In chapter 9 of Small Stakes Hold’em, the authors argue that labeling a flop hand as “top pair” or “a draw” is too crude for good decisions; you must judge how likely your specific hand is to win in a multiway pot by considering kicker strength, board texture, redraw potential, and vulnerability to being outdrawn.
A Practical Strength Scale
They introduce a working set of hand-strength labels—ranging from “monster” down to “poor”—to guide your goals:
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With the very best hands, your priority is usually building the pot, not thinning the field.
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With merely strong hands, protection matters more as pots and threats increase.
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With marginal or poor hands, your profit often comes from careful folds and selective aggression, not stubborn showdowns.
Top Pair and Overpairs Aren’t One Category
The chapter’s main message is that top pair varies wildly in value depending on two key factors:
No Redraws: You Live or Die by Holding Up
When you flop top pair (or an overpair) without straight/flush redraws, your hand’s value depends heavily on:
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how likely you are already dominated (especially if there was a preflop raiser),
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how many overcards/board cards can create trouble,
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and whether the board offers opponents many reasonable outs.
Top pair with the best kicker on a dry board is one of the strongest “pair hands” and often remains best even against several opponents. But top pair on a coordinated board—especially with a weak kicker—can slide to marginal or even poor because you’re exposed to being outkicked, outdrawn, counterfeited, or forced into tough turn/river decisions.
They also highlight “way ahead or way behind” overpair situations on dry boards: if no one has the key set/two-pair combination, you crush the field; if someone does, you have very few outs.
With Redraws: Top Pair Becomes More Robust
Adding a flush draw, open-ender, or even meaningful backdoor potential can upgrade a top-pair hand because you now have two routes to win:
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your pair holds up, or
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you improve past a better made hand.
So a hand that’s fragile without redraws can become clearly playable—and sometimes aggressively profitable—when it includes strong drawing equity.
Pairs Below Top Pair: Two Common Reasons to Continue
They explain that smaller pairs are usually played for one of two reasons:
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opponents appear weak, so your pair might already be best, or
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the pot is large enough that your hand + outs gives you real equity.
A key example theme is that pair + flush draw is typically strong in multiway pots because it combines showdown value with a large number of outs. In contrast, “lonely” middle/bottom pairs without strong draws often become marginal quickly, especially on boards with multiple overcards, straight possibilities, or flush threats.
They also warn about weak straight draws attached to weak pairs: hands that frequently make second-best straights or two pair can be traps in multiway pots and are often folds unless the price is extreme.
Two Pair: Usually Strong, Sometimes Volatile
Two pair is generally ahead on the flop in multiway pots, but its security depends on:
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how coordinated the board is (straight/flush threats),
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whether your two pair is vulnerable to being counterfeited by a board pair,
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and how valuable your redraw to a full house becomes if an opponent completes a draw.
Top two on a dry board is very strong. Bottom two on a wet board can be swingy: a “blank” turn keeps you in great shape, but many turn cards can shift you into a spot where you’re drawing to a full house.
Sets vs. Trips
They treat sets as consistently premium hands: on dry boards, even the lowest set is close to overwhelming; on wet boards, it’s still strong because you often lead now and retain good redraw equity if a draw comes in.
Trips are also usually very strong, but they’re weaker than sets because:
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opponents can share your trips with a better kicker, and
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the paired board signals danger, which can reduce how much you get paid and complicate ranges.
What the Authors Want You to Focus On
They downplay obsessing over squeezing an extra bet from rare monsters. Instead, they say most money is won or lost by:
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not spewing with weak hands in small pots, and
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not making big mistakes in big pots (bad folds or failing to protect a vulnerable but valuable hand).
The real skill is learning when a “pair hand” is strong enough to press for value and protection in a multiway pot—and when it’s actually fragile and should be controlled or even released under pressure.