Deep stacked NL game, do you play small pocket pairs out of position?

[BlueBear]

Do you play small pocket pairs out of position, say 22 to 44, in early position, in say a $5/$5 game with everybody having stack sizes of $1000 in a typical game (for example a number of tight and tough aggressors, a number of loose passives and no maniacs)?

[John Gaspar]

I think it helps to know the individuals rather than the types. In some games if your limping will encourage others limping, then the play up front with small pairs is to limp. If the game texture results in bigger pf raises and reraises then you should throw them away. You're playing solely for set value OOP and need to get in as cheaply as possible.

The only caveat is if you know that some people in your game will marry big pairs and not get away, to me it is worth $25/$30 to see a flop and take a substantial portion of their stack when you do flop a set, hence I would likely limp and call a moderate raise with smaller pairs up front.

[fsuplayer]

absolutely.

they are your biggest money makers.,

[Loci]

They don't cost much, usually, and no one sees them coming so you stand to make the big pay off, especially when the bullet hits with it... the only issue is when you're hit set over set, and then you get taken to the cleaners.

[turnipmonster]

a pair is just about my favorite hand before the flop., although this is changing gradually the longer I play. tonight, suited connectors were my favorite.

--turnipmonster

[OrangeCat]

Limp for sure. What kind of a raise I'd call depends on a lot of things.

[Ulysses]

Yes.

[NLfool]

yes the play is usually so cut and dry with them. AKo is actually one of the tougher ones for me in a deep stacked tricky NL game.

But if it's a game where there's always a 5x or greater raise preflop you're going to have to be more selective as it'll bleed you dry to try and take a flop with every small pair.