerful. Your main concern here is letting in drawing hands with a suited A-X. You’re still coming from a strong position because an ace will flop only once every eight hands.

A pair of queens is nervous time. You have the confidence of a monster hand, but the trepidation of getting hit with a king or ace over card, a card that opponents will more than likely play.

Medium Pairs
Jacks through sevens are caught up in the medium pair category. That seems like a big spread between the power of jacks and sevens, but the odds are that if you’re holding a pair of jacks, you will see an over card after the flop. With pairs seven through 10, think of raising if you’re in early position. If you’re facing players before you that have called, go along with the crowd and see what materializes on the flop.

Low Pairs
When playing a small pair, your ultimate goal is to flop a three of a kind. If you have 5-5 and the flop doesn’t produce the third 5, think of an exit strategy. So you have to think economy class when getting to the flop, playing your small pair as cheaply as possible. The cost to see the flop with a small pair should be no more than a single blind bet. Your position makes a difference on how to play a low pair as well. Since they’re not strong raise material, early position hurts. Middle is OK in a loose game and, if you’re aggressive, a raise if you’re near the button.