Pocket Dueces

I always found pocket dueces a hard hand to play both preflop and after the flop. Do you just limp in with them and hope to catch trips or else you fold, or do you raise preflop with them. IF the flop hist 3 blanks could your twos be good? Lets hear your strategies on playing them.

Limp in and If I don't hit trips I fold.

Hi - I was told to play them like connected straight cards - not as a big pp. Then if it flops trips - you're in. If you don't, you haven't bet big on nothing. I've folded small pp's like 2/3/4/5's because my outs to trips is pretty slim. I usually just call the bb and give them a try to the flop.

As for you last question. Watching alot of hands - if cards come out higher than 2's (and they will LOL) - someone usually has those in their hands - like A4 or A5 or K9 or ? so the 2's are worthless.

I have to agree. If anyone raises before the flop, I'm outta there w/ 2s. I love it when people go all in with small pockets like these....it reminds me a little bit of premature, uh, well, you get the picture...lol

Yea I wouldve done the same, fold in the face of a raise or limp in and see if the trips flop. But usually its just too risky playing pair deuces, and ill never play it in an early or mid position, I think its a waste of time, and money.

I am always afraid of small pairs. (anything lower than pocket 8s). It's pretty hard to catch a 3rd card but if one high card comes on the flop then your gone.

Fold, fold fold! They never win. Even with trips I have been beat before. I will only call late tourney, 2-4 players at my table.

Otherwise I am out

I find 22 to be a scary pocket. I'll try to limp in but I find myself folding these post-flop 9 out of 10 times. (Probably more.) You're only hoping for trips or maybe trips may fall on the board for you to complete a house.

But you have a hand and in the end, you'll at least have an out.

Thanks for the great tips guys, pocket dueces have always been a hard hand to play. You oppinions really helped though thanks!

Hmmm I forgot who said it.... limp in... no set=no bet
you think 22 is bad try JJ

I never push a pair below Jacks, limp in and if I don't hit trips I fold. If I do hit trips I'm still very wary of the straight/flush possibilities. One of the things I've learned the hard way lately is "if in doubt, lay'em down". Laid down 3 Kings the other day as I had a bad feeling the A-K-6 flop also tripped someones Aces - I was right...

I don't even call to se the flop in early position with 22, maybe in late. What do you think - too tight or just right?

I routinely fold small pocket pairs since your chance of flopping a third is so low; something like 12%? Someone check my math, I just tried to scribble it out on paper.. lol
Plus, when you dont hit your trips, there's a 100% chance of overcards on the flop..

i like to either limp in or play agrressive with only a few callers remaining.

limp or fold to a raise

I will usually limp in but if im in late position and no one has bet yet or or a weak player as limped in b4 me then i will go with a nice raise try to grab the blinds and play heads up or just steal the whole thing.

I will usually limp in trying to see the flop myself, but occasionally so my play isn't stagnant I will put down a large raise and hope to scare some folks out. All depends on how the game has been going at the time.

I have found 22 hard to play too. I think you limp in or simple raise just to build the pot. If you flop trips then the raise did what it was suppose to do. I think if you didnt hit the trips you check and fold and the raise worth it just incase u did hit the trips.

i agree.

get at low stackes to flop and if there isn't third fold.

NEVER CALL WITH POCKET DEUCES!!! Unless you are the big blind and it is free. They will just suck money out of you. I see a ton of players who will stick with them till the end. What are you doing!?!

I Limp in and ope to hit set on flop If not I just fol them to any bet.

Do not call raises with pocket 2s...limp in or fold them.... if u are severely severely short stacked and blinds are high go all in hoping to win a race or simply take down the blinds and antes


Do not invest too much with just a lousy pair of dueces

I only play them in the blind. Pretty useless multiway.

Ok here's the thing...

with ANY pocket pair you have a 1 in 8.5 chance of hitting trips on the flop. If nobody has preflop raised and you are in late position limp to see the flop. If you don't hit trips then you have to assess where you are at. This game is more than just about the cards. Any hand you are in could be worth a bluff if the situation is right. With a pocket pair, even if your bluff is called, you still do have a couple of outs... Also, keep in mind that if you flop the set, you don't have to worry TOO hard about straight and flush draws. Even if they hit, you still have a lot of outs to improve to a boat.

Give me a set of 2's every hand and let me play against straight and flush draws. I will take their stacks.

Just to add to this, yes a set of 2's isn't as sexy as say a set of aces. You can still be beat by 2 pair that boats up when you boat up. You could lose to a higher set. Whatever. A set is a set and odds are pretty good you are way ahead on the flop.

