Best way to play low pocket pair

On freerolls I see a lot of high stacked people just go allin with low pocket pair. They are just happy to pick the few 3 or 4 (or maybe a little more if someone raised before him) big blinds.
I don't get this tactic. I once saw a high stacker do this with 44: I raised 3 big blinds, some guy called, THEN he reraised allin (7-8 big blinds in pot). He goes allin (he has 100 Big blinds).

What do you think of this play and how would you play low pocket pair (in early stage of tournament, middle and late stage)


and btw: i had QQ (45 BB's) and called, he hit his set and it was byebye freeroll for me.

I would only suggest shoving it if I was the lowstack. I will limp to see the flop if I can but if there is a raise I always fold them. I could be playing them wrong too, lol
I have tried calling with them but almost always end up dominated.

the key thing here is that the tournament you were in was a freeroll. basically, the big stack is shoving so that he can go heads up with someone and have a 50-50 chance of knocking him out and padding his stack. it happens way more often in freerolls because blinds tend to increase quicker and people sort of have nothing to lose in the sense they havent invested any money to play in the tournament.

Small PP should be played as cheap as possible. If you hit the flop. you get paid 10 fold, and if you dont hit you fold. Never go all in with them in freerolls because you will always be called with two overcards.

Early or mid stages in a tournament, if I get a low pocket pair I raise pot pre-flop, if someone all ins, I wait to see how many people call (if I can), if he\she has 2 callers or more I FOLD - As if EVERY calling player has two live cards (i.e. cards that are higher than my pocket pair) they have decent chances hitting something as a group against my low pocket pair - The odds are against me. If there is one caller or less I'll joint the fest and pray

Thats why you have to pay attention to the big and short stacks......... If a player has a big stack he's almost going to shove with anything....... you should know not to ever lay down queens against him.... there are just bullying every pot unless they are playing solid..........

its best to get in with low pocket pairs cheap as possible, if the raise is to big in front of you fold them,, if your short stacked, shove with any pocket pair or any Ace,,, thats my take on how to play them, buck
another good hand to shove with if your S Stacked is 7 8,, lots of outs,,

I play my low pockets according to position unless I can limp in with them, if I can do that I will limp just to see the flop.

With small pocket pair I like to see a cheap flop. If you don't hit it you can get out of the way without losing to many chip.

I agree with most of the others. The best thing you can do with a small PP is set-mining. Its a pretty good method in cash games, but in a freeroll, you are bound to see some pretty attrocious play.

This is how I approach small/middle pairs up to 77:
In early position you are basically semi-bluffing raising with a small pocket pair; you have to fold to a big raise.
A good sized raise from middle position may get a call from late position with a big drawing hand [e.g. K,J(s) ]. You can bet 3/4 pot to represent an overpair if a low/orphan flop comes out.
A big raise from late position may get a fold from middle position limpers. Otherwise you can just limp and hope to hit a set.
Limp if it looks like someone is strong ahead of you and they'll play back (re-raise) if you raise them. I only limp if there is no other way to win the pot pre-flop.

P.S. if you play against me, be prepared for me to throw this out the window if I think you know how I'm playing.

Probably just because he has nothing to lose since its free roll, assuming since he is the big stack that someone wont want to risk all in with their hand. And if he does get called it will be a coin flip alot of the time to increase their stack or take a small hit...

I never qualified this strategy as "free -roll only". This is how I would approach a small/medium pair with enough chips so as not to endanger my chip stack. Obviously I have to have a comfortable stack relative to the blinds (30 ~ 40 big blinds) to be able to play this way. Sure, I'm making a creative play to confuse my opponents if I hit the flop big, because they not going to put me on a small pair. They will probably think I totally wiffed the flop.

The only problem is when on orphan flop comes with only one overcard to my pair, there is only one pre-flop caller in early position, he checks the flop, I make a pot sized bet to pick it up, he calls and then puts me in on the turn because he was slowplaying pocket KK. Pocket KK can really put a dent in my stack in this situation.

