Which cards would you like to have in a coin-flip?

[fat_nutz]

PP or 2 overcards, all-in preflop.

I can think of arguments in favor of either: with overcards, you want to be able to see all streets to give yourself maximum chance of making the overpair. With the underpair, you don't want to face flopped overcards that don't pair the opponent but do provide bluffing opportunities.

So:
1) which would you rather have, assuming you have a strong opponent?
2) which would you rather have, assuming you're playing a weak player?

[TomCollins]

I would rather have 89s vs 22, since it is a favorite.

[blackaces13]

The PP, because its NOT a coinflip. 22 is a favorite over AK.

Most PP's are about a 13/10 favorite over 2 overcards, not too shabby. Much bigger than the house edge in roulette which I'm sure no self-respecting gambler would ever go near.

PS.
[ QUOTE ]
With the underpair, you don't want to face flopped overcards that don't pair the opponent but do provide bluffing opportunities.


[/ QUOTE ]

What do bluffing opportunities have to do with PF all-ins?

[fat_nutz]

Hm. Let me rephrase the question like this--which would you rather shove all your chips in with, expecting a call from the other? (ie, which would you rather make a raise and see a flop with, which would you prefer to be all-in)

[daryn]

oops.. your question still makes little sense /images/graemlins/frown.gif

[blackaces13]

If I knew for a fact that my opponent had AK or some other overcards to my low pocket pair then I would rather get my money in with the PP.

However, in real life this never happens and since AK is only dominated by AA and KK then I'd usually feel more comfortable making an all in raise with AK. This because there are A LOT of hands that will call an all in if you have a small PP and AK (and maybe AQ) is the only one that DOESN'T dominate them.

Simply put AK does better against the range of hands that may be inclined to call an all-in. Yet a small pocket pair is better than AK heads up. Think of how well pocket 3's do against QQ, JJ or TT, now think of how well AK does.

[AleoMagus]

In thinking about PP vs two overcards, I think that (generally)

You want to be all-in with the two overcards
You want to see a flop with the PP

The reason for this is that while these confrontations are roughly coin tosses or small favorites, this is only true when you get to see the whole board

so, with the overcards, you want to see the whole board to give yourself the best chance of catching

And with PP's, you want to just see a flop so that you can push overcards off unfavorable flops when they might otherwise catch on the turn and river.

There are, however, a lot of other issues to consider here.

Obviously if you are both huge stacks and the blinds are tiny, you don't want to get all in PF with two overcards when you think your opponent has a PP. I have a related post right now on the Probability forum that I'd like answered if anyone wants to take a look.

Regards
Brad S

[Nottom]

[ QUOTE ]
Hm. Let me rephrase the question like this--which would you rather shove all your chips in with, expecting a call from the other? (ie, which would you rather make a raise and see a flop with, which would you prefer to be all-in)

[/ QUOTE ]

If I had had to choose between 22 and AK, then I would want 22 because its the favorite.

If I was in a position where I was gonna push all-in and thought there was a reasonable chance I would be called but didn't know by what, I would prefer AK because its less likely to be in a bad position (AK vs AA is the only truely horrible spot).

This is the same reason why you shouldn't be calling big all-ins with baby pairs.