How do you play small pairs?

[TeUnit]

We need more info, but in a vacuum

with 10bbs
utg shoving TT or better - folding worse pairs
utg +3 shoving 99 or better - folding worse pairs
hijack shoving 88 or better - folding worse pairs
cutoff shoving 66 or better - folding worse pairs
btn shoving 33 or better - folding worse pairs
sb shoving 22 or better - folding worse pairs

in the bb I am calling with 44 to 22 depending on how light the sb is shoving

 

[billiamwedge]

If you are deep enough (25bb or more) you have a lot of maneuverability with pocket 2-8's and can either choose to set mine by calling a raise and seeing the flop, or re raising to get opponents off of overcards (K10, QJ, ect.) but if you are short stacked (8bb or less), you have to come to a decision based on push fold charts, but the way I see it is any pocket pair under 9s is going to be a garunteed flip with any hand thats calling a shove (AJ, AQ, KQ, etc.). Theres no reason to shy away from your pocket 4s if you are really short and need to shove, its the same as any pocket pair at that point.

 

[Backlash]

Easy....Both situations.......Play them like very carefully or play them like you have the NUTS!!!

Two Outcomes

 

[ph_il]

Easy....Both situations.......Play them like very carefully or play them like you have the NUTS!!!

Two Outcomes

ah yes, the ol' 49.5/49.5 approach to playing any poker hand: you either win or you don't. every hand can win and every hand can lose, am i right? and if you're either winning 49.5% of the time or losing 49.5% of the time, you're breaking even in the long run. you just need to balance out the hands you win/lose with so they're even.

checkmate, gto.

(1% is for the rare split pots.)

 

[donpiatnik]

10.1 bbs

in this case also all in!

 

[nuttea]

How do you play a small pocket pair in middle position at:

1) Deep stack tourney with more than 10 blinds
2) Turbo tournaments with less than 10 blinds

The ability to open certain small pocket pairs depends on the position. At a 9-max table to UTG and UTG + 1 they should be folded. We won't be able to profitably defend against 3-bets in these early positions, and with so many players behind us, the likelihood of facing aggression is quite high. And against the caller, playing a small pocket out of position on a board with overcards is still a pleasure! At UTG + 2 we can already open 55+.For comparison, at a 6-handed table, as a rule, we can open all the pockets from all positions. The only exceptions are tables with a large number of loose-aggressive players, the threat of a raise from which makes the smallest pockets unplayable from UTG. Yes, and for novice players, I would recommend playing only 66+ from an early position, so as not to create difficult spots for themselves postflop.

 

[GRIN281289]

If you have a small stack, then you can go all-in, if you play then a bet of 4 big blinds.

 

[tourpro99]

1. Min raise or float, just trying to set mine
2. Usually fold depending on position though

 

[IntenseHeat]

My general poker philosophy is to raise with any hand that I decide to play to try to limit the number of players in the hand. My standard raise is 3x + 1x for each limper in the pot in front of me. With small pairs, I'm basically set mining, so I don't want to get too carried away pre-flop with a hand that I might have to throw away after the flop. At the same time I don't want to broadcast weakness by putting in a smaller raise or limping.

One of the benefits of being seen as a tight player who doesn't raise light is that I can often pick up the blinds and antes simply by raising. But like I said I don't want to get too carried away with small pairs pre-flop, so I probably won't go above 3x even with limpers in front of me. And, depending on how many limpers there are in front of me, I might actually limp in, rather than raising at all. One of the other benefits of always raising to 3x so often is that when I min raise, it tends to look suspicious, like I'm trying to get action with a big hand. So, sometimes, when there are no limpers in front of me I might only put in min raise. That way I'm not risking too much, I may still be able to limit the number of players entering the pot behind me, and might even end up taking down the pot before the flop if the players behind me think that I might be up to something.

How I proceed after the flop is going to depend on the number of players in the pot and the flop itself. Again, one of the benefits of my tight image, I can often get away with representing having connected with any big cards that land on the flop. But I still don't want to get too carried away, because I know that, because of my tight image, a lot of players are reluctant to call me light. I also know that I can often get away with a check, because I'm known to switch it up from leading right and checking and trapping. So I might be able to get two more chances to make a set without investing any more chips. The flipside to that is that I might also be giving my opponent the free card that they need to draw out on me.

 

[flattershay]

Call/raise with deeper stack and just shove if I'm the first one to act. I don't think low pairs should be overplayed.

 

[Steve Deeble]

How do you play a small pocket pair in middle position at:

1) Deep stack tourney with more than 10 blinds
2) Turbo tournaments with less than 10 blinds

1) call then hope I hit on the flop
2) shove

 

[Aleks75]

1.If everything is folded before me, then I will raise.If you have made a call or raise, then I will throw off small pairs.2.I will go limp, if everyone has thrown off or call before me, and I will go push in case of a raise.

 

[poliaris747]

I make a decision about the draw, not based on the tournament in which I play, but based on the style of play of my opponents at the poker table .

 

[bakang]

on cheat on line, treat them like stolen goods and NEVER touch anything below QQ, imo

 

[Zirkzee]

To 1) With more than 10 blinds I would normally not open push but play minraise / fold. That means someone 3-bets me, I fold small pairs, someone calls me, depending on the situation, I decide to c-bet after the flop. An open push would also be conceivable in the bubble because the fold equity is very high. It depends on which opponents are still in line after you. If two have already entered the pot I would limp as well and hope to flop the drilling. If only one opponent limped in front of you, a raise would be appropriate.

To 2) Normally I would openpush in this situation. But yes, depending on the characteristics of your opponents, maybe a minraise is okay. If your opponents play tight or play fold-or-fit, a min-raise is worth it. Most of the time the opponents are loose in turbo tournaments because you have no other choice because the blinds are increasing so quickly. That is why an open push is usually the better decision.

 

[danydidi]

I just call and then if I have trips ,fire works begin

 

[UNE_Aces]

Small pairs is ticket out immediately

 

[Sintubai]

Depends the position, stack and kind of table (mtt/stng).., but 70% i just call or mini raise pre flop[emoji848]🦾

 

[IFDCTHMH]

Deep stack tourney with more than 15 blinds most often I play push starting from Hj, if I do not take into account the opponent's play. And I rarely play Turbo tournaments so I can’t say anything, but I would probably play the same way.

 

[RockB]

My feelings exactly

In early positions with a deep stack, I fold pairs to fives 90% of the time. At 10% - limp. With sixes, sevens, eights and nines limp, sometimes raise. Dozens and above - raise. With 66-99 I am ready to call a raise, but only if I am against one opponent. I don't want to be in multi-pot with these hands.

If you stick with this usually golden on these hands

 

[ROYALROAD]

It all depends on the situation of the place.
But in most cases it's a good idea to fold.