how to play small and medium pocket pairs

im not exactly sure how to play pokcet pairs preflop. i'm a winning poker player and, although i believe i've won more than ive lost with this hand, i'd like to feel more confident. i was watching a tv program and they were advising to limp with mid and small pocket pairs in early positon, saying that you get to see the flop for cheap and fold if u dont hit your set. but your only going to hit your set 10% of the time on the flop, so is this the correct play. I realize it there are many scenarios with this hand preflop, but any information would be greatly appreciated

I think how you play these hands depends totally on the action at the table leading up to your hand. Remember pocket pairs are a favorite against AK but we all agree we should raise with the slickster at all times. If your at an aggressive table and are likely to get reraised you may want to just limp in. If you have been raising a lot of pots and are likely to get reraised becuase of that, you may want to just limp in. But ultimately it depends on your confidence and control that you have at/of your table. If your confident that you will know where you will be after the flop and have enough control over your opponents to get them to do what you want them to do then you may proceed as aggressively as you like. But only you know what the actions is like and how strong of a player you are post flop. The thing to keep in mind with the preflop action is if you make the pot too large you will have to risk that many more chips in order to get your opponent to fold after the flop. It is very important to manipulate the size of the pot with these hands and that is why I don't want to see you get reraised.

thanks, good advice.