How to play small pocket pairs

Usually small pocket pairs are played for the principal objective of catching
a trio, cause what that happens you have the real potential of earning,
hopefully from someone with a good hand himself, but now exactly should
you play them in the different positions and in different circumstances?
For example, on the button, everyone folds to you? Should u raise you win
right there or just call? What about early position, you call and someone
raises 4BBs? Whats the limit to the amount you should call? Any and all
opinions are appriciated, THANX!

Depending on the size of the pair I have, I may throw out a raise on the button if it hasn't been opened up yet. For the most part though, I just try and set mine with them. The implied odds with the small pocket pairs can really add up. Calling a raise depends on the person making the raise for the most part. For example if he is very tight I would most likely just let it go

The smaller the pair, the later my position has to be to open with it, unless the table is getting short-handed, then I might switch it up a bit.

I will play PP diff i depending on the spot. UTG I usually don`t even play them if there 9s or smaller. If I`m in late postion and it`s a limped pot then I`ll obv see the flop. If I`m in the cut off or on the button and 1st to act I may raise it but it also deprnds on the type of players.

Also depends on if I am feeling aggressive that night or not. Or if I feel that the table might see me as playing tight, then I could possibly open with a decent raise in middle position and try to run them out.

I like to see a flop with them but i will not call a 4XBB raise with anything under 5s. It also depends on the size of my stack at the time. Imo ya don't wanna chase too much with low pocket pairs. Hope this helps....

Even 55/66/77.. is a pretty risky call for a 4xBB bet pre-flop

I like to limp or call a 3x raise with them. I will call a bigger raise if others have called since you getting good odds and implied odds. People might disagree limping, but at micro stakes people will pay your sets off often enough to not fold them. Besides sets, you will occasionally hit straights and it's hard to put someone on the same card as you. I never draw past the flop if I miss unless someone is giving me really good odds. For example a guy bets .50 on the flop when $6 in the pot. Then he checks the turn, giving me two more draws really cheap.

@begley01 - If he bets .50 into $6 and then checks on the next street, you should bet. The first bet was a measly probe and because you called, he probably figures you have the hand.

More often referred to as 'Set Mining'. Proceed with caution.

In EP, the idea is to see the flop cheap. In LP it is worth raising to steal the pot. Ideally you are opening the action.

I think it is very important to have a feel for the players at the table. So if you just sat down, get 44 in EP, just save yourself some hassle and fold em. If however, you have a read on the table and players and know it to be pretty tight, you could raise or even limp with that 44 hand. In LP, I think I prefer the raise into an unopened pot, rather than a limp in.

Don't go broke without hitting that set. Be very aware that counterfeiting seems to happen more often that you would hope. So if the flop provides an overpair, beware. Likewise, if the flop shows an underpair, you have and advantage if a 2nd pair shows on the board. We all watch Ax bet at those 2p boards, and you, holding a higher 2nd pair, are often in the catbirds seat.

between my opinion, what i read, and what i've seen.
i will/have folded small PP in early pos. w/ 4xBB bet or any bet for that matter - early pos. try to limp. now on the other hand if the table is loose i will see a reasonable raise if my chip stack allows it.
in late pos. they're the best, love having sm. PP. there again depends on the table wether to limp or raise, if i'm short stacked just about always an instant shove.
now i read somewhere that the minimum for early position should be P-9's, can't recall where i read it, but it stuck with me as a guide line. not that i always stick to it as a rule, but it is useful to me depending on the table.

what is your table image? is this general play, tournies, ring games?

for instance if i'm playing real tight and conservative and the table is just right i can raise and they'll fold, which is not always what you want - you want some action.
so in otherwords if your playing reasonably tight prior to getting your small PP you can bet to isolate, which will better your chances.
now on the other hand if your loose, like i can be sometimes - want to see as many flops as possible - "they will not respect your raise" so if opening with small PP early position and betting you will get called the majority of the time, i'm pretty sure. because when they see me playing loose and in a lot of hands my raises aren't respected. my experience is 1/3 of players will call. unless i show down some tight hands during this loose play.
i'm sure there's something in here that will make sense to you, hope you find your way.
"take it to the tables" peace and gl

I will usually always raise preflop with pocket pairs no matter what position im at or how small the pocket pair is, ill never play pocket pairs in hope to flop the set,IMO you should keep as many people from seeing a flop and hope your opponent didn't flop the over cards. and the only reason i won't raise my pocket pair preflop is if i know my opponents at the table are calling stations where i will most likely not flop a set and i will not be able to get them to fold.

Well

Well, it depends on the raiser to begin with, are you playing
tight or aggressive. Usually the tight player will get more respect
when raising with small prs and most players will fold to their raise.
The aggressive player will normally get action when he wants it, and
to get maby one caller and all low cards hit the flop is the best outcome
for this player. On the other hand, raising on the button, like i said it
depends or how your playing yourself. hope this helps
GoodLuck and hope to see you on the felt.

as a general rule of thumb, what I do is anything lower then 10's I just try to see the flop as cheap as possible, if i dont hit a set on the flop or if overcards flop i get out if raised. 10's or higher i will raise to try to push the trash out so if facecards drop i have a better idea what my opponents have.

