pocket 99, 1010, JJ, and QQ.. how to play them?

Should i play them like i do my lower pocket pairs, call in low and try to hit trips, and if i dont then fold unless the flop is all lower than the pocket pair. or should i raise preflop to like 3 or 4 x BB, but there is such a high percentage that a higher card will appear on the flop that will easily scare anyone off.

So how do you play these hands? and we could even trim it down to just 1010 JJ and QQ because 99 is kind of in the middle of being a medium pocket pair.

This is very table/opponent specific. It also changes a lot whether we're talking about tournaments or cash games. I'm making the assumption that it's cash, if you're only interested in tournaments then ignore me, also even in cash games you're going to need to adjust which pocket pair falls into what part of your range a lot depending on position/opponents etc.

Just because I find it difficult to explain that select group on it's own, my opinion on pocket pairs in general:

Small pocket pairs, roughly 22-66 have very little showdown value and will usually only win pots by hitting a set or bluffing (possibly with the best hand). There will be some spots where you win decent pots with them unimproved but usually your EV isn't that great because all you can beat is air or a draw and that range almost invariably strengthens greatly by the river.

The reason I mention small pockets is because I don't think you can call everything less than TT small pockets, 77-99 (or 77-JJ depending on circumstances) have some value as a one pair hand, they beat SCers that caught a pair, they beat small pockets and ace high, their showdown value is enough that playing them only for sets is wasting them. This range doesn't play very well against tight players in 3bet/4bet pots and is either set mining or trying to pick of AK, however against more aggressive opponents and calling stations 99-JJ can definately start entering your pre-flop all in range at 100bb deep or less.

QQ is almost never a mistake to get all of your chips in pre-flop with. Play it very aggressively pre-flop and learn to play it well post-flop (when to play for stacks and when to pot control or fold). AA/KK are obviously in the same group as QQ in that it's almost never a mistake to keep raising pre-flop (and often a mistake to call). Apart from anything else playing these hands fast is important for a balanced 3bet/4bet range. The main difference between QQ and AA is that as stacks grow past 150bb or so it is usually a mistake to get QQ all in pre-flop (150bb may be debatable depending on how agressively you play, but bigger stacks = bad for QQ). You're also going to have a lot more way ahead/way behind situations with QQ.

pocket q and Jacks i would raise, pocket nine will call but if i don't hit a set or if the board shows lower card then nines i would keep going but more carfully

Mmm... In some tight situations against some opponents who I have no read on or who have tight/aggressive stats I would flat here to a 3 bet in position on villain. When the flop comes if I am checked to with QQ being an over pair or no action on a AK high flop I will bet out 2/3rd pot, and if re-raised, well, I'm SOL. 70% of the time villain may be representing 99 TT JJ out of position and a 2/3rd pot bet on an AK high flop will get him to fold 75% of the time when holding middle under pairs. I do this mostly because you save your self the money from 4 betting and seeing a AK high board. It will benefit you a lot to flat a 3 bet in position and set mine against a really tight/aggressive player.

If I am the original raiser and get 3 bet into out of position. My action depends on the other player in the hand. Playing QQ out of position sucks especially when villain is representing KK or AA, or maybe even AKs. A 4 bet here from early to middle positions should let you know you may be behind in the hand, again this is very opponent specific, if your villain is 64/40 I would definitely stack off to isolate him and to prevent action behind me.

It depends.


There are no hard and fast rules. Are you blind versus blind? 6 handed? 9 handed? Early position? Late position? Late position with limpers ahead? In the blinds with limpers ahead? In the blinds facing a late position raise? In the blinds facing an early position raise? Playing a freeroll? Playing with play money? It's not ideal to play these hands the same every time in in every situation.


You have to look at your cards, look at your position, look at the actions ahead of you, look at the players styles behind you, evaluate the strength of your hand relative to any players that have already shown interest. Do you have a card advantage? Do you have a positional advantage? Do you have a skill advantage?

