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Question 6: How can I handle bad hand ranking? Please advise.

A: Handling bad hand ranking is a skill that you can acquire over a period of time. It varies from game to game. I will try to explain it using the example of some variations of poker. For instance, in Deuce to Seven Triple Draw, the aim of the players is to make the lowest possible five card hand. Here the aces are the highest cards and deuces are the lowest. Since your aim is to make the lowest possible hand, straights and flushes won’t help you. While playing this kind of game, if you make a hand of 2,3,4,5,6, it is a very bad hand as nobody will consider it a 6-low. It is simply a straight. In these circumstances, the best possible hand is a wheel, i.e., 2,3,4,5,7 with no flush. The next good hand in this order is the Number 2 or 2,3,4,6,7, without flush. Likewise, 2,3,5,6,7 is the next in line known as Number 3 and so on. Thus, if you possess the knowledge of hand rankings, you can improve a bad hand. If you know that you cannot make the highest hand for a particular game, then try to make other hands next to it in importance and arrange your cards accordingly.

If you are inclined to play too many hands, it is a bad poker strategy. Instead of playing too many hands, you will win more by folding more often in online poker. Discipline is an important aspect of this game and you need it if you don’t want to be swept away in the game.