The best thing to do with small pocket pairs is to have position. There are so many different circumstances in playing these small pocket pairs. If you have a late position and there are a couple callers just call if you hit you will probably win big, and you if you don't you lose little. If there are no raisers and its early in a tournament just fold it because its not worth it. If its late and there are antes steal it late. I don't usually call in early position with small pocket pairs unless its early in a tournament, and I'm looking to accumulate chips.

It is a crappy play but it is a freeroll. Those kind of plays will happen tons in a freeroll. You should always try to see a flop with small pairs cheaply or sometimes just fold them.

In late stage, big stack, its a good idea to try to steal the blinds. If they get reraised, and its not much more to call, they'll obviously do it to try to knock you out.

I play according to my position as well as the preflop tendencies at the table. If I'm early with a small pp and someone behind me has the tendency to raise with weak hands when limped or folded to I will raise 2-3x the bb(depending on stack sizes and amount of the blind). I know that it is said you should see the flop cheaply, but I feel the raise has disguised my hand strength giving me the option of a bluff on the flop. I've had good results with this. Many times that loose raiser will call hoping to hit the flop. Often even without hitting my set on the flop a pot sized bet will get them to fold.

This all changes if I'm playing at a tight/agressive table. If early I will limp or min raise, again, hoping to show a bit of strength. If late and limped or folded to I raise, hopefully taking down the blinds or getting someone heads up on the flop. Hopefully I hit or can outplay them.

All that said.. these tactics seem to work best when I've been able to maintain a fairly tight/aggressive table image. If I'm seen as being a maniac these tactics will usualy land me in trouble.

Easy to play little pp. Throw it into the muck like i do.. I never hit the set so i dont even try nemore

Only go all in ir you are low stack... I think this guy played it wrong.

If someone raises before me and I have a low pair I just call it, theres no need to risk my chips like that.

And if nobody raises, I like to raise so people with high cards go in. If the flop is good for me with numbers, thats were I raise my chipstack.

Last night i was playing a tourney on full tilt and i get queens, i was about half the way to finish the tournament, i make a standar raise of x4 bb and one someone behind me raises me all his chips, i went all in knowing that i was an underdog in the hand and my rival shows 44, i jump out of my chair of joy....the flop came 39J....the river 4....turn....i don't remember...but wasn't a queen. I was kicked out of the tounament a few hands later.

with low pocket pair on a all in call , i usually end up getting busted on the river

I limp in always with low pocket pp from any possition. if the pot gets raised i will call if its 5x or less in a freeroll but anything more than that is a little out of hand. i wanna see a cheap flop but sometimes its good calling a medium raise with say a pair of 77 because if the board comes 2-5-6 then you hold the overpair and most the time when its a medium raise in a freeroll your up against like a K-Js or something like it. with that being said what if the flop comes K-7-5 then that same K-Js is gonna wanna see the rest of his board and you have a set so if he hits another king or he hits a jack your gonna smash him for his whole stack almost 90% of the time. so my strategy is limp call a small to medium raise hoping for a set or a small overpair but even with the small overpair its dangerous so i really wanna set or im just gonna fold em if i miss.

If I have low pockets on my bb then I play them at least to see the flop. Depending on what the next card is and what others bet I decide to hold or fold. If I am low stack and the low pairs is the best I've seen in a few hands then I may push all in. But generally low pairs are the fold em pairs. I may even call on low pairs if the tourney is just starting just to see the flop. But yea I just don't see shoving 3k in on say pocket 3s or 4s I just don't see it.

I think the key is that you are letting this guy/gal dictate your play. If you have a great hand like qq and someone goes all in, assume AA or KK, not 44. If you have KK or AA, go all in....otherwise...look for a spot where you can win after the flop. If they won't let you see the flop, then fold. In a free roll, you can choose survival OR you can gamble with any two cards. Either way, it's YOUR choice. Don't make it, then regret it. Make the choice you will be happy with.

im all for just flat calling the bb with low pockets! just to see the flop and how other people are betting into the pot! really all depends on whos playing, where you are (early/late position) and the aggresiveness of the players around the table!

