Low Pocket Pair vs. position

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skin_ak

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Just looking for some general guidelines and philosophy

In late position, if it''s already been raised, I will fold.

In late position, if it''s limped to me, should you limp or raise?
Limp is for set mining.
Raise is to isolate to 1 player and then C-bet (or set mine)

What about early position?
I never know how to play low PP.
Maybe limp set mine in a passive table.
But, aggro table will raise your limp.
So, do you raise hoping for a C-bet against 1 player?
Or just fold on aggo table?
 
roger perkins

roger perkins

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I could probably write for an hour on how I play low pocket pairs.
EARLY POSITION
LOOSE AGGRESSIVE TABLE I probably fold
LOOSE PASSIVE TABLE I can either limp in if the table has a lot of limpers
OR I can raise and isolate to a few callers
TIGHT TABLE I can either raise 3 to 4x to try and take it down early or 2 to 3x to to limit the callers and to allow me to exit if a tight player 3 bets an aggressive amount
MIDDLE POSITION
FOLDED TO ME probably raise
LIMPERS IN FRONT OF ME call maybe even raise
RAISE IN FRONT OF ME if the pot odds say call I call
LATE POSITION
FOLDED TO ME raise
LIMPERS TO ME another call maybe even raise depending on what I think each action will accomplish
RAISED TO ME I will again go by pot odds
IF I HAVE SOMEONE BEHIND ME THAT OFTEN 4BETS no matter what position Im probably going to fold. I dont want to risk too many chips with a small pair.

After the flop I react to the players and what I think they will do. If I raised preflop Im 90% probably going to C bet trying to say I hit or I am better than those cards or if i know the players will fold to a C bet. Now if someone in front of me bets Im probably looking at outs and pot odds if I didnt hit and If I did hot im going to do what I think will extract the most chips and determine what the board is telling me to do.
When playing a low set Im really looking to get 3 or 4 players in hoping they are playing high cards and hoping they pair up when I flop the set.

Having said all that it also depends on the stage of the tournament, how many chips I have and the stack sizes Im up against. So I know that may not have helped you but to sum it up. You need to play position and the people and then the cards.
If you think Im full of it dont be afraid of telling me so.
 
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Oxinthewater

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roger perkins said:
I could probably write for an hour on how I play low pocket pairs.
EARLY POSITION
LOOSE AGGRESSIVE TABLE I probably fold
LOOSE PASSIVE TABLE I can either limp in if the table has a lot of limpers
OR I can raise and isolate to a few callers
TIGHT TABLE I can either raise 3 to 4x to try and take it down early or 2 to 3x to to limit the callers and to allow me to exit if a tight player 3 bets an aggressive amount
MIDDLE POSITION
FOLDED TO ME probably raise
LIMPERS IN FRONT OF ME call maybe even raise
RAISE IN FRONT OF ME if the pot odds say call I call
LATE POSITION
FOLDED TO ME raise
LIMPERS TO ME another call maybe even raise depending on what I think each action will accomplish
RAISED TO ME I will again go by pot odds
IF I HAVE SOMEONE BEHIND ME THAT OFTEN 4BETS no matter what position Im probably going to fold. I dont want to risk too many chips with a small pair.

After the flop I react to the players and what I think they will do. If I raised preflop Im 90% probably going to C bet trying to say I hit or I am better than those cards or if i know the players will fold to a C bet. Now if someone in front of me bets Im probably looking at outs and pot odds if I didnt hit and If I did hot im going to do what I think will extract the most chips and determine what the board is telling me to do.
When playing a low set Im really looking to get 3 or 4 players in hoping they are playing high cards and hoping they pair up when I flop the set.

Having said all that it also depends on the stage of the tournament, how many chips I have and the stack sizes Im up against. So I know that may not have helped you but to sum it up. You need to play position and the people and then the cards.
If you think Im full of it dont be afraid of telling me so.
Click to expand...

This is a good post which largely sums up how I think about them too.

The only point I'd expand on is looking for shorter stacks to your left - be aware that they will push wide. Your and their stack sizes will determine whether that's good or not, but in either case the chance of stealing is going to be reduced for each SS.
 
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Powell

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I think you say all in on the pre flop or you just call and you wait get 3rd or 4th same cards.
 
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osvimanCC

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For me it depends.

Because the low pairs 55-22 in early position, are not great hands to start with.
I know that set mining could be a good thing to do, but not in this position; you could face a 3 bet, a squeeze, or a cold 4bet and with you low PP the only thing you have left is FOLD.

Another thing you have to consider is the Rake. You can't win a lot of hands pre-flop with your low PP (especially if you limp) so that means that you're gonna see the flop, but you are gonna make a set only 1 out of 8 times and the 7 times left you're gonna waste your 3 blinds.

So my advice is to play the next ranges:
UTG: 66+
MP: 55+
CO: 44+
BTN: 22+


Hope I can help.

:9h4: :9s4:
 
sharipov8090

sharipov8090

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Small pairs are always played with small losses of chips. 22,33,44,55,66,77,88,99.Something higher you can raise the bid with complete confidence.the winning percentage will be higher the higher your pocket pair.
 
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dgroes

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skin_ak said:
Just looking for some general guidelines and philosophy

In late position, if it''s already been raised, I will fold.

In late position, if it''s limped to me, should you limp or raise?
Limp is for set mining.
Raise is to isolate to 1 player and then C-bet (or set mine)

What about early position?
I never know how to play low PP.
Maybe limp set mine in a passive table.
But, aggro table will raise your limp.
So, do you raise hoping for a C-bet against 1 player?
Or just fold on aggo table?
Click to expand...

it really depends on your strategy and how the table is. Oh geez if you are on an agro table and early position with PP, i dont really find it logical to just open Cbet specially when you number of BBs are not really that big at all. as a big stack you can easily get off doing the opposite since you have the chips for it.
 
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noyourenot

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I'll look at pot odds and stack sizes of villains (implied odds). Flopped sets are great money makers.
I might fold them pre-flop, depending on the situation, but when it makes sense I'm either calling or raising with them.
The raise has the benefit of your hand being well disguised when you hit that set.
 
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1nsomn1a

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Low pocket pairs are well played in big pots and with good potential chances to recoup all those cases when you do not catch a set and when the opponent gets his card.


Against one opponent, you want to win the pot without a showdown, you need to play more aggressively, but give up on reraises on the turn and river, in multi-slot it is better not to put a lot of chips in the pot and hope for a set.:)
 
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Hsac

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Low Pockets

I must say I fold more low pockets than I play. But when I stay in, it's usually on or close to the button, or on the big blind. If everyone, or almost everyone, folds ahead of me I might put in a good size raise to try and get it down to one opponent. If I hit the set, I check if the board is rainbow and check raise when my opponent bets. If something looks threatening on the board like a possible draw, then I bet heavy or push to try and drive my opponent out.

If I don't hit the set, I usually do about the same thing without the heavy betting or pushing. Either way, there will be no checking through. A bet will be on the table.
 
Therminator

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There's so many ways to play low pocket pairs. I'd say personally in late position, if someone raises I'll probably call. If someone three bets before it gets to me in late position than I'll definitely fold.
 
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