Two Pair

Two Pair is made from two pairs of different ranks. The most common setup in Hold'em: you hold A-K and the board has an A and a K. This is called "Two Pair, Aces and Kings" or "Aces up" for short.

Two pair shows up in about one in 21 five-card hands and roughly one in 4 seven-card Hold'em hands, which makes it the single most common hand people commit a stack with. It is strong enough to win most pots outright and weak enough that it is the classic hand for losing a big one.

Two Pair is a dangerous hand: strong enough to play, vulnerable to three of a kind and above. Play it aggressively on the flop and turn — if an opponent keeps raising on the river, think twice before going all-in. Value bet, not hero call.

Distinguish top two pair from bottom two pair — the chart calls them the same hand, the table does not. Top two pair on an unpaired, uncoordinated board is a clear three-street value hand: bet, bet and bet. Bottom two pair is a hand where a single board pair turns your holding into a probable loser to any full house, and where the top pair on the board is exactly what opponents keep playing. Watch the board texture: two pair on a coordinated flop is often up against a made straight or a strong draw, and once the board pairs, two pair is one of the easiest hands to lose money with.

Refusing to fold two pair on a paired board. When the board pairs, your two pair loses to every full house and there is no version of the hand that beats one. The other misread is playing bottom two pair for three streets of value against a tight opponent who only continues with better.

Hands that beat Two Pair:

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

Hands beaten by Two Pair:

• Pair
• High Card