This is how I like to play low pocket pairs.... notice the fold hehe.. gotta way with one.
Seat 1: PAPA*** (11696.00 in chips)
Seat 2: xFEC*** (9700.00 in chips)
Seat 3: lady*** (2145.00 in chips)
Seat 4: Kashtree (8464.00 in chips)
Seat 6: Sank*** (6645.00 in chips)
Seat 10: BIGJ*** (5958.00 in chips)
Sank***: posts small blind $50
lady***: posts big blind $100
Dealt to Kashtree [ 4h 4c ]
mach***: folds
nana***: folds
BIGJ***: folds
PAPA***: folds
xFEC***: calls
lady***: folds
Kashtree: raises to $450
smil***: folds
Sank***: folds
lady***: folds
xFEC***: calls
@@@ F_L_O_P @@@ [ As 5h 6d ]
xFEC***: checks
Kashtree: bets $1,050
xFEC***: folds
xFEC***: shows Jd Js
Kashtree: returns uncalled bet $1,050
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Kashtree: mucks
Kashtree wins $1,050

I don't think that any of these low pocket guys would bet all-in pre-flop in cash table.In freerolls they don't have to worry about losing money,and many of them just wait to get some pair to go all in hoping that they win some chips in early phase of tournament!

Lower pocket pairs are a tricky animal to play. On one hand if your facing an overpair and you hit your set your gonna make alot of money. But if you dont flop your set then you should get away from the hand with minimal loss. NEVER risk your tournament with a low pocket pair UNLESS you know your ahead (if your facing an overly aggressive player who might be playing A3 against your 44)

I agree with Phil Gordon's approach. You will hit a set 1 out of 8 times on the flop, make sure the implied odds are present to pay you off if you hit. Try to get in cheap but he will call up to a 5x preflop raise with a small or medium pocket pair because if he hits he'll probably be paid off in a big way because the hand is so deceptive. If someone else hits top pair or two-pair, they are hard hands to get away from, especially with online players' tendencies. If its a short table or heads-up, differing ranks become raising hands. In my continuing education, I think most of the time I need to hit a set to continue unless I am in good position, against one player and sense weakness. Or if there is a paired flop and the board is unlikely to have hit my opponent(s) hand(s)--but that is tricky for me still.

I didn't get away with it
MTT - Poker Hand Replays

low pocket pairs from 22-88 i suggest limpin and hope to flop a set-if you dont hit a set and the board is full of overcards-flushes or straights-then fold to any bet- 99-AA i would put in 3x blind raise and fold to a reshove with the exception of QQ KK AA-

Yea low pocket pairs under 88 i would always limp on. If your lucky enough to hit your set then i would set up a trap and check call check call check allin.. Gets em every time

I think the check-call, check-call, check-all-in is great when it works but I think it is very situational & I don't think it can be the general approach when you hit trips. If the board is flushing or straightening, I thinks it's time to try to take down the pot and protect the hand or at least give them incorrect drawing odds. Slow playing can also give free cards to wary or observant opponents. Your table image is a factor too. If you seem super loose it will help. But if you've created yourself to be a trappy player, it might be better to do what they don't expect.

I think you should call raises pre-flop with pocket pairs if you have more than 30BB. They don't call them the silent killer for nothing. The implied odds can be huge, and if someone is showing strength before the flop they might spend all their chips on second best.

i just learned a whole lot of the pp i normally play them cheap and fold if the flop is high cards to my pocket unless it is another cheap bet

Position...position...position. If no one raised I`d go 2.5 to 3X the BB, depending what postion i`m in (UTG, Dealer Button, etc.) especially in early stages of tourney. Other stges i`d limp in unless i`m in late postion with no raises then i would raise half or abitmore that half. Late stages intourney i ALWAYS raise. Sometimes i get paid off and at the same time disguising my future hands with similar plays.