Everyone knows the feeling of getting AA - whether it's online or live there's that little rush of excitement, and a bit of "here we go". But there are times when I'd rather look down to find J10, and if it's suited, even better!

If you're playing deep stacked tournament poker, jack-ten suited can be one of the most overlooked hands in your arsenal. Short stacked it's next to worthless, as you won't hit often enough to safely play it, but when you and the majority of your opponents are sitting on a sizeable number of big blinds, it becomes a very playable hand.
 
Many players put J10s in the same bracket as a lot of other suited connectors or one-gappers, but it beats all of them for a variety of reasons. 

1. All straights made using both cards are the nut straight - so if you flop a straight it's the nuts barring flushes. The same is not true of lower connectors like 67s, where you can flop the bottom end of a straight. Whilst it is true of all higher connectors and gappers like JQ KQ and KJ, those hands don't make as many straights as J10.
2. It's easy to get away from - you either hit a big draw or hand, or you don't and get away form the hand. Hands like KQ and KJ it's too easy to get pulled into a pot with top pair and lose a lot of chips. Basically you're winning big pots or losing small ones - always good!
3. When you hit, there's usually action. With 67, you can flop a great looking 458, but against opponents with two high cards, you're not going to get paid. Flop AKQ holding J10 though, and there's a very high chance your opponents have hit as well.

This links nicely into the last important thing to remember about J10: It is a marginal hand, and should be played as such. Using it to make moves with isn't a great idea, as you lose some of the value of a cheap flop. What you want is a cheap multi-way pot, the same as with other speculative hands. The more players are in the pot the better, for two reasons, firstly you'll be getting better value to call in the first place, but most importantly there's more people too pay you off.
 
You don't just need to hit a hand to win a nice pot; you also need someone else to hit a slightly weaker, but still playable one. And there's simply more chance of that with more people in the pot.  And of course if you have a straight you know it's the nuts, so you get your money in knowing for certain if you're ahead.
 
So, deep-stacked, against deep-stacked opponents, favourable position, with a few players in the pot... J10 is well worth a look!