Pockets pairs. Which street to get the money in?

Preflop? flop? Slowplay?

I usually try to get it in more preflop and win it on the flop with a bet. But the pots aren't that big. Slowplay usually gets you sucked out. In most situations, which street do you try to get most money in?

If they are aces I go all-in... it never ends well otherwise.
Anything royal I may consider slow-playing depending on the table but usually bet it aggressively.
Anything below that I'll generally slow play unless the flop shows up very favorable.

With big pocket pairs, getting your money in early is key. You need to knock out drawing hands that could suck out and go against as few hands as possible, heads-up being best.

With smaller pairs (no paint), you really are hoping for a set. I will raise sometimes pre-flop with a c-bet depending on the table and the flop, but I will usually just call. You want multi-player action with smaller pairs, because if you catch your set, you can get paid big.

Really, so you can turn the best preflop holdem hand into 20 chips...woohoo. This might work out better for freerolls, when you're playing a bunch of tards that will call all in with anything, but once you start playing people who actually think first, you be wasting a great hand cause you're scared to get sucked out on. Play all pocket pairs the same, so it's harder to get a read on you. If you raise with aces and get an all suited board or KKQ or something else drawy(dont think that is a real word) then you might have to lay your hand down...oh well.

The funniest thing I see in games is someone will be raising 3xbb for ever then all of a sudden 8xbb, and then they are stupid enough to show AA when everyone folds to them and they make the blinds. Slow playing might screw you sometimes, but you want action with monsters, and suckouts happen everywhere no matter what cards you have.

Every hand is different - position, opening pot or responding, opponents number and quality. If it goes to a flop then flop texture becomes important.

PP you want to be in position, when you are you want to raise, with them.
I have not raised with them, found out that you let to many in to the pot for free.
AA, KK, QQ, JJ is best to get as much in as you can preflop.

It's hard to say something about this so general...

But if I must answer this...
Try to get in as much as possible pre-flop when your hand is strong...

But there is a big gap between 22 or AA, it's a to general imo...

When you choose to play pocket pairs you must vary your play . With big pp's slowplaying versus all/in find some trigger external to yourself to define your move. Example: The volume of the drink of the player next to you. When you us an external trigger your play is randomized.

its all depends on the texture of the flop for me, if it is safe then slow play

i agree with juniorsdaddy. for the most part any mid to low pocket pair u are gonna just call and hope that u spike ur set. then ur off to the races as long as ther are not alot of draws out there. then u must play it right and get that pot built for value. i also agrre that high pocket pairs need to be raised but remember unless AA or KK if u get reraised all in and its all ur chips seriously be aware that u might have to fold cause a sign of reraise is really string preflop depending on who the guy is and previous plays. good luck.

I think this question is a lot like asking weather to chose rock, scissors or paper.
Truth of the matter is that there is a lot more to poker than always raising a certain amount with a certain hand.
The Swedish pro, Cecilia Nordenstam was well known for always playing correct and by the book. She complained a lot on her no good boyfriend, who never played by the book. He had a good feeling for poker though, and that made him far more successful than her.
Having said that, I think reading books and studying pot odds and poker theory is important for you to become a better player.

This is a good question I often wonder the samething. Here is another thing that factors in what if the guy before you moves all-in and thier chip stack covers yours. What should you do lets say you got pocket q

What you should do is to use what you know about your opponent and put him on a range.
If he is really tight u might put him on AK or KK+, but a more usual range is AQ+, AJsuited, TT+.
Then you use the tool that you find on www.pokerstove.com, to see if you have the correct pot odds to call.

Yes, I agree with you, but at the same time, pls dont fall in that trap. You need to learn how to crawl and walk before you can learn how to run.

aces kings or queens pre flop or all in on the flop if you have overpair ... anything less depends on if set up

I usually play every hand that I want to play the same. A 2-4xBB raise preflop. If I have JJ-AA, I will happily call if someone pushes behind me. With lower pps, I'll mostly fold to that push, thanks. JJ-AA, I'll play in any position. Mid-pps from mid and late position. Baby pps rarely -- but, dang, it's fun when they hit.

Lower pps: I really want to spike the set. It is, however, amazing how often any pp will beat out any non-paired preflop hand. Uh--about half the time. Coin flip, anyone?

I think we have been assuming NL holdem. But "street" suggests stud.

If you want a stud strategy, it'd be a good idea to be clear on that.

In holdem, you really need to raise preflop. The point is to get the garbage hands in the blinds out of the hand, because you really don't want to let them catch a low board hard. If you raise, and the other players are relatively tight, your only opponents will likely have decent hands. And your AA or KK may well be best. (I don't like the all-in preflop, because I like to be able to to fold even the best pps if the board is extremely bad for me. But some love it. You choose your own style of play.)

Also, big PPs are best heads-up. You really don't want 3 or 4 callers with AA. Your odds of winning the hand go down dramatically. With smaller pockets, you do want a batch of others in it, because you are looking for a set on the flop -- which is why you don't want to put much money in preflop, as you are mostly going to be folding if you don't hit either your set or maybe have an open-end straight.

I think it's all dependant on the game at the moment. Last night I saw a guy who was playing fairly well call an all in with his 27. His opponent had KK. Unbelievably, he drew 4 7's and won. Now go figure. In that case, if the KK had slow played, he may have fared better.

I've even tried to slow play AA before and only raise 2X the BB and everyone folds. I think it's a lot about reading the game.