Preflop Question

[GTSamIAm]

I'm in the cutoff with a marginal pair. Folds to me. The three players after me are very loose and passive. Is there any point to even playing this hand? Everyone is coming in for any amount of bets. What's the weakest pair I should play?

[MrWookie47]

If you have truly found a table where they'll ALL play for any amount of bets, I think I'd limp 22-88 and raise 99+. If they're just generally loose