Pocket Pairs Preflop

[symphonic]

In a typical loose-passive game where anywhere from 5-7 people see the flop, what pocket pairs do you limp with/raise with in EP? MP? LP?

[slavic]

If 5 to 7 people are seeing every flop for 1 bet I'll play any pocket pair from anywhere. Raise 99 and higher for value. (this may be a slight mistake with 99 and TT if your not willing to fold after a raise)

In LP or the Button I raise almost any pair with 5 limpers. One of the nice things about this raise is that if you miss you can often get a free turn. One note though is that raising here is not really necessary if 5 to 7 are seeing the flop because in a likelyhood if you flop a set they will chase anyway.

If there are 7 people in preflop I'll raise any pair from any position.

[ScottTheFish]

Slavic,
What about a "normal" game, with, say, 3-5 ppl seeing the flop on most hands, and 20% or so of the hands being raised PF (This is about what I see on Party 2/4)

On these tables would you limp from EP or EMP with low pairs (22-55)? Would you raise from EP with 99-TT or just limp?

I'm trying to solidify my strategy with low/medium PP which I am not doing well with at the moment.

[Brian]

Hi Scott,

I make my decision about what to do with my low pocket pairs EP based on how likely I think it is that I will have to pay 2 bets to see the Flop, and whether or not I will get paid off when I hit my set.

At a tight-passive game, I won't pay pocket pairs upfront because there won't be many people seeing the Flop, thus reducing my pot odds, and also the people who do see the Flop aren't going to give me much action, thus reducing my implied odds. At a tight-aggressive game, while I will probably get a fair amount of action when I hit my hand, I am often going to have to be paying 2 bets to see the Flop, which also hurts my implied odds.

But, at your typical loose low limit games where people there is rarely that much raising before the Flop, and people go way too far with their hands post-Flop, any pocket pair is profitable from any position after any amount of limpers. I see many people on this site recommend folding a low pocket pair on the Button with 1 limper to you, or raising it, but not limping. Earlier tonight I limped in this situation many times, knowing that the Blinds were unlikely to raise and that the players would definitely pay me off when I hit. And sometimes you will win without hitting.

As far as TT and 99 in EP are concerned, I draw my line between high pocket pairs and medium pocket pairs at the TT/99 line. In other words, I play TT very similairly to the way I play QQ and JJ, and I play 99 very similiarly to the way I play 88 and 77. So I'll raise with TT, and usually just limp with 99. However, again, the table is usually the dominating factor in my decision. If raising with 99 won't leave me out of position against 2 players, then I'll raise it.

-Brian

-Brian