Build a Big Pot with a Small Pair (Cash Game)

Advice in another post to ALWAYS do one thing or another or NEVER do one thing or another got me thinking and I came up with an idea for an article.

One thing I commonly see is players limping with small pairs over and over again. I've done it. You've done it. We have all done it. Its pretty much the standard way to play them. Get in cheap. Try to flop a set and win a big pot. It makes sense. I've won many a massive pot in just this manner. However, I've also taken many many more small pots. See, an unraised preflop pot is small. So the flop betting is small. Often times, any sign of strength gives away your hand and people fold before they are committed. Especially, since a lot of players like to play a set slow and before they know it, they are on the turn in a small unraised pot with one card to come. Not a good spot to be in. A lot of people will hit straights and flushes cheap and you will get broke with your set. Or scare cards will come on the river and make you doubt the strength of your set.

Here is a typical example.

$2/4 NL Hold 'em 6 Max. Assume effective stacks of $400 for simplicity.

Here is on the button with 44.
One limps, two fold and Hero Limps. Sb completes and the BB checks and the flop comes

QJ4. Pot is $16.

Hero flopped his set. Now what? If it's bet in front of him, he can raise and hope someone with a Q is willing to put a lot of chips in the pot. But he probably wont, because as soon as Hero shows that he wants to build a big pot, unless someone limped with AQ, or Q7, they will more than likely fold to a raise or call/fold the turn. So, you are stuck with a mediocre pot with a huge hand.

What if it's checked to Hero? Same scenario, only worse. Now he's looking at a $16 pot that nobody wants to bid for. He can check and give a free card, hoping someone "catch up." Or he bet and get a call or two from chasers. But we know how that goes sometimes. In both situations, they will either hit on the turn or river and take a big pot from him, or when he bets, they will fold when they miss, again offering a small pot.

You see how difficult a big pot can be to build a pot sometimes. Now, I know what some of you will say. There are lots of idiots out there who are more than willing to limp with QK or QJ, flop top pair, and run with it. OR who will pay any amount to chase their flushes and straights. So, when you flop a set, fire away because you are bound to get called. I'll agree to an extent. Lots of suckers out there. However, let's assume for a bit that we are up against a few decent players who typically won't play a big pot without a big hand....if they can help it.

What if hero raises his 44 preflop on the button? What if there were one limper in front of him, but this time he bumps it up to $16? From my experience, you will get a lot of 2 and 3 way pots in this situation. In other words the pot goes from being $16 with 4 players to being $32-$48 with 2 or 3 players. The pots will be bigger with more players in full ring games. Especially, when you raise from middle or even early position.

Now, if someone made a top pair type hand or if someone was playing a big pair slow, they are more than likely going to put in some bets in on the flop. If the bets on the flop are a lot bigger, say $30 rather than $12, Your raise can be bigger if you choose, or even if you slow play, the pot and bets now on the turn are A LOT bigger. As the pot gets bigger and bigger, people are more likely to feel committed and put the rest of their money in. If they bet out say $24, you can easily raise and have a big pot on the turn. When you flop a set, you really would like to get your whole stack in the middle either on the flop or the turn, or more than likely with a combination of the two. It's really hard to do this when the bets are starting out at $12. If you find yourself putting a lot of money into the pot on the river, you are going to run into a lot of situations where your opponents fold if they missed, or stack you if they hit. In other words, you are only making money on the flop and turn when people are paying to draw. If they are willing to put money in on the turn, a lot of times you will be beat. Therefore, the return on the money you put in the middle on the river is greatly reduced.

Now, I used this scenario to illustrate a point. Don't get too hung up in the exact mechanics of this whole hand. This is just something to think about when someone says ALWAYS limp in with small pairs. When you add up all the pots you will take even when you don't flop a set, when you c-bet or it just holds up, raising with small pairs can be a profitable way to mix up your play.