Jacks UTG?

[Leaky Game]

$1 Absolute....table is 27% VPIP and 5% PF raise

What do you do with Jacks UTG? Smooth call? Raise?

I called, flop came QQ rag...checked around, turn is blank, I bet 1/4 pot, one caller. River...K...both check.
I'm in between on how to play pocket Jacks early. Thoughts?

[billymonk]

I would open preflop, raise the flop, raise more on the turn, and check the river.

[AncientPC]

The tighter the table, the more I raise.

I always raise JJ UTG though.

[xorbie]

UTG you want to raise JJ specifically bcause its a bad hand to play OOP against a full field. Raise it 3-4 BB and that way you should be able to put your villian on a range of hands. I also almost always bet the flop, unless it comes something like AKQ, because people will often call PF raises with (say) KJs and so just because that A hits is no reason to just not bet.

[zaxx19]

Raise it....there is no excuse not to raise the 4th most powerful hand in holdem. And dont bet weakly on the flop unless it comes terrible or with an ace.

[AncientPC]

Bet the Ace.

[zaxx19]

..multiway Im not sure I want to do that...either way play aggressively not passively(you obviously agree) if betting EVERY flop works for you oop do it. Just generally attack.

[Leroy Soesman]

Apart from the excuse of course that you will be playing a marginal hand, in a big pot, out of position, against someone who has shown great strength by calling your preflop raise.

But other than that, there is indeed no excuse not to raise the 4th strongest hand in Hold'Em UTG.

[zaxx19]

Yes I always show great strength by calling with my 45s in the CO... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

Well there is much more of a reason to raise JJ than AK...

So if you are in favor of only raising with AA or KK upfront I guess I see your point personally I think you need to loosen a bit more to get paid.

All that being said I limp often with JJ UTG so I can go either way...was merely playing devils advocate.

[Leroy Soesman]

If you are asking questions such as how to play JJ up front, you are probably not good enough to navigate yourself throught the marginal situations you place yourself in by raising JJ up front.

That's why I will limp it. AK I will usually also limp, raise maybe 20%. Reason? Flop decisions I usually find a lot easier with AK than with JJ. But that is all personal.

My advise is to just limp the J's up front, then when you get better, and have mastered weak/tight abc poker, you add more plays to your arsenal. Until then, stay out of situations where you are likely to lose a lot of money.