lower pocket pairs

pls tell me how to play lower pocket pairs at early position: 2-2 to 5-5

Fold. Automatic fold!

Don't. Only -- sometimes-- play them from late position, in an unraised pot. And raise with them. On the flop, if it's checked to you, c-bet.

You want to flop a set. That's pretty much it. Any resistance at the table, they have to be folded. Basically, they are crap that can be beat by any other playable hand that hits at all.

You will see a lot of people who get lucky with them, shoving allin on the flop and they hold up. But that's like getting lucky with ATC. It's fun for you when it happens to work out, but you look like a dope the many other times when it doesn't.

I automatically fold them if I have a relatively short stack...if I have a large stack, I may call & check. It also depends on who I'm playing & whether the stakes are high or low.

What was said above, fold early position, however when very shortstacked I shove them.

generally, depending upon position and stack sizes, i try to see a flop for cheap with these and hope to get lucky by hitting the set, in some cases, like say on the button with big stack ill raise to bully smaller stacks and force them to make a decision, its a lot easier to push and make them make the decision that to have them push and make you have to decide

I will limp with them and hope you don't get raised, and hope to hit the set. But you should be very careful and don't get sucked in with them! GL

Best way to play low pocket pairs is to fold them.When you play them you will know how often you win hand with them.You should raise with pocket pair to get just one opponent even then low pocket pairs are loosing against floped ace.

Try to see the flop for cheap. But do not fold. These are the hands that can slam your opponents. However don't get married to them, if the flop doesn't improve don't go crazy.

if stacks are 40BBs deep go ahead and limp with them. if you get raised you maybe getting the odds to setmine. if people already limped then you should try to have atleast 30x the amount to call. if you got to call a raise you should have atleast 20x the amount to call.(and maybe less if the raiser is very tight). you more likely to stack someone with your set in a raised pot. and in an unraised pot OOP is tough to get paid off.

I fold them unless I'm in late postion and then I limp with

Fold em if it's a loose table, limp if it's a tight table or your lg stacked...all in if ur short stacked & it's time to make a move to stay in it.

If you do not got many chips and are not playing at a tight table then fold them....
You can play them to vary your game but normally you should throw those hands away...

It depends on the table, is it agressive or tight, also your table image, and how much chips do you have, I tend to limp with it from early position

I agree with everyone one here but on full tilt they have a bad habit of hitting alot. I can't count how many sets I have folded just because someone doubled the blind preflop and then the flop give me a set ...a set I folded.

IF stacks are deep enough, make your standard raise, hope you hit your set;

otherwise, evaluate number of callers (hopefully only one), board texture (number of broadway cards, an ace?) vis a vis opponents range, aggression level, and fold to c-bet stats, and proceed accordingly... also known as "play poker" .

if on-line, i would limp in with not more than 3 opponents and provided I have sizeable stacks and that they have not made a raise. These are the preflop conditions I strictly follow. Position does not matter to me with low pocket pairs. My post flop conditions: the board must have a rainbow with combinations of low cards and an Ace and no possible straight draw. If the board met this conditions if my opponents check to me I'll also check. If they bet I'll also bet because the Ace on the board is my prompt that one or may be more than one of my opponents are holding the other Aces. Also it is my confidence that whenever the Ace is on the flop I will hit a set.

if I am playing live games, I would limp-in only when I am in late position (cut-off or button) and having in mind my preflop conditions. When I missed hitting a set on the flop I would easily fold to any bet.

Sorry to pick on you.


The question is how to play low PP from EP. How would you have 3 or more limpers when in EP?

What? I think this may just be badly worded but it seems to be saying either that you think every time you hit a set an ace will appear or that you do not continue with sets if there is no ace present.


So you simply set-mine in LP and give up to any bet. What else do you limp with in LP? I would imagine your range is mainly PP (with a few big hands thrown in for transparent deception), I use the rerm transparent deception because fold all but your best hands to any bet on the flop, so a PF limp followed by a non-fold on the flop indicates either a big (transparently deceptive hand) or a small PP that has hit a set.

