folding pairs in early stages

[KLDUFF1987]

is folding pocket pairs 77+ in early stages too tight ?

 

[sharipov8090]

I will say that in the later stages it will not be a mistake.Everything always depends on the situation at the table.Learn how to read the game will help you communicate and many years of experience in the game.Be brave and lucky!

 

[Austria7]

The question is difficult to answer that way. It depends on your style of play and your goal in the tournament. If you are a TAG and want to get into the prize money places as often as possible and only play premium hands you can think about it. If you have a slightly wider hand range, you can definitely play 77. A more exciting question is whether you will call or fold a 3-bet with it. It is also difficult when there are 2 or even 3 overcards on the flop and several players are involved in the hand. I think there are game situations in which it is a mistake to fold 77 preflop and also a mistake to continue playing with 77 on the flop. Find your own and individual way. :smile:

 

[daniel411]

I think you need to give more information's. Which position are you on the table, under the gun, button? If you are in late position happened something before, does any other player make a raise? If it is not too "expensive" i would at least take a look at the flop.

 

[Mahereid]

My limit is folding 99 if late position or stack is getting small. TT I have no problem betting half my chips in low buy-ins or freerolls.

 

[darthjewel]

In the MTTs I usually play there are aggressive bettors and frequent all ins from the beginning . If you place the bet in the early position there is a big chance of being overbet and this is not a very strong hand. In the late position you could bet a small amount.

 

[Shumkoolie]

Your question has way too many variables to really answer exactly what you're asking, but I'm going to mention some general guidelines about playing pocket pairs early in tournaments that hopefully helps answer your question.

Your stack relative to the blinds is much larger (usually 100 or more big blinds), so you will want to try and see flops with any pocket pair, with hopes of hitting a set and getting paid off. Folding at this stage of the tournament would be a mistake. Now, if you're facing a 3 bet and a shove behind, then your pocket pair (let's say you have Pocket 5's), decreases in strength given that action behind you and raise-folding wouldn't be a bad play here.

Later in tournaments, when you have fewer big blinds, open folding a low pocket pair is an absolutely acceptable play, especially in early position when you have so many behind you left to act, and many of them probably have stacks where their only play is shoving. So here, you'd want to save your 2 big blinds (or however much you would raise pre-flop) and wait for better spots.

If you want to try and utilize this type of strategy, try playing some 9-handed Sit & Go's that mimic a tournament from start to finish the best. You start with 75-100 big blinds, and eventually when you get to the later stages of a tournament, you will find yourself shallow, so where you'd WANT to see a flop with Pocket 4's at the start of the tournament when you're in early position, you're going to likely be folding the same hand when you are short stacked in the same position.

 

[steve01991]

it all depends on your stack, position and if you feel lucky.

 

[Alekxandrovi3]

Many people fold their best hands. You didn’t say anything but your hand.

 

[dregan]

Yesterday I didn’t get into the big raises on our freerolls with a pocket pair of 22 all the way through the game. And I saw from the game that I was right. And several times I have had 77. And I never threw 77 away. I don't know, maybe I was lucky this time. But I took 3rd place. One game cannot be similar to another. Do as your knowledge of the game tells you.

 

[karl coakley]

I personally would play them early and tend to be more likely to fold them late.

It is always good to keep decisions easy. Early, it is cheap (small percentage of the stack) and I can play a big pot with a set or simply fold. Later, with bigger blinds, bets, and pots in general, a lot more thought goes into the decisions to fold or continue when you don't hit a set.

 

[foran]

you have to play them with implicit, just to see.

 

[rafcio20p]

It's not to easy to resign with pairs, i usually call to watch the flop. Set on the flop is a good chance to win high pot. I never raise too much with low pairs, it's very dangerous hand to lose coins.

 

[Collin Moshman]

In early stage MTT play, it's reasonable to fold low pocket pairs from early-mid position if you're first in the pot. (You can also raise these hands assuming stacks are deep, or even limp them at passive tables.)

You should definitely play facing a prior raise getting good implied odds, as these can be some of the best low-blind spots -- getting involved with very deep stacks to spike a set and stack a player with a high pocket pair.

 

[akmost]

In early stage MTT play, it's reasonable to fold low pocket pairs from early-mid position if you're first in the pot. (You can also raise these hands assuming stacks are deep, or even limp them at passive tables.)

You should definitely play facing a prior raise getting good implied odds, as these can be some of the best low-blind spots -- getting involved with very deep stacks to spike a set and stack a player with a high pocket pair.

Hi Collin ,

vs 2x open raise my rule of thumb is flatting with 35-40 BBS my middle PP , is this too tight ,can I call with a shallower stack than that?(asking exclusively for set mining here) I think we don't have the implied odds anymore right?

 

[deputat777]

in the early stages, it is precisely necessary to open small pockets.

 

[pcurley17]

i think it depends on the situation tbh

 

[Mityamoriss]

I think it depends on the situation maybe I’ll fold everything below jacks

 

[StreetPhd]

I think you need to give more information's. Which position are you on the table, under the gun, button? If you are in late position happened something before, does any other player make a raise? If it is not too "expensive" i would at least take a look at the flop.

I agree...position is going to be the biggest factor for me.

 

[SpanRmonka]

is folding pocket pairs 77+ in early stages too tight ?

Personally I think the short answer is yes it is, based on the info you have given.

I'm usually calling to set mine, if there is a small raise or at small blind levels relative to my stack.

However, if you're in late pos, and there's big 2 raises, then I'm most likely folding, as I'm committing too much of my stack, just to see likely over cards on the flop.

I might be wrong here, but I feel like there's also some value to be had in late pos/button on an unopened pot, by raising, but you have to be careful then with post flop play. I can easily lose a chunk of chips here continuing into someone whose hit a higher pair defending blinds.

 

[Zirkzee]

No, I don't think it's too tight. With smaller pocket pairs it is not so profitable to play out of position. With 22-99 you almost always need a drilling to win a showdown. That you hit a set is not that common. This means that if you already hit a set you have to be paid out for making a call worthwhile. But out of position you can often not play your drilling profitably. Even if you hit a drilling you won't get a lot of chips if you play out of position. But I don't think it's a mistake to just call with small pocket pairs in early position as long as the blinds are not that high and see if you hit a set on the flop. If a player raises big after you, you should probably fold. You can only call on small raises.

 

[Houdini9]

In my experience, this still depends on position and the action that takes place in front of you early in a tournament. I think rather than using a hard and fast rule to dictate folding or playing 77 early in a tournament, keep in mind that early in a tournament - you cannot win the tournament based on this one hand - you can only lose. With this in mind, play 77 conservatively without putting your whole stack at risk preflop and I think your decisions will be easier to make with 77.

GL GL,

HOUDINI9

 

[Al fred]

depends on position and tournament type. If it's hyper turbo 6max or less then any pair is good.

 

[adoadoado76]

I think you should be happy and brave to play first, but again it's up to the online bookmaker if it's your turn to win, because the more you enter the game, the more you win.

 

[suehtam05]

early stages of a tournment i will play any pair hoping to flop a set. The stacks are deep enough that the implied odds pay the 12,5% probability