Folding small pairs preflop

[TheHenchmen]

I was recently playing a SNG LIMIT tourney on Empire Poker. With 5 people remaining, I was the middle stack, with a little over half the chips of the chip leader, and approximately 8x the big blind.
I was in the cutoff seat, and picked up a pair of red 3's. The UTG player folded, as did I. Of course no threes hit the board and I was happy about my fold. Now for the question.
In short handed, fast paced games such as a SNG, should I be playing those little pairs of 2,3,4, and 5's? I know that they are generally the best hand at the moment, but with the blinds so high, most people are seeing flops with any paint in their hand, not to mention the rarity of flopping your set. Am I making a mistake by giving up the opportunity to flop a hidden set, just to keep myself in the hunt for the money? /images/graemlins/confused.gif
Remember the game is fast paced and shorthanded. Assume anything you want, just be sure to include it in your reply.

[RoyalLance]

It all depends on the type of players you are facing. Do they show down marginal pocket hands? Do they play well post-flop? How are the other five stacks compared to your? You nust consider all this when you decide wheter or not you make your stand.

As for small pocket pairs, you should either see the flop by calling the big blind or a very small raise and to hope flop a cheap concealed 3 of a kind, or try to steal a pot with by making a big raise yourself. The set will help you get a good chip count if that happens, and the steal will also give you a better stack if you make a your attempts timely.

And having good-post flop skills also works.

[creedofhubris]

Raising to pick up the blinds is pretty standard with this type of hand. It's pretty easy to play postflop if you do get called.