pocket 8s 6 players

I would like someones thoughts on pocket 8s. I will raise early or on the blinds to bring it down to 2 or 3 handed. What whould you do.

early stages of a tourney i'd fold EP and limp late/in the blinds...

ring game is different...

If you are the first one to enter the pot then try to raise always to limit the field. If you are reraised then you must put into factor your opponents playing stlye and make your decision based on that. After the flop has come then your play should be fairly cut and dry. What you are looking for with the mid pocket pairs is for that third card to make your set. If you miss then I think that you should be ready to let go of that hand. If you manage to make your set then your decision to slow play or bet into the pot depends again on your opponents playing habits.

Have a look at my thoughts on small pairs

Push or limp

ANDY BEE

I would limp in. The only way you can expect to win is by getting another elusive 8 so I can see no advantage in limiting the field. Your raise will probably only get called, or worse still re-raised, by players with better cards.

It depends on what position. If I was in late position and everyone before me just called the big blind I would raise 3x the big blind. If I was in early or middle position, I would limp/fold.

There isnt a set way to play pocket 8's, as is the case with pretty much any middle pocket pair. Its the old cliche of 'position, stack, blinds etc'. You would hopefully have some kind of read on the table, and the possibility of a fish calling with some unsuited paint, such as KJ. The problem you have, especially when you are out of position, is that if any overcards come you find yourself either having to lay down your hand to any bet, or worse still betting into the player cos you dont really know if you are beat.

88 is a pretty decent starting hand but early tourney, especially rebuys or low limit buy-in, you gotta expect a minimum of 2 callers/re-raisers and this, couple with the high probability of overcards/low probability of hitting a set, and suddenly a raise UTG doesnt look so appealing!

My advice is play 88 a few different ways and see how they get on - oh and watch how Gus Hansen plays 33 and you will be fine!

You are forgetting that the flop mostly misses people. You have about a 32% chance of getting one pair if you have cards of different suits. So if you make a standard raise (between 2-5x BB, depending on the situation), and can get it down to one or two players preflop, chances are you'll have the best hand post flop. At this point bet half the pot no matter what hits.

Remember, if you limp in you are more likely to get raised than your raise is to get re-raised.

This question is very general, so it deserves a general answer.

It depends on the situation. There is no set-in-stone way to play a hand, it all depends on the situation (your position, blinds, stack sizes, tournaments or ring games, and # of people left if in a tournament).

Generally, I think raising with 88 in the early stages of a tournament to "limit the field" isn't the best strategy. You make money in the early stages when you hit your sets with mid-pocket pairs, not by bluffing out 1-3 people. Usually, limping or calling a small raise in a large, multi-way pot preflop is a sound strategy for playing a hand like 88. You want a lot of opponents in the hand, so when you flop a set you will usually get paid off (with a lot of chips).

Later in tournaments, this strategy changes. You want to start opening up more pots with hands like 88 and calling raises in position and playing postflop poker against 1-2 opponents. Unlike earlier in the tournament, you are not going to be able to see a lot of cheap flops with a lot of players. The pots are going to be more short-handed, so you need to adjust your play with different hands. Also, 88 is a solid hand when confronted with an all-in raise from a smaller stack, or when you need to push your stack in.

So, generally early in tournaments, you want to have large multi-way pots and you are playing solely for set value (95% of the time). Later, you want to be more aggressive with a hand like 88 and raise or re-raise. Again, this all depends on the situation.


In cash games, I believethe most profitable way to play 88 is to play for set value in large pots. If a lot of people have limped, don't raise, just limp in and hope you get to see a flop and catch an 8 and win a large pot. There are circumstances when you would want to raise, but it all depends on the situation.

For a specific answer, you need to post a specific hand...

I hope I helped.

well if your style is tight at the moment or you are in early position than you should just smooth call. pocket eights are too good to just if theres no action in front of you.

personal in a cash game i would raise in any position to try to get it to heads up or to pick the pot up right there. Dont overplay pocket pair after the flop though learn to make the right read and be able to get away from them

Aha... but I play limit ring games so raising 2-5x BB is not an option for me. I guess it would've helped had the OP stated which game he/she plays...

Oh definitely in Limit I'd limp.