In Texas Hold’em real money and free online poker games intermediate connectors such as 8,7 and 7,5 are played as they are the best hands with which you can hit a Straight with. With 8-7, you can form four Straights (three of them nuts), and with 7-5 you can form three Straights (two of them nuts). The difficulty is, as ever, how to play them to the best effect so in this free poker tips article that is what we will give you some pointers on.

Intermediate connectors aren’t played as strongly when they Pair. For instance, should you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you will be justifiably concerned with the King and you may fold.

Also, it is likely that you can flop Two-Pair. With 8-7 and a Flop of 8-7-A, you can get a player with A-K in trouble.

If both of you continue until the end, and your opponent’s hand doesn’t improve, he will slow it down trying to show it down. If the hand does improve it will be obvious as when he bets and you can just pay him off. He can pair his kicker or not, and whether he does, you still have a good showdown hand.

The best play (in your interest) is for your opponent to call all-in or move all-in on the Flop (during tournaments). However, this is only the case if the difference in chips between you and the all-in’er is large. If you have almost the same amount of chips, your 8-7 may not be good enough because your opponent may be willing only to call you with something like A-8 or, worse, 7-7.

Or he might call you with A-K and suckout when he pairs his Ace, his kicker, or when, say, a 10 hits the Turn, and another 10 hits the river then his Two-Pair is better. If one stack is small and the other large, and you’ve got the little stack then you have a good hand someone holding an A-K might be willing to call. If you have the large stack, your all-in opponent might be anxious for a call with his A-x (without Two-Pair) until he knows you have him steamrollered.

Usually you continue playing Two-Pair until you hit a Full House. With this hand, play it as you would play a made 5-card hand – value betting, pretending to bluff, slow-playing (pick your choice). However, should the Board comes 8-7-5, you may be willing to play it more slowly because if the Board comes 4, Six or 9, your Two-Pair might be almost unplayable.

Through the Flop, bet substantially to push a Straight draw out. Should your opponent calls, it may signify a Straight draw. Should your opponent moves all-in or pushes you all-in, then call – or not call.

Still you are the favorite over a Straight draw. You might also be able to hit a Full House later on. But also you can choose not to call because your opponent may have a made Straight. In an 8,7,5 board, the probability of a Flopped Straight is fairly small as players don’t play 9,6 or 6,4 very much.

But you should be careful in a Board of 8-7-J or 8-7-4, because their connectors are consecutive numbers, i.e. 10-9 and 6-5, and players, especially experienced ones, play these more often.

However, even if the Board comes something such as 8-7-4-5-Q, providing you are sure, or even half-sure, that your opponent does not have the Six, bet a small bet on the river. Should your opponent has 9-8 or Q-x, you may be paid off.

Should your opponent had the Six, you may be pushed, but you can fold without losing much. The thing is, you should keep your aggression most of the time as part of your image, and you will do this by value-betting. If your opponent didn’t have the Six, he may think that you had the Six, and he may fold, too.

And finally, here’s an addendum to our earlier example. Should you have 8-7 and the Flop comes K-7-2, you may fold. But you can also call a bet – you hope that your opponent had A-K – and if an 8 comes and you bet big, how will your opponent know you had another 8 in the hole? So long as you feel your opponent does not have K-8 or K-7 (not likely) both of you can get it all-in on the Turn – and you’ll emerge almost a victor.

This can be a fairly complex subject and if you’re not quite getting it then go play internet poker for free to master it the only real way you can which is to do it for real but learn to play poker free so that any mistakes you make don’t cost you anything apart from time.