With this being the case, are you able to make profits with sets? Even with a 3 way pot you need to be getting 2 callers on both the flop and turn to actually get the nessicarry implied odds payoff. It just seems that it would be difficult to get people to stack off with random garbage (as they also limp PF with the same intentions as you).

I just think it would be more profiatble to raise PF, as you can win the blinds there and then, or represent a hand postflop and get some folds on the flop. It just seems both transparent to play this way and difficult to get stacks in if you hit.

I would always limp and fold to a raise (except maybe a LAG Button move) and hope to hit a set..

problem is, I have hit my set with 2s before and so has the pocket 8s in mid position... That lost me some cash!

dude, believe me, i have had a lot of confusion playing them...
But after lots of opinions and experience i got to a conclusion dat u can play low pairs early in the tourny in a late position, and try to see the flop cheaply...after that u can decide wat to do...
But in late in the games, where nearing final table, just auto fold it !!! Just dont think any other thing...

i don't like to play 'em in EP unless I have a nice stack- and then I raise. from the button and the cutoff, if i have limpers before me, I might limp in o/wise I'm generally raising.

Unless I had a big stack I would fold them from early. If I had a big stack I would possibly raise but only if I felt I was playing against weak players.

Easy answer: Don't play them! If you must, you can call a smallish raise, and hit a set, if not your out!

excatly right advise to this tread

only think I could add here is the with care

"and proceed accordingly.with care .. also known as "play poker""

id call with them if its less than 10 per cent of your stack, youre only gonna hit one time in eight, if you do hit it can pay big dividends, if if you miss, and theres 3 overcards and someones raised its an easy fold

one more thing id like to add to the board texture comments is table texture,,,

How often are your opponants 3 betting preflop, how aggressively overall the table is playing. knowing your opponants 3bet often, you may want to just call as it will get you to the flop more often. basically its a hand that plays really well in a multiway pot, get in cheap and bust someone who overplays top pair..

those things are like candy when you're desperate and lookin for a shove hand. but i mean...really, how often does a pair of 2's take the thing down? throw that crap away. yeah its pretty, you got two cards with the same number...scratch it off, you won! you get..another hand...if you just throw them away. if i'm havin one of those games where i can do no wrong, i might raise with them from any position *if* i feel like it but the table has to be right, there can't be anybody so short that they're desperate enough to shove on me, and i obviously have no intent of showing these cards at all, this is something i'd rather want to make folds happen or fold myself...and represent something other than what i really have. but i mean, realy, you're dealt 5To on your big blind...you can check in...there's 3 limpers...the flop is 5KA...if there's people betting their buttholes off, is your pair of 5's really that great now? so let's switch up cards here...you're dealt 55 and the flop is TKA...how sweet are those 5's now? its crap

I must admit to not reading half of these responses. I saw "fold" "fold" "fold!" and skipped ahead.

Small pockets are great hands to play.

You will spike a set one in 7 times you see a flop with a pocket pair. Your set will usually be the best hand at the river but straights and flushes will occasionally beat you (even if they hit, your opponent has to have them and even then there's still a 1/3 chance of making a full house). When you hit, you're usually on a winner (not saying don't fold, just saying you'll get paid frequently).

They're good to play for value because you can slow play on dry boards without much risk (something you can't do with two pair and a lot of TPTK hands).

When you hit your set, it's very deceptive and you do get paid very often.

Keep in mind that as I already said, you'll hit your set 1 in 7 times, if you don't hit that then you're unlikely to be ahead (heads up you'll be ahead about half the time, multiway you're in trouble). When you win you need to get paid more than 7 times what you put in to make money off of them, on a really tight table this might be a problem but on most aggressive tables you wont have much trouble.

In EP I'll only limp with them, in LP I'll either limp or raise depending on the table and my image.

If you can afford the call then I would limp in and see what flops up...but if you are deep stacked with huge blinds then I would pretty much fold pocket 4s and down...hope this helps you out a bit