Pocket pair
A pocket pair is two hole cards of the same rank, which means you already hold a pair before any community card is dealt.
They are dealt 78 times in every 1,326 starting hands, which is 5.9%, and each specific pair such as two aces is 6 of those combinations. That rarity is why a big pocket pair is worth so much and why it is worth so little to wait for one.
A small pocket pair is mostly playing to hit a third card. That happens on 11.8% of flops, so the hand needs either a cheap price to see the flop or enough money behind to be paid when it does.
an example
your cards
board
You called a raise with a pair of sevens and flopped the third one. This is the 11.8% that pays for the rest, and it is almost invisible: an opponent with a king has no reason to believe the board hit you.
This example is made up. The real one is in your own hand history: find pocket pair in your own hands and see how often it came up and what it cost you.
related terms
Set
A set is three of a kind made with a pocket pair in your hand and one matching card on the board.
Implied odds
Implied odds are the pot odds you would be getting if you also count the money you expect to win on later streets when y ...
Combos
A combo is one specific pair of hole cards, and counting combos is how a range stops being a list of hand names and beco ...
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Knowing the word is not the same as seeing it.
Forty hands against a bot, no account, and your own hand history at the end.