Playing small pocket pairs

[Guest gazza271]

Going to bed now as up for work in 5 hours BUT How do you play small pocket pairs ? Im talking about 2's through to say 7's and MTT play. In the early stages if i am dealt a small PP and i can see the flop cheaply i will call and if i hit trips then its a good bonus. Mid stages of an MTT i will probably fold anything under 9's Later stages play loose again HU then its game on. I think these last couple of weeks i have been playing some good solid poker, playing with a lot more patience and folding when previously i would have called or tried re-raising etc. Just interested in some of the better players opinions on this :ok

[Valiant23]

Re: Playing small pocket pairs Ignoring the last part of your post (better players bit), I have to say that if I'm on a loose table with lots of raising they are going in the muck, but if I can see a flop cheaply then they are value hands, because if they hit players rarely consider them - especially when there are A's, K's etc out too. If I'm in late position with no callers I'd even raise with them, circumstances depending of course.

[NorthernRed2]

Re: Playing small pocket pairs Would have to agree it all with pocket pair its all to do with postion and state of the table. I played live the other week in Bolton, got to main break wasn't doing too bad. They started to move the players round i ended up on a table of heavy betting players one hand was two players called i had 66, i called and the flop came 10 Q 6 player one bet big 5K next raised him to 10K i called turn comes King same betting again river was a 2 betting same i raised both called one shown Q 10 the other K Q. Just an example how small pocket pairs can do the business, didn't matter went out 10th right on the bubble.

[Masterplan]

Re: Playing small pocket pairs you dont have many options with small pockets, if you cant play them aggressively then play them tight, get the cheap flop and be prepared to fold if its not good

[Penelopeys]

Re: Playing small pocket pairs If I am one of the first people to speak and blinds are small I will call and have a look at the flop... maybe call a small raise. If I am one of the last to speak, I might raise it a bit... If blinds are humongous I either fold or try to steal some blinds with a big raise... under the gun I will fold... I think ;)

[GaF]

Re: Playing small pocket pairs Don't forget the importance of stack size and your (and opponents) M If you and your opponent are in the "Green Zone" then it's a drawing hand - and one to see the flop cheaply if you can - if you hit trips great - if you don't, usually need to let it go. If you are in the yellow or orange zone, then you need to let it go - you can't draw with it because the implied odds are missing - your/your opponents stack sizes aren't big enough to pay off on the few occasions when you do hit!!! In the red zone, you take it as a "finished" hand - not a drawing hand - so, with no action before you (and depending on how "desperate" you are - maybe even with action before you) - it becomes an all - in hand!!!!

[guesswest]

Re: Playing small pocket pairs Agree with what GaF says about them being a drawing hand when you're stacked - but one thing I would say on that is that a drawing hand doesn't necessarily make a limping hand. If you're in mid-late position, or you're playing on a tight table, I'd still treat low pairs as a drawing hand, but I'd consider putting in a small raise with them anyway. That'll serve two purposes: 1. If the flop is rags, and having established you're on a fairly conservative table, you have every chance as the initial raiser of getting folds to a continuation bet. 2. If you hit and the flop looks like it might have hit someone else too, you're more likely to be able to get well paid because the pre-flop raise has made the pot attractive and people are going to be eyeing it up. Same way if you fold a piece of paper in half 50 times it'll reach the sun, a small pre-flop raise can enable you to build a huge pot exponentially without it being obvious that you've hit a monster But definitely a drawing hand if you're stacked, just a question of how you want to play a drawing hand. Low-medium pairs are a very powerful drawing hand though, especially if there's paint on the board, because they're so hard to spot when you do hit.

[mrmuzeman]

Re: Playing small pocket pairs Pocket pairs are the holy grail in cash games. Great to call raises with due to the deep stacks, you can bust many a big pair holder for their whole stack for just 3 or 4 bb preflop. If you dont hit your set let it go, simple.