I'll try to limp in low when the blinds are small after that if not in a real good position avoid them.

Questions on how to play any pocket pair ar so vague and difficult to answer. Any answer given will be relative with numerous variables.
What size is your chipstack?
|What is your table position?
|What type of game are you playing?
How many people are in the pot?
Are you confident in your read on the opponent(s)?
All the general "How do you play XX?" questions are hard to answer, and you are going to get very general vanilla responses. Playing any hand no matter what it is is always subject to change due to mitigating factors like the ones I listed above. The generic cookie cutter response to this is to limp with ducks and try to see a flop for the cost of the big blind. If someone comes over the top of you, fold. If you don't improve on the flop and make your set, fold. That advice is solid, but there will often be situations where the hand can be played very differently and win you a pot. The only real concrete rule in Holdem is that there are no real concrete rules. Lots of guidelines, lots of suggestions, but very few if any steadfast rules. The situation should always dictate the play.

call preflop , if any raises exists fold . simple as that

No, sadly its not always as "simple as that." See my above post for reference. I know for a fact that anyone here that has ever played more than a few thousand hands live, and in person, has called a raise or two, or even made a raise themselves with deuces. You have to have enough gamble in you to make this play when you know its the right one to make. If you aren't good enough to KNOW its the right one to make, well, that's a different story.

2,2 is absolute garbage from any position. Toss them in the muck, let others gamble with that garbage. Unless you like gambling.

Bill

Its amazing so many people say they limp in the 2's and/or anything lower than 10's. Why is it then so many other people call all-in with them! LOL I especially see lots of people call all-in with pp 7's (Kathy Liebert's favorite hand).

Like you all, I either fold them or limp in if I can ... then fold if I don't get another 2 in the flop.

If you have the ability to successfully play any pocket pair, why muck them Bill? Unconditionally throwing away a pair regardless of table position is poor play.

(My humble opinion)
Good question here is the logic.

For your pair to improve to trips on the flop is approx 5 to 1.
Even "limping in", you need at least 3 other players, plus the blinds to come along with you. Drawing hands go up in value in these situations. Heck, even pocket Aces have a tougher time against 3+ opponents.

Now, against 5 players, you have to view you pocket pair as requiring improvement. Deuces are vulnerable to every single card in the deck that flops, (except another 2). In other words it is not a "made" hand.

When you also consider the possible flops that can counterfeit your hand, even when improving to a set, it is just a long term losing play.

*caveat, if your in a tournament, and in trouble, a made pair is worth taking an all in shot with.

But playing pocket Deuces is gambling, and gambling is for the other guy.
Throw them away and wait for a bigger edge, and then punish your opponents for limping with pocket deuces.

Bill

BTW if your gonna play them raise pre flop. There is marginal equity in pocket deuces if representing them as pocket aces. If you perceive deuces as a made hand. They will stand up better heads up. Just like Aces.

These are just my thoughts, I enjoy this board, and hope to participate often.

I agree with much of what you said, my only problem or should I say, difference of opinion, with your other post was it read to me like you were telling others to muck pocket ducks in all scenarios in any position.

As far as I can tell, you are up on your stuff for sure. Your posts are well thought out and informative. I don't condone playing deuces like a wild-man. What I did say, was that there are certain situations where they can be beneficial.

The odds of flopping an improved hand are about 8 to 1, why not bring them in and see what happens? Like you said, its a gamble, but one sometimes worth taking.

If I had to put a number on it, I would say I muck pocket deuces 3 out of 10 times, limp with them about 5 out of 10 and get out of the way if I don't improve, and raise with them somewhere between 1 and 2 out of 10 hands. With the raise, I am basically on a bluff with some nice chances of improvement, representing an overpair. I will usually commit to this raising pattern for the turn as well in an attempt to take down the pot. Again I will stress, I do this rarely, and only when I am running the table and have good reads on my oponents etc. I think we just play two different styles, to each his own.

Now, we are getting to the crux of the issue! Mixing it up, and post flop play.
I agree, and I actually concede. Your last post describes HIGHLY fine tuned strategy, and advanced play. Play in which the narrowest edge must be maximized to beat other highly skilled opponents.

It is my humble opinion that a very high percentage of players will lose mad stacks with this, and would be better off mucking them.
Bill
I respect your post and opinions. My guess is that if I walked into a room and saw you playing, I'd choose a different table if possible.

Actually you and I would most probably have a good time at a 9 or 10 handed table together. As long as I was to your left, hahaha.