One Pair

A pair is 2 cards of the same rank. Types: Pocket Pair (in the hole before the flop, e.g. Q-Q), Top Pair (the highest pair on the board), Middle/Bottom Pair (a pair with a middle or low card on the board).

One pair is made in about 44% of seven-card hands, which makes it both the most common holding at showdown and the hand that decides the largest share of real pots. Most of the money in low and mid stakes moves on nothing more than a single pair, so the difference between a winning and losing player is rarely who makes the big hands — it is who plays one pair correctly.

A pair is usually a showdown-value hand — play it cautiously, don't build huge pots. Top Pair with Top Kicker (e.g. A-K on A-x-x) is the best pair scenario. Small pocket pairs — play them cheap and try to hit a set (11% chance on the flop).

Split one pair into three groups. Top pair with a strong kicker is a three-street value hand on a dry board and a two-street hand on a coordinated one. Middle pair is a pot-control hand: call one bet, check back the turn, and reach a cheap showdown. Bottom pair or a small pocket pair that missed the flop is a bluff-catcher at best — fold it to two barrels rather than paying to be shown a better pair. The kicker matters more than most players believe: ace-seven on an ace-high board is a very different hand from ace-king.

The single most expensive mistake in poker is refusing to fold top pair. When an opponent bets flop, turn and river on a board that connects with straights or flushes, one pair is almost never good — yet it gets called because it "felt strong" on the flop. The mirror mistake is folding top pair to a single small bet on a dry board, where it is usually far ahead.

Hands that beat One Pair:

• Royal Flush
• Straight Flush
• Four of a Kind
• Full House
• Flush
• Straight
• Three of a Kind
• Two Pair

Hands beaten by One Pair:

• High Card