Small Pocket Pairs Preflop in Multiway Pot

#1 26th November 2008, 12:42 AM

Hi. I'm interested in knowing anyone's opinion on how to play pocket pairs preflop when others are going all-in for 1/4 of your stack or so.
Usually I will fold if I have low pocket-pair, just to conserve my stack and because it seems unlikely I'll hit trips. But I notice often that my pocket pairs would have hit, and I'm sure others have watched their folded pockets hit too.
So, should I change my strategy and start calling large raises/all-ins if it only means giving up a 1/3 to a 1/4 of my stack? or sit back and let everyone else at the pot? Thanks.

#2 26th November 2008, 1:12 AM

Unless you can get in cheap, Fold the small poc pairs, there great in the BB and everyone just calls, and 1 or happened to me 2 came on the flop, had 6 6 and the flop was 6 6 4,, but if you cant get in cheap let them go,, ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, ,,,,,,,,, buck

#3 26th November 2008, 3:17 AM

I will normally fold em if I can not get in cheap. Just too big of a chance and I am there to survive (name of the game).. So, I will fold and wait for the next hand. Been burnt too many times....lol .....Haven't we all.....

#4 26th November 2008, 3:50 AM

Hey. I'm in 30th right now of a 312 person tourny on sportsbook using freeroll earnings. 1st prize is 25 bucks! lol. 0.1$ buy in tourney R&A. Well some guy raised 10 000 and i had 45 000 and pocket 10's... I thought, I wanna survive , put him on higher pocket pair, and laid em down.
Some other guy called and flop came 10 6 4, I wanted to cannabilize myself.
But yea in general what you say seems right, get in cheap if you can.
Then again pocket 10's are a lil better than low pockets, more like mid-pockets.

#5 26th November 2008, 5:19 AM

Decide what you will make the most out of doing

In a shorthand table i would raise cuz you want to have the coinflip

more hands id prolly raise or smoothcall and hope for trips

#6 26th November 2008, 8:53 AM

Yeah usually it's probably better to fold small pairs in that situation, especially it's a multiway pot, you might even have an underpair and be almost dead
And btw people if you fold and then "would have hit" on the flop, you probably wouldn't have cause since its a random card generator online, any millisecond difference preflop would have produced a different flop, so dont stress over "coulda woulda" flops

#7 26th November 2008, 11:58 AM

Play small pocket pairs only if the blinds are low and you can get in cheap

#8 26th November 2008, 11:03 PM

Sure if you have a small pair it may be an underpair but so what? If you are priced into the pot you can play

If you miss your hand you are most likely throwing it away anyway if you hit then unless the flop is especially well coordinated you are going to play your hand hard. Over pairs and high cards that hit pairs are the hands that will pay you off

Sure trips versus trips coolers happen as do runner runner suckouts but if you arent willing to go bust in this situation then you are playing the wrong game.Play within your bankroll and you will ride these exceptions out

#9 26th November 2008, 11:53 PM

absolutely not enough info to make a good decision here. absoluely the wrong way to think about poker. think like this: "what range of hands am I up against here. What is my equity against that range?" The answer is one number (a %)which can then be compared to the money in the pot. Not going to teach this process here but download POKERSTOVE for free and plug in your pocket pair, then plug in all the hands your opponent(s) might be playing, then look at how much equity you have then compare the equity to the pot size and make your dec.ision. real easy

#10 29th November 2008, 8:29 AM

Also, what stage of the tournament are you in?
What kind of hands have you seen that player laying down lately?
Has the player been tight and you havent seen him in a hand in a while?
Or has the player been active lately?
What are the blinds and antes compared to the stacks?

These things will severely affect the way that I'm going to proceed with my small to mid pocket pairs.

#11 29th November 2008, 8:36 AM

OK short stack you might want to call because you are looking at an even shorter stack who will have a wider range. So mid pairs might be worth calling with.

Deep stack. Fold.

The odds of hitting a set are 7.5:1 so you need implied odds of around 10:1 to call. You wont be getting more than 4:1 in that situation.

#12 6th December 2008, 6:49 AM

yeah I try not to call off much of my stack on small pairs unless I'm already in the money and I can still recover if I don't hit the flop

#13 6th December 2008, 12:53 PM

Only play them in position when you can get in cheap. They seem to play well when there are a lot of limpers. Then your getting better pot odds.

#14 6th December 2008, 5:43 PM

you have to think about. just pocket pair isnt enough. you can go in with 66 55 44 and always ending up losin. whats your position at table how many opponents do you have how much of your stack is the allin of the other player. all questions you must give an answer for.

#15 7th December 2008, 4:48 PM

I will usually fold preflop to large raises with a small pp.
If i have lots of chips and a short stack is pushing and im in pos i will call them.

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