Because pocket jacks can vary from spearheading one of the strongest in the hand to being barely worth a call, they are often thought of as a \u2018trouble hand\u2019 by beginners. It\u2019s pocket jacks\u2019 lack of clarity that creates trouble for less experienced players.<\/p>\n
When playing pocket jacks in tournament poker the primary factor to consider is stack size, both yours and your opponents.<\/p>\n
In situations where you have twenty blinds or less, you\u2019ll typically try to get all-in pre flop unless there\u2019s an incredible amount of action in front of you.<\/p>\n
The situation becomes more complicated when bumped up to 30 blinds. You\u2019re likely going to raise and probably want to get all-in pre flop. But sometimes jacks should be just called pre flop. If you\u2019re a couple of seats behind with pocket jacks and thirty blinds, when a tight player raises under the gun, you should just call and proceed cautiously post-flop.<\/p>\n
From 40 to 50 blinds a full range of plays open up. If there\u2019s a raise in front you can call, re-re-raise with the intention to go all-in, or re-re-raise with the intention to fold \u2013 a play more seldom used as it essentially means you\u2019ve turned pocket jacks into a bluffing hand. The jacks should be called if the opponent who open-raised is tight. If aggressive, however, you should re-re-raise with the intention of going all in or playing a larger pot post-flop.<\/p>\n