playing low pocket pairs when expecting lots of limpers

[chapstick]

Hi,

As one can clearly see from reading my other posts, I'm still a total beginner.

I'm trying to get a feel for when to limp-in/raise with pocket pairs. I know that if I'm holding pocket pairs higher than Jacks, I should be raising pre-flop from any position since I likely have the best hand.

I think I am properly folding low-pairs from middle position if the table is very aggressive and there has been early raising. But sometimes I am at a really loose-passive table, where it seems like more than half of the time there will be at least 4 other limpers. In these cases is it right to say that I can safely limp in from an earlier spot with a lower pocket pair? How many guaranteed limpers would you say one needs in order to limp in with a small pocket pair?

Is anyone willing to share data on hands won with various pocket pairs and flopped sets (I don't know if poker tracker provides this). For example, do you win 95% of the time with pocket aces when you flop a set, and only 75% of the time when you flop a set of deuces. I think this would let us figure out how many limpers and future calls we need to be able to extract to make this hand playable.

Thanks

[MrWookie47]

At passive tables, the consensus here in the forum is limping with 22 is AOK. If you hold a pocket pair higher than 88, you should be raising preflop fron any position. You can cold call with most pocket pairs against most raisers if there is at least one (preferably 2+) cold callers in between you and the raiser. You should seldom if ever be the first to cold call.

[cmwck]

I raise AA-TT from any position.
The rest of the pairs depends on how many players are in before it gets to me, how many will fold if I raise, and how many will limp if I limp.

Ex. I'm on the button with 3 limpers: I call with 99-22, expecting to get a nice 5-way flop.

Ex. It's folded to me in late-middle position. I either raise or fold. If I can play against 1-3 opponents I'll raise 99-77. Could go lower depending on who is behind me.

Ex. Folded to me in the CO or Button. Raise all the way down to 55. Can go all the way down to 22 if you have a decent chance of stealing the blinds.

And, finally, at your typical .5/1 table you can limp 99-22 in early position.

[imported_Reaction]

Try these: I'm on a quest for a great post
(Thanks tiltaholic)
And
Pocket Pairs and Implied Odds

[chapstick]

OK, thanks everyone.

In my last session, I was limping in with low pairs from anywhere, and folding them on the flop if I didn't make a set. But when I did make set, they were good "money-makers", so I was curious if that was standard or whether I was just lucky that session.

Next question/situation, if you don't mind. You limp in from UTG with low pocket pair, and there are 4 other players seeing the flop. The flop doesn't hit you, but it's rags nonetheless (say for example you have 33 and
the flop is 279 rainbow). You check, but the next player bets. Some others call. By the time it gets back to me, I'm folding. I'm not even 4% to hit my set on the turn.
Is that the accepted play?

[davelin]

[ QUOTE ]
OK, thanks everyone.

In my last session, I was limping in with low pairs from anywhere, and folding them on the flop if I didn't make a set. But when I did make set, they were good "money-makers", so I was curious if that was standard or whether I was just lucky that session.

Next question/situation, if you don't mind. You limp in from UTG with low pocket pair, and there are 4 other players seeing the flop. The flop doesn't hit you, but it's rags nonetheless (say for example you have 33 and
the flop is 279 rainbow). You check, but the next player bets. Some others call. By the time it gets back to me, I'm folding. I'm not even 4% to hit my set on the turn.
Is that the accepted play?

[/ QUOTE ]

Yes and yes.

[jrz1972]

1. Limping with small pocket pairs UTG and then folding if you miss your set is pretty standard. Unless the pot is very shorthanded, you shouldn't be trying to out-fight people on the flop if you miss. (And if the pot is very shorthanded, that suggests that table conditions weren't right for your PF limp; you want at least a couple of others to come along).

2. The situation you describe is an easy fold.

[MrWookie47]

I'll only give a second thought to making a stand with a UI lowish PP is on a paired board. It's less likely to have hit people. In EP, though, the best line is probably to check and evaluate the action as to whether you should call, raise, or fold.

[deception5]

Thanks for that first link reaction. Sthief has an awesome post in there.