Do you play these Pairs, 66, 99?

Do you guys play these pairs, 6-6, 9-9, 8-8,4-4, 10-10? I do sometimes when the bet is not that large. I'll wait for the flop, and when the flop didn't help, I fold if anyone bets. But sometimes, I do also Fold it depends on my position and how many players are in play.

But sometimes I'm getting pissed when I folded my pair of 2s because of the bet, the flop comes with a 2s. I hate it when that happens. I just let the Three of a kind out of the hand. It often happens to me especially tourneys.

Do you guys play these kind of hand or you use it to do bluffs? I'm not that good at bluffing, but sometimes it works.

Here's another, I did also fold my 7-9, and when the Flop comes, there goes 7-7-Q. aarrrggg..!! Hate it!. I can do bet with these hand but I get to Fold because of the Raise.

you cant play small pairs in early position, ive learned that the hard way. If you want to play poker, better get used to folding small pairs preflop in early position and watching the flop trip up and the chips fly. The later you are in a tournament, the higher the pair has to be if you DO play. however early in a tourney, especially in a rebuy go nuts. Youre better off playing consistantly well than calling every time you have suited connectors or small prs.

ofcourse, i will play those pairs coz it is better than AK to me.

Slick ain't been nice to me either

I am much more likely to play 10-10 than 44, but it does very much depend on the situation.

I only play the following numbered pocket pairs: 33, 55, 77, 99.

Why?

Because I like to be a little odd!

Unlike max power, i'll play pocket pairs from any position, depending on the size of a raise(if there is one). I usually like to limp in with pps(unless their big ones) or if i get them late position and there's limpers i'll usually raise.

Yup - I agree. I'd be more inclined to muck smaller pairs if for instance a tight UTG player raises and another player reraises. If I can, I try to see a cheap flop with my pairs (but I also try to avoid limping with them), but there's no particular method that I use because creating a set method/type of play (e.g., limp or call with small & medium pocket pairs, raise with high pocket pairs) becomes apparent to a good player at the table.

Depends on the situation. Especially if there are no raises in front of you. If im in early position i always raise about 2 - 2.5 the BB, usually getting 1 -2 callers, than go from there. But it also depends if its late or early in a tourney and how big/small my chip stack happens to be.
i disagree with bernard when he says to fold all of these hands preflop. I just cant agree at all with that. Your chances of flopping a set on the frop are 8.8 to 1, if you just fold the hand than you have 0 - 1 odds.
Another point id like to add is that if you have a small chip stack than it is much better to all in with a small pocket pair than it is to go all in with suited, connectors, or an A.. But it all depends on the situation as stated

You wish you were only a little odd.

Well it depends on my pos, and if everyone limped in, or theres a small raise.
It all depends on if you want to play them, and hope you hit trips, or to fold and save yourself some chips....

I love playing some of the middle pairs. They have Huge implied odds (especially at the micro stakes, no one sees a set coming), and they are very easy to get away from when the flop comes blank for you.

In regards to you letting go of the set you could have had, you should really not focus on that at all. Instead start paying more attention tothe times where you would have made nothing. I used to be like that and always focus on the hands that could have been. That is a bad habit to get into but just paying attention to the times you'd miss can help you out

I think you have to try see a flop with a pocket pair no matter what size it is.

Fair enough if you get priced out of it by a 5xbb raise, let it go, but if the price is right have a look.

If you do hit your trips, you are in a great position.

I'll play any pair from any position. Key points...if opening the pot, Raise, no matter what. If there are open limpers, you can limp along, and If reraised only call or reraise w/ big pairs, usually 1010+. Usually fold if the flop missed unless you get a chance to move forward cheaply. And if your stack is large, it might be worth it to pay to see a turn here and there. But if you fold, and your card hits, brush it off, youre a poker player not a fortune teller, theres no way to know whats ahead so no use in beating yourself up, it will just make you make crappy decisions down the line.

