One of the premium starting hands in Texas Hold’em poker is the pocket pair of Kings. The pair is a top pair indeed, and you are looking at a huge chance of taking down the pot. Be careful not to throw any unrealized smiles though; your opponents can pick that smile up as a tell and predict your every move. So you have a relatively strong hard to start with, what can be done about it?

If you are thinking about going all-in pre-flop at this point — as many online players seems to think — please hold your clicks for one second and observe other players’ betting pattern. The best move at this point is to limp; simply call the available bet and see the flop without risking too much money. Poker is about possibilities and the possibility of having another strong hand against your pocket pair of Kings is actually quite high.

After the flop, determine the relative strength of your hand carefully. If another King is shown, you are looking at a possible pot take-down. If not, simply determine the strongest possible hand combination and see if your pocket pair of Kings can defend against it. You can also use other opponents’ betting pattern and tells to determine the relative strength of their hands, so be sure to take all aspects into consideration. You can also opt for opponent elimination; simply place large enough bet to scare players with relatively weak hands and reduce the number of opponents.

The turn should be the most important card. If you are pretty sure about your hand’s strength, you can raise the bet quite substantially and lure opponents into enlarging the pot for you. This strategy can only be effective if you are sure you can take down the pot with your hand.