Trouble hands are any kind of hand that can cost you a lot of money if played – although they do have the potential of landing you a monster hand if you stick with them long enough and if you are lucky enough to have opponents who have a much weaker hand than yours.  In a nutshell, trouble hands in this context are any kind of hand that appears great at first but which can land you deeper and deeper in trouble (read:  cost you more and more money) as the game progresses.

Of course, this definition wouldn’t help newbies much.  In fact, seasoned poker players laugh secretly (some not-so-secretly) at novice poker players who can’t tell which starting hands are trouble and which are not.

Troublesome Starting Hands

The following are a few of the trouble hands that you are advised not play pre-flop if you are a newbie.  If you are more experienced, by all means play these troublesome hands.  You’ll probably know just how to play them.  As a rule, however, newbies should gain more experience before banking on winning through the following hands.  If you want to play them, however, here’s how you can gain at least minimizing your losses:

•    A pair of jacks
If you are a newbie dealt with a pair of jacks, it would be better to fold.  If you want to give it a try, call at the first round of betting.  Do not raise.  If you want to see the flop, at least keep your cost at a minimum.  If, however, someone raises, chances are high that you are beat so it would be best to fold before your cost gets too high.

•    King and Ten
Most experts, when faced with this hand, muck it.  Newbies, however, are enamored with the King and play it.  It’d be better to fold pre-flop with this hand.  If you get a top pair (KK) after the flop, chances are high that you’re not alone – and a 10 is definitely not the best kicker out there.  The chances of getting a straight, furthermore, are very slim; you can lose your stack while waiting for that straight that may never come.

•    Ace and Ten
You can flop a top pair with this combination, but if there are other people besides you raising and calling through the flop, chances are high that they have better cards than you.  If you flop a pair of Aces, someone else probably has the same pair (with a King kicker) or even a trips.