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FAQ's

Reraising the Possible Bigger Pair

1. Is it ever correct to reraise on third poker street with a big pair when a higher upcard has raised.
Yes.

2. When is this especially true?
Against an a player over whom you have good control, or against someone whose upcard is duplicated elsewhere.

3. When is this play also correct?
Against an aggressive player who is apt to have little.

4. Example?
An ace comes in for a raise and you have Q♦ Q♣ J♠ . If no other queen is out and one of the three conditions mentioned above is favorable, make it two bets.

5. What if one of your queens is out?
You still can make it two bets if your opponent is smart enough to originally raise with an ace high only, but not tricky enough to reraise without having two aces.

6. What if it now goes to three bets?
You then can assume you are against two aces (or two kings in the hole).

7. Are there problems with reraising the ace?
Yes.

8. What are they?
A. There is a good chance that if you don’t raise, the ace will bet into you the whole pot, which will give you a great edge if he doesn’t have aces.
B. Your opponent can always pair aces later on, even if he doesn’t have them to start with.

9. What is the deciding factor?
Is your raise required to get the pot heads-up.

10. Be specific.
If you are in late position and there is no one between you and the ace, then the raise may not be necessary. On the other hand, if there are several players still to act behind you, a reraise is now mandatory poker strategy.

11. What is important to realize?
A player who raises with an ace, without necessarily having aces, yet who does require a decent hand to make this raise, is someone you need to be concerned with.

12. Can you be more specific?
Your opponent has a pretty good chance of either already having a pair of aces or improving to a good hand, which could be a pair of aces or improving to a good hand, which could be a pair of aces or better.

13. What does this mean?
It is very dangerous to reraise someone who has an ace up if he is playing well.

14. What about reraising a possible higher pair other than aces?
It is frequently clearly correct.

15. What if your kicker is higher than the pair your opponent is representing?
To not reraise is usually a terrible play as long as only the two of you (plus the biging–in) are in the pot to that point.