On average, you will be dealt a pocket pair just once every 16 hands, so you will need to figure out another method to assess hand strength. Plainly, the biggest pocket pairs often qualify as monster hands, but smaller pairs can be considered speculative at best. Another player would only need to match one hole card with a bigger community card to make a higher pair. Small pocket pairs can be dangerous if they do not improve. Furthermore, if the board brings a third card of the same rank, you have made three of a kind, or a “set”. If you are holding aces, your opponent has to make at least two pair in order to beat you.
Pocket pairs can often win a hand of Texas Hold’em without improvement, however this largely depends on the size of your pocket pair. If your hole cards form a pair, known as a “pocket pair”, then you already have a hand one step up the hand rankings ladder.
