Number of Players and Starting Hands

[TrueBritt]

[ QUOTE ]
This simply has no bearing whatsoever to how the game of poker works. People like to play hands like 87s BECAUSE they aren't near the top of the preflop hand rankings. This is because they can deceive their opponents and make a lot of money against overpairs like AA, etc. Playing poker predictably means you will lose money to observant opponents.


[/ QUOTE ]

Yes, hands like 87s have implied odds, but they also have reverse implied odds. That is, it's not difficult to hit your hand and still lose the pot. And when you lose that pot, you're likely to lose your whole stack.

Presumably for this reason, and because it hits so rarely, my PT stats say 87s is a losing hand.