i like to make sure i get enough implied(possible) odds to play before i call a raise. if there are lots of players in or i got a good read on a raiser(eg AA or KK) i will put up to 10% of my stack in preflop(maybe more pending how much is in the pot). but normally i don't like to put in more than 5% of my stack(or if heads up the smaller of the 2 stacks). this will give me odds i need to setmine(flop a set or fold). the odds of floping a set are only 7.5 to 1 but i make sure i can possibly get more than than for those times i flop a set and lose or just don't get paid off. the reason i will get only 10 to 1 if i know they got AA or KK is because if i do hit i'm more likely to get paid off. if i open the pot w/a pocket pair in the early going i often limp/call(a raise) because i often still get good odds do do so. if i raise then get reraisd i most likely dont get these odds and are forced to fold.

I play em to the flop every time!......... Of course, I also loose alot. LOL im a newbie and in no position to give advice but im glad this thread was started cause i just learned somethin and maybe i wont play all my hands the same way from now on. but i do have to say, if i have lost or folded out of 5 hands in a row... i play the 6th hand to the end no matter what (barring a obvious loosing hand that requires me to go all in.) and it hasnt failed me yet. but of course,....... i loose ...alot. jk

Small pairs up front can burn up a lot of your chips. Be extremely careful with small pairs - you're hoping to flop a set as cheaply as possible since you will throw them away most of the time. If you play from early position, you can't afford to call if someone behind you raises the pot.

i love them so much in the right circumstances and for the right price.

In my opinion you play those small and medium pairs very well. Many
people tend to raise hard with these, hoping to get a coinflip or steal the
pot, but what they dont realise is that they could be putting themselves
up to get hanged... You should usually call with a small pair, but not a
strong raise... The thing is u know that if you catch that trio you are gonna
win and the only thing that is relevant now is how much you suck out
of the other players. The moderate pairs could be raised with but with
cossion and in the right position. Position is very important, and its important
to analise your opponents moves in the process, to see if they give any
hit of them having a monster.

I think pair small pairs are really tricky. I think each hand is so situation that's its so hard to just give a set way to play them. I take position, stack size, player tendenious all into consideration when playing small-middle pocket pairs. I personally in early postion tend to fold most small pocket pairs. I never limp in with a pocket pair in early position. In middle position I expand my range to include 66+. Also I try not limp in but I do when I know to my left I have a loose aggressive player. Now in late position I play all small pairs unless I face a huge raise or a 3 bet. Now when the flop comes the texture of the flop really determines how I play it out. If I was the raiser I will take a stab and it hoping to pick up the pot and if I get a caller. I will be very cautious. That's how I play small and middle pocket pairs. I couuld be totally wrong.

Hello, and thank you for your questions and comments!

Small pairs can be difficult to play, but I think if you stick to a conservitive approach, you will see a profit. I would play 99 like I play TT and JJ's. In early position (when you have a relativly healthy stack, like at the begining of the tourney), you need to play a mixed strategy of raising and calling with these hands. I like 70 percent raise, 30 percent call. But remember, when you do raise, you should raise a larger amount than with the premium pairs, since you prefer to win the pot right away. While they are probabaly the best hand at table right now(preflop), the become difficult to play when they are called and overcards appear on the board. With Hands like these I like to raise four to five times the big blind givin that noone has entered the pot yet.
With hands like 88, 77, 66 , these hands are obviously weaker, and have to be played accordingly. You will still play these hands in early position, but with more caution. You want to limp in with these low-middle pairs, but you need a mix in a few raises for the sake of deception. I like a mix of 20 percent raises, 80 percent calls. If you are in middle position, it's a little trickier, You can play third position the same as the earlier positions, in fourth, raise with 88, but limp with 77 and 66. In fifth position, you should switch over to raising with all three pairs. In late position, these are all raising hands. I like a mix of 75 percent raise, and 25 percent call. And finally, the lower pairs like 55, 44, 33, 22 are dangerous for two reasons. Low pairs are, of course beaten by high pairs, In addition, however, low pairs can be counterfeited when high pairs appear on the board.
Now lets say your in fifth position, and someone calls in third position then play 99 with 50/50 mix of calls and raise. 88-22 you will get slightly better pot odds with the small pairs, so you can call with 88, 77, and 66. On the button, instead of fifth position, I would call with all these pairs. With the lower pairs, your hoping to flop trips or catch and otherwise exceptionally favorable flop.
One more senerio. Lets say your on the button, The player in third position raised three times the big blind, and the player in fifth position raised nine times the big blind. Then with 99-22 you should just call. If you floip trips, you can look foward to winning a big pot. If not, you can let the hand go with out having invested too much.

