[Irieguy]

Here's something everybody forgets about implied odds(for the sake of this exercise only, assume you both have 800 chips and you can stack the villain every time you make your set). Level 1 blinds.

1. Folded around to the SB, he completes. You check your pair:
implied odds: infinite

2. Folded around to you in the SB, you complete for 5, BB checks:
implied odds: 160 to 1

3. You limp your small pair, folded around to the BB who is the only caller:
implied odds: 53 to 1

4. Folded to LP who minraises, you call 30 from the button and the blinds fold:
implied odds: 27 to 1

5. You limp from MP, folded to button who raises to 60. All fold to you and you call for 45 more:
implied odds: 18 to 1

Forget about the exact numbers, just look at the order of difference between the examples.

You are getting around 9X the implied odds limping from the SB compared to calling a standard raise after limping... yet completing, limping, and calling a small raise with lil' pairs are often clumped together as subjects of discussion.

Calling a "small" raise is nowhere near the same as limping with pair when you are talking about implied odds. If you are prepared to call raises with your small pairs after limping, you would be correct to adjust your percieved implied odds accordingly.

This adjustment, combined with an adjustment to account for the fact that when you make your sets you will sometimes fail to stack someone and sometimes lose your whole stack yourself, makes the play of small pairs early in a SNG clear in my mind.

Irieguy