It all depends on table size...nine handed out of position small pairs are trash...short handed in position they are incredibly valuable and should be played as such...It's important not to overplay or get too invested with such hands early in a hand, as if you are against an overpair, you are in one the worst percentage positions in poker.

Thanx for the opinions guys! most of the pocket pairs i play tend to get me
in trouble :S, and hopefully ill be able to make a few more bucks now with
em. But at what point should i fold a pocket pair like 8s for example? how
big of a raise and in what position? if i were in late and i call and i get a 4
BB raise, should i fold? what are the limits for certain circumstances,
whichever they may be? these are the little things and id like ta know.
Thanx again guys!

small pair? i think you should fold except you're at late position.

I'm rarely folding pocket 8's unless there is a big raise in front or if a 3-4 x bb bet has been called/reraised by at least 1 player.

With any small pp I'll limp when I can to set mine, don't invest to heavily till you've hit a set or better, or perhaps if I have a good feel from experience the villian is pushing missed high cards (AK etc.) at a junk low card flop. On the button, I'll probably raise enough to steal the blinds. Much depends on how wide the hand ranges are at the table, without that info it's hard to realy say how to play any small pockets effectively. For the most part, keep it cheap till you see the flop unless you know you can steal the blinds.

Play too tight and muck every pp under 10's and you'll find the blinds will break you if the players at the table don't do it first. Download some of ChuckT's, Zach's and FP's videos from here and watch how they play, you'll learn volumes from them.

I agree with some of the answers here that position is key when playing small pocket pairs. I probably limp in with pocket pairs in early position almost 90% of the time; even if I'm in late position I might do a min-raise to build the pot in expectation of flopping the set.

Note that when you're holding PPs you only have an 11% chance of flopping a set. So I usually limp in and if I get lucky and flop a set, then I'll come in pot-size bet or if I see any flush or straight draw cards then maybe a 1.2xP or 1.5xP to chase away any chasers. They'll usually get the message and fold.

thepokerjunky said:

Usually small pocket pairs are played for the principal objective of catching
a set, cause what that happens you have the real potential of earning,
hopefully from someone with a good hand himself, but now exactly should
you play them in the different positions and in different circumstances?
For example, on the button, everyone folds to you? Should u raise you win
right there or just call? What about early position, you call and someone
raises 4BBs? Whats the limit to the amount you should call? Any and all
opinions are appriciated, THANX!

Click to expand...

If its folded to me and I am in middle to late position, I will usually always raise, usually 3xbb. I hate to open limp, but sometimes, if i even feel like playing a small pair utg etc i might limp just so if I run into a huge raise (someone who wants to shove or some crazy 8xbb)I can fold with no real loss, but I will usually call a regular raise of around the 3xbb, just to see a flop and just see how it goes from there.

I will limp in with small pair, and even call a raise with 55 and lower, and if i am on the button i may raise....
If i see higher cards i may fold unless it is checked to me, and if i hit trips i raise it up...
P.S I have been reading alot of what the pros say, they say if you can see the flop cheap call, can be a big pay off.

how big the raise is doesnt matter to me so much. what matters is the size of our stacks. if it cost me less than 5% of shorter stack then i will get enough what they call implied odds. what a want is to be able to win atleast 20 to 1 on my money. early in a tourney i will often limp w/small pairs(even bigger pairs). so if i get raised i still may be getting the right odds to call. if i raise then get reraised i most likely won't. if i figure i cannot get these odds it either raise or fold. the reason i say 20 to 1 odds and it's only 7.5 to 1 odds to flop a set. is because lots of time you flop a set you won't get paid off. but the size of the raise doesnt matter so much unless you know be it he got AA or KK. then you can play w/even less implied odds say 10 to 1 as you will more likely get paid if you hit a set and the got an over pair. hope this helps.

It depends so much on position and also on the players at the table. In late position or button I would always raise wth them but in early position I am always wary if they are 66 or lower. With 77 I would raise from anywhere but perhaps keep the raise down a bit. It is difficult to play low pocket pairs well and it also needs the luck of the flop.

I usually don't call large raises and will raise 3x if I'm in LP. Table dependent though.

always limp in is what i do.....small raise i call.....big raise just fold.....
the chances of flopping tripps is NOT much!!!!
22 is good against AK if AK doesnt hit the board.....
but how sure are u? can u read the player raising with AK?????
in freerolls pocket pair is almost a sure call??
NO......depends on how many players in the hand!!!!
how much will this cost your stack if you dont hit it?????

also to me....the most important thing is...are u up against a aggressive player??cause u know he's not gonna stop betting!!
so how far are u gonna go with JJ if flop is AQ10?????
and he raised pre....and wont stop betting??

me.....takes me 2 seconds to fold.....
unless i'm super chip lead and there aint no stopping me!!! LOLLLLL
I love that feeling.....but.....it sure doesnt come often!!!