Do You Have A ‘Horror Hand’ ??

Yeah yeah, I know I should not… after all I spend my time writing poker articles designed to get poker players thinking clearly about their own games. But hey, I’m only human and have to admit to having a starting hand that always makes me cringe and expect the worst – however well I have been running in the game in question.

For me it is 99.

Now, there is nothing fundamentally wrong with a nice pair of 9’s, many a time a big pot is won by the holder of this hand and even more frequently the confidence of a solid double-9 gives a player the guts to steal a small pot before the flop. There are some playing options of course, and situations can complicate them – but to be honest no worse or better than for a pair of 8’s or 10’s. So why should a pair of 9’s trigger that ‘here we go again’ response? Its not as if I play them extra-softly now, triggering a negative feedback look, or raise extra big to get the hand done with – thus risking running into a monster behind. In fact I’d say I play them perfectly well.

Well it can not be attributed to childhood trauma, faulty dopamine-6 neuro-receptors or dependence on addictive prescription medicines leading to hallucinations… must be all in my head then.

So, do you have a horror hand??? Mark