*A note on inflection play- small pairs become unplayable in early position late in a tournament when your stack is shrinking, because the implied odds don't make up for the times that you don't hit your hand big. But also not, that when you are severly short stacked, the become very playable, and you can be very aggressive with them.

good luck
Luckytokenz

--As long as we are lucky we attribute it to our smartness; our bad luck we give the gods credit for.--
Josh Billing

This coming from the jackass that called a reraise w/5's to lose half my stack to a bigger pair...i could kick myself. Damn you gambling doof!!

I agree...
Chip Killers if you play them to many times.
Catching the set on the FLop if it's cheap.
Early position is tricky

Good Luck

these threads tilt me so hard and yet i read them sigh...the correct answer is it depends, stack sizes, type of game, how many players at the table, what kind of table etc etc etc etc etc.

that tells us alot

I will generally limp with mid pockets to try and see a flop. If there has been a raise I will consider how big my pockets are, how much the raise is and how many players are behind me. Depending on stack sizes I may fold or shove.

If it has been folded to me in late position I will always raise no matter how big my pockets are hoping to steal.

Hi.

Like you said, depends on the bets and depends on how many guys pay the BB. Most of the times i just pay the BB, if someone rises depends on how that specific player plays. If he's a jackal i'll pay his rise, otrewise don't.

Don't hate yourself because of leting go wining hads, that's negative only for you, because next hand you'll play aggresive and you'll lost for sure.

Bye.
manalva

If it's a cash game, I open with every pair, because that way you make the pot bigger and if you hit you get way more value than just limping. Ofcourse you can take to pot down right there without seeing a flop. In tournament it really depends on the situation, in middle stages and 20-30BB deep you sometimes have to fold small pair preflop etc.

Depends I would tend on a few things, the basics if someone whom I have a read on makes alot of pre flop raises with, I can normally come over the top of them with a pocket pair. Yet having a mid ranged pocket pair, I like to access the flop and see what transpires based apon my hand. For Instance if the set hasn't come and I see a flush out there and 1 of the 2 cards I need is part of that flush, I hardly will play the hand from there. If I see that there is the possibility of someone having trips on the flop, if I get a chance to see the turn for cheap, I do make the call. Yes giving out ammo to them just to see the turn can be costly as well in the long run, but it does give the chance to catch an unseen fullhouse.

Yet there are times as well I will just limp, like any other cards, nothing hits, someone bets, instant fold.

I never play anything less than 77 from early position and even in late position I am very cautious with low pocket pairs.

I avoid playing 7-7 or less pairs early, 5-5 or less in middle position becuase of the number of players to act behind me

I will usually fold small pocket pair UTG and in Early Position. Also, I will fold AQ os and lesser hands UTG and Early Position under normal conditions.

I late postion, with several players it may be worth it to call a bet.
And, fold if you do not hit a set.

But, cirsumstances dictate many actions.

mange

I like to open with pocket pairs from any position if it's early game, but as far as calling goes with pocket pairs I try to make sure I have 10:1, or 11:1, implied pot odds because that's what you need to make sure it's +EV in the long run. In the later stages I fold 22-55 from early position, but I still like to raise sometimes if I'm deep enough for it, say 30BBs or more.

i think i just hate pocket pairs below 8s after the blinds are 60+ because 90% online players are A-rag donkeys and the site rewards them 91% of the times so its better to play A-rag than small pairs..

i like to raise to about 2.5xbb to get one or two calls to give me value when i do hit my set which happens about 1 in 5 times getting more players into the flop gives you extra value when you do hit