Pocket Pair Pre-Flop

I was just wondering how people may play pocket pairs pre-flop. I usually like to limp or call a moderate raise if they are TT or lower, and raise if I am on the button or 1 off the button and the pot has not been opened and there is not an excess of limpers. From there I evaluate my next move after the flop. Please share your thoughts.

Those are my thoughts.

alot of ppl will try to set mine. if its a middle to low pp. they'll see a flop as cheap as possible hopin to catch their set. but if its kk or aa. they play hard unless the board doesnt pan out

From early Position I would play 10s up (9 handed tbl). From middle position i would play 7s up. Any any pocket pair from the late position. Did I say I would raise with these hands in an unopen pot. If a player raises I would tend to 3bet with what reads I have on him or call and set min.

This is not write clearly so i am sorry. Very long day at work

If I'm opening the pot, I'm raising. Never limping. I don't want to hit a set in an unraised pot. Just a waste.

Playing small pairs is a balance of factors.

I guess the big factors are:
1) Are stacks big enough to justify set mining?
2) How likely am I to win the pot pre-flop?
2) How likely is the person to put a lot of chips in if you do hit a set?
3) How likely is the villain to fold post flop (if he misses, or to a steal, or to a scare card?).

Your ability to get paid off when you hit a set is vital. Your odds of flopping a set with a pocket pair is 8.3 to 1. Often when you flop a set it misses other players, so you don't get paid off post-flop and win a small pot. This hurts your overall average return, so you need to be fairly likely to win more than 8.3-to-1 to counteract the times when they fold post flop and in order for set mining to be profitable long term. I'd say you need have a reasonable chance at winning 10 to 15 times your initial investment.

In early stages of MTT's there are plently of bad players who seem eager to overplay hands like top-pair, and invest way too much money defending their not-so-good hands. Also, people have huge stacks compared to the blinds, so you can get in cheap and these people will pay off 20x your return. So early on, I'll probably just limp with a small pair as there there are too many callers who play garbage. When they miss you win very little post-flop. If they do hit something you can overcharge them post-flop. There's no reason to invest chips to build a pot pre-flop when you can do the same thing if you hit the set.

For most of the game though, I prefer to open pre-flop with a small pair, especially in late position. This gives me my best chance at winning as people can fold pre-flop to give me the blinds, or post-flop I can c-bet and take it down as 2/3 of the time the flop doesn't help them.

To call a raise, you need to be sure that there are enough chips to justify the call because you no longer have the fold equity.

With 25/50 blinds and a 1,500 stack and the big stack at the table opens to 150, you should probably just fold your 5/5 *unless* you have position on him and he is especially passive post flop (and if you are confident in your post flop play).

With 25/50 blinds and a 4,000 stack and a villain with 1,200 opens to 150 you should probably fold as well, as you can only win a total of 1,200 off him which isn't enough to make the play profitable in the long term.

With 25/50 blinds and a 4,000 stack and the big stack opens to 150 I am eager to call.

With 25/50 blinds and a 1,500 stack in late position or any of the blinds, and a total nit opens to 150 under the gun I call with my 5/5. In the BB or SB it only costs me 100 or 125 more to call, and in late position I have position on him post-flop. The big reason for the call though, is that a nit under the gun is substantially more likely to have a big hand that will be dominated if you hit a set, so my potential payoff can be less and still be profitable long term because when I hit it I'm much more likely to get his stack. For example, if he has K/K and the flop is 4/5/Q you are usually going to get all of his chips. If he has A/K and the flop has an A or a K you will get all of his chips. Of if he has A/K and the flop is 4/7/Q (totally missing your 5/5) he'll check and you can take the pot. There's just so many way to win.

in short > it depends, it depends, it depends.
It depends on what game we're referring to here for starters.
Poker is rarely black & white... things are situational.

Against a deep-stacked opponent and a reasonable sized bet I'm showing up to the majority of flops with a PP. Remember, if your opponent doesn't already have a pair, he's only going to flop a pair about 36% of the time provided nobody holds his outs.You're going to flop a set about 12% of the time. While if you have 22 and he has AK, if you both hit the flop you're likely to stack him, and if a garbage flop comes out and you raise his C-Bet you are likely to get him off his hand/force him to get his money in bad.I'm much more aggressive than the average cardschat panda though. Definitely factor in your position, your reads, and board texture (as well as stacks, my favorite part of poker) when you make your decision.A pair always beats ace high until the board pairs twice with two overs.

I agree with it being situational. Position, the players, pot size, etc. There's no one way to play them or any other hand for that matter.

I agree with all of the above. I play 6-max only and tend to play quite aggressively, so will usually see a flop with 66 and below, and raise everything else.

General rule pre-flop for me with small pockets is if its going to cost me more than one tenth of my stack, I'm folding.

One thing that I do I raise with pocket pair down to 8's and limp in with the rest. If I don't hit a set with the smaller pairs I fold before the action get too much