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[TheGamester]

In Daniel Negreanu's recent article, "2004 Borgata Poker Open -- Part II," in Card Player magazine, Daniel highlights a hand that he played from early position, 7s 4s, in which he initiated a raise. Daniel drew a huge flop against the chip leader which came Qs 6s 5c. With open straight, flush draw, Daniel went on to hit the flush and take a significant amount of chips from the chip leader. Why do I bring this hand up? Simply put, this is a trash hand and any poker book would tell you to fold this hand from early position, let alone raise with it. But Daniel being the player he is, played this hand very unconventionally and it led to a huge positive result for him.Conventional wisdom aside, trash hands are an interesting subject. If you hit them, they catch opponents off-guard, and in a no-limit tournament or cash game, have the potential to bust an opponent. Trash hands fascinate me as it relates to no-limit play. Like underdiscovered stocks, they have the potential to be homeruns. It seems like the great players will play these hands from time to time. In fact, Daniel mentions some players that will play these hands in the article--Phil Ivey, Alan Goehring, Gus Hansen. He does qualify these hands as working best in a deep-stack tournament, but the point is that these hands have huge potential vs. the conventional great starting hands such as large pairs or AKs, etc. As I gain experience, I have come to appreciate these hands, although I admit to a certain trepidation in playing them. In a regular no limit, cash game, I prefer to play them from late position, sometimes raising other times just calling if the game is loose. In a limit game, I hardly ever play them unless I have had a winning night and a good table image and have been showing big hands. That said, I still think there is value in these hands in a limit game, just not as much as in a no-limit game. Love to hear anyone's thoughts on this subject.The Gamester

[wrto4556]

The implied odds in no limit are huge, making it correct to play garbage...in a sense. If you hit, you can win a whole lot of chips, but if you miss, it's easy to muck 7 high or button pair.In limit, your implied odds are horrible (compared to NL) and the pay off for these hands don't make up for the times you call and miss.