If you open raise 22 from late position and you know that the blinds always call and fold to a flop bet, then do it. If you have a raise in front and you call with 88, you can't always fold when the player bets the flop (well, maybe until you have a feel of why and when not to fold you should fold). If you raise 88 and get called, bet the flop and everyone folds, then keep doing it.

But again, if you're playing play money or only freerolls then it's a crapshoot as to the best way to play them. Don't play QQ weakly though; it's one of the best preflop hands.

It depends on my position, the action before me, and what kind of players are left to act after me. My 77-JJ range fluctuates between call/raise/fold depending on the situation. Small pockets are straight forward. QQ-AA are always a raise regardless of what's going on before or after me. Your stated ranges fall different than what I consider premium starting pockets, pockets that require some decision, and then back to the lower but still straight forward pocket pairs which you try to get in cheap and hope for a set.

-Raymond

All depends is my basic response but I just wanted to relate a recient pocket Js story, I am in middle position (4000 stack) and I call the BB (200) but button raises 500 who I know is a tight player I call and two other call. Flop is 6 Q J, it checks around to button who makes a 500 bet again and I am the only caller, turn is A, I check and button bets 1000 and I call again, river is another A and I go all in and button calls, he has me covered, I turn over full house Js over As and he only has QK. So my point is he hit top pair and felt comfortable betting and me just calling kept him in the pot for as long as possible, my worst case is that I let him catch a bigger full house if he is holding A with a match to the board or QQ or worse yet AA. Anyway it worked out.

One thing to keep in mind be it cash game or tourney. If you make different size bets, from the same position, people who are paying attention will catch on and soon discover what hand you have. In other words changing your bet depending on hand strength is giving away information.

Example. If I raise from the CO with 99 QQ and AK with 3x the BB which one do I have right now? But if I bet 3x when I have QQ and 4x when I have 99 or AK it starts to become more obvious.

Gotta say when you have opponents in cash games that pick up on that you can definitely use it to your advantage, if you are smart.

I play with a lot of regs live and it's extremely important to change up your game constantly to have the upper hand. If a reg is picking up on your raises you need to adjust constantly, bet sizing needs to differ constantly, and if villain thinks a donk bet is exactly that and you bluff him out of a hand the next time he may call when you're holding a set of aces when you limped from the CO.

It depends. It always does.. your position,your stack,your opponent's stack,his image,your image.. Plus you always got to mix it up or someone will figure you have 88 on a 10 2 9 and get you off easily if you play the same way you do everytime.

Depends on many things. Position, opponents, table image, chip stack, action before you.....
You should mix your play: call and raise.

I think some of you are over valuing a balanced range.

No, you don't want to be predictable. However most people here play in the micros online, almost no one will have a sample size on you >200 (usually much less) at $10nl and lower and the ones that do, we can trust a large percentage of them to either be TAGfish who are incapable of adjusting to anything or to be just plain unobservent. Your ranges should be a little balanced, say to the point of keeping raise sizes similar so that you're not making things painfully obvious, beyond that balancing is costing you money.

To put it another way, often the more unexploitable you become the lower your ability to exploit others becomes. Balancing makes you unpredicatable and difficult to play against but it does so at the cost of taking the most optimal line in an individual hand.

Even once your opponents have played enough hands with you to have solid reads on you, playing a hand differently just for the sake of balance is usually bad and playing it differently as they adjust in order to exploit their adjustments is good.


I'm not entirely sure if any of this is even coherent, but the point I'm trying to make is that you should seriously evaluate WHY you're balancing your range and not just do it because you're supposed to.

with QQ or JJ i would definately raise pre-flop, but not to much..
if u have overpair i would just bet like 1/3 to 1/2 of the pot on the flop, if he calls me u might reconsider checking on the turn to keep the potsize at a minimal level in a marginal situation (this also depends on what kinda flop u have.. flush or straight draws on it or not). if he has you beaten u eliminate the possibility of he pushing after your bet.. if you have him beaten he might just try to bluff after you showed some weakness by checking on the turn.