Players like to have a hand they say “dominates” their opponent. What exactly does this mean?
A dominated hand scenario is when you and your opponent hold the same highest-ranking card, but you have the better kicker. A common example in a no limit tournament is when one opponent moves all-in pre-flop and you call his all-in bet holding Ace-King. Your opponent reveals his hand is Ace-Queen. You are said to “dominate” his hand..
In general, in these types of heads-up “domination” scenarios, the player with the higher ranking kicker is better than a 2-1 favorite. In the example above, your Ace-King hand is about a 74%/26% favorite against the Ace-Queen.
However, the word domination is a poor choice.
Domination means you have control or power over someone. You don’t have anything of the sort. You are going to lose almost one in every three heads-up battles when you “dominate” your opponent. In the above example, it’s every one in four hands.
And, often times, it will be at the worst possible time when your opponent beats the odds as he either knock you out of the tournament or severely hurts your chip stack.
So next time someone says your hand dominates, feel good about being in the lead pre-flop. But domination isn’t all that dominate in poker. There are five community cards to be dealt, and while being a 2-1 favorite or better pre-flop and all-in is a great scenario, the fact is that you do not control anyone.
You are simply the clear favorite. The poker gods are the ones in control.
To find out how to improve you poker game and dominate your opponents, get a Free Poker Evaluation at my Tournament Poker Book web site.
Mitchell Cogert is the author of “Tournament Poker: 101 Winning Moves.” After reviewing over 20 years worth of poker materials with heads-up battles against poker pros, he has identified the top 101 expert plays used by the pros. His other poker book “Play Razz Poker to Win” was selected by PokerStars IntelliPoker to be used on their site. For more information go to http://www.apokerexpert.com
Tags: No-limit poker, poker strategy, Poker tournament, Tounament poker, poker
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