Doyle Brunson, a bit begrudgingly perhaps, is best known for the hole cards 10/2 (any suit), with which he won two consecutive WSOP Holdem bracelets in 1976 and 1977. It’s a pretty horrendous low-percentage two cards, but ever since taking a shot with them two years in a row on the final hand of the tournament and winning, Brunson has been saddled with them as a signature play, which he himself will indulge himself in giving a go once per tournament to the present.
I’m willing to guess that anybody else who plays enough hands in Holdem begins finding cards that are good odds they won’t play (personally I am not crazy about J and either K or A), or better yet cards that are low odds that they can’t shy away from seeing the flop.
For me, I will (almost*) always pay for the flop on a K/9 (any suit), even though I know it’s not the greatest hand by a mile. Why? It’s still a decent hand. If middle cards come up on that table and I can pair (or trip) a 9, I have a great kicker. If another K gets flopped, the 9 as a kick isn’t the worst I could do, though it’s quite possibly not the best against more than one opponent. And I’ve just plain had luck when I’ve tried it in the past. Quite often two pair (and what a disguised two pair it is, because who would put serious money in on a 9 with their K?), a fair number of trips for either number (and 9 trips are again a good hidden winner to slowplay), a few full houses, and the cards are just close enough that if T J Q come along, I’ve gotten a straight that can only be beaten if somebody holds KA that hand. It’s not as bad as the 10/2, but I routinely throw away better hands for being too weak.
*You go all-in on me preflop, I’m not putting that much faith in my K/9 mojo.
Queen Ten, because it often makes a straight in a way that isn’t immediately obvious to online players, especially those who are playing on many tables. I’ve won several good hands (for the (low) level I play at) this way.
I went all-in on the button with 2 4 os, ahead of 5 players who before had went all-in. I figure everyone of them had a high face card in their hole, so I went in anyway. Figure I have better odds with the low cards against everyone who has high face cards or aces. Flopped a 3 5 6 rainbow, and took her down.
The SIK of course. 9-3os. Legendary amongst PokerRoom and former PokerRoom players, named for a PR player who initally lost with it, only to find that its hidden power began manifesting itself shortly thereafter. SIK-mania got so out of control on PR that a) if a 9 or 3 hit the flop it was almost impossible to get action and b) PR sponsored a special bonus week for anyone taking down a pot with it in a tournament. It’s an awesome pure bluff hand and, other than on PR, no one can ever put you on it.
Second best is a hand we called the “deadluca” after a couple of other (former) PR players. 5-2os. One of the biggest pots I ever won online started with a 5-2 (suited though) and ended with a straight flush to the 5, breaking two other players who hit flushes.
Ha, your link tells me that my K9 is not nearly as uncommon a playing hand as I had thought (or else players get a kick out of saying it in a breath as “canine” though they’d never play such a dog hand.)
Q8’s my lucky hand. One week, I kept getting it while in a blind, and every time, it connected. Now, my regular group knows about it. Anytime I’m in, and a Queen is the top card on a flop, I know I can bluff with anything and get a lay down.
For me the lucky hand is a pair of 4s( not that it’s all that bad compared to some here).
Not only in win percentage, but for some huge ass hands. Nobody puts you on it and I seem to get trips or even 4 of them while somebody else is real happy with what they have.
Pair of deuces. If I get another deuce I can frequently catch someone who thinks his high pair is all that, and if I don’t, I’m just so darned confident with that hand I can often buy my way out.
I seem to get 6/7 all the freakin’ time, but they’ve never won me much.
I’ve flopped a full house off a 10/6 twice, winning me many, many fake money chips.
But I love, love, pocket dueces. Nobody is ever afraid if a 2 hits the table, but they should be.
