Trash Hands in Poker appear quite commonly when you participate in this interesting card game experience.
In fact, trash does not always mean you have to fold your hand immediately, as there are still special cases that can provide winning opportunities for players.
Let’s clarify the theories and the high-level strategies for handling this tricky situation.
What are Trash Hands in Poker?
Trash Hands in Poker, also known as Mậu thầu, refer to the unpaired cards that cannot combine with other cards to form a set or beautiful hands.
Typically, trash can appear right from the first 2 hole cards at Pre-flop if they do not form a pair or a suited connection.
How Trash Hands Situations Arise
There are two cases where trash cards appear in Texas Hold’em, but not every case is bad; there are still opportunities for you to recover from failure.
Accordingly, if you hold 2 hole cards consisting of A + X, where X is any card.
- In case 1: When X is a high card like K, Q, J, there is nothing to worry about as they still have a chance to overpower the trash hands of opponents in the same game.
- On the other hand, in case 2: When X is a low card, everything will change 180 degrees because you are now at risk of being dominated by your opponent.
When your trash card belongs to a straight of 2, the community cards on the board above J will provide better advantages compared to your opponent.
This is because the highest straight you can achieve is a straight of J or lower, also from J downwards.
Conversely, if your hand has no connections at all, the chance of winning the bet is almost zero.
You can consider the suited factor to create a straight, but the probability of this is not high.
There is only 1 situation that can save a trash hand with 2 low cards, but they must be suited and consecutive, as you still have enough opportunity to play against other opponents.
Illustrative Examples of Difficult – Easy Trash Hands
Difficult Trash Hands
A ♥️ 7 ♦️: Hitting A is still dominated by other AX hands.
K ♥️ J ♣️: Hitting K is still dominated by AK or QK, hitting J also cannot win against AJ.
10 ♠️ 7 ♣️: Hitting a pair or a straight is still dominated.
Easy Trash Hands
A ♥️ K ♠️: Hitting A or K can dominate other hands.
10 ♠️ J ♠️: Hitting a flush or a straight also wins.
7 ♦️ 7 ♣️: Hitting another 7 makes a set to win against other hands.
When Should You Fold Trash Hands?
The notion that you must always fold when you have trash hands is completely wrong, as mentioned above, there are many cases where you can still win despite having trash hands.
So when is the perfect time to fold low cards and ensure the safety of your bankroll?
The answer also depends on the quality of the trash cards.
For example, if you find yourself in a difficult situation to win, it makes sense to fold right from the start.
On the contrary, when a player holds playable trash cards, they can completely invest a reasonable amount to see the next 3 flop cards.
This is because the flop brings many life-changing opportunities for players when 3 consecutive cards are added.
Note: Once the flop is revealed and there are still no connections, you must consider folding if you do not want to risk bluffing to deceive your opponent.
Some tricks you can apply when holding trash cards:
- Bluff Poker
- Deep Poker (What is Deep Stack Poker?)
- What is Rejam Poker?
Conclusion
Thus, there are two situations of trash cards in Poker that lead you to choose completely different actions.
Having trash cards does not always mean failure or loss; therefore, do not miss your opportunity to make money and get rich. Quickly apply the important skills I have shared in this article when participating in playing Poker online.
