Guidelines for Avoiding Domination in Texas Holdem

Guidelines for Avoiding Domination in Texas Holdem

Players of Texas holdem quickly learn that the best hands are not always the winning hand. Of course, that means the worst hands are sometimes the winners. What is vital is that you recognize situations where your worst hand is almost always going to lose. Domination is one of those serious situations you must be able to acknowledge.

One hand is said to dominate another in holdem when two opponents have a shared high card and different low cards; the hand with the smaller kicker is dominated, for example, A-Q dominates A-J. Dominating hands have a decided advantage over their dominated counterparts. Learning to recognize early, pre-flop if possible and no later than the flop when your hand is almost always unmistakably defined, when you hold a dominating hand and when you hold a dominated hand is absolutely vital to success in no-limit Holdem.

Some Examples for Clarification

Say you hold an Ad-Qh pre-flop in late position. A player UTG raised pre-flop with Ac-Kc. Since your opponent raised UTG, you should put him on an exceptionally narrow range of hands. His range should include premium pairs from A-A through T-T, premium suited connectors A-K and A-Q. An A-Ks is favored by 74% over your A-Q. The A-Q is an easily dominated hand, so much so that Doyle Brunson named it one of the problem hands in holdem.

Let's say, however, that you hold a 7-2o while your opponent has an A-Ks. The 7-2 is a mere 3:1 underdog under these conditions because there are two live cards rather than one. If you hold a Q-Js against the A-Ks the A-K is only a 65% favorite. When you hold a dominating hand you can add around a 10 percent advantage to your chance of winning the hand.

Holding a dominating hand is a dependable invitation for getting involved in a big pot while holding a dominated hand is grounds enough for not wanting to play. Hands like A-Q through A-T are real trouble against a hand that could dominate. A-T for example is dominated by A-A, A-K, A-Q and A-J.

When to Avoid Involvement

I play trouble hands with complete care. I often play trouble hands but only from late position but I play with cautionary bells going off in my head. Say I have the A-Q, an easily dominated hand but only if my opponent holds an A-A or A-Q. With any other hand in his range I am not so much of a dog and may even be even money if he holds something like J-J or T-T. So, good sense suggests that mechanical folding from late position is incorrect. I want to see the flop and re-evaluate much of the time.

If, on the other hand, there was a raise from early position and a call from middle position I am almost certainly going to muck an easily dominated hand. While heads-up my potentially dominated hand plays well against a range of hands my opponent is likely to hold, it loses significant value in a three-way pot against the same range. Say I hold the As-Qs in late position. UTG holds a suited A-K and a player in middle position holds a T-T. My trouble A-Q is only slightly better than 23% to win while the T-T is nearly 41% favored while the A-K is almost a 35% favorite to win.

Out of position, playing easily dominated hands spells catastrophe. Even when you open the pot with an easily dominated hand, if there is a raiser behind you it is profitable to fold and wait for a better opportunity.

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