[Bongo]

This is a really good topic I think. I find myself in this situation quite often with hands such as JJ and lower pocket pairs as well as with the suited connectors so it is not just a matter of pre-flop play. These situations are really tricky and I’m far from comfortable with them.

I agree with checking and folding against three or more opponents with these marginal hands (not always though). However, there is no way you can just give up your pocket pair heads up. Your opponent has to take it from you. The flop here is easy. You have to bet or check-raise. After all you actually have something. If you get raised, then you’ll have to start guessing and evaluating. The trickiest situation arises when your opponent just calls. If I had two opponents I would probably give up, but it is a hard decision. Against one opponent I’m tempted to fire again. Quite often your opponent is just trying to see if you really like your hand (I believe this is bad play). He doesn’t believe you have anything because pre-flop raisers always bet the flop. He could have anything. Of course this is very player dependent.

On the river I would probably check and hope my opponent doesn’t bluff me out. If he has something shaky then he will probably check behind. If he was on a draw, well then he can steal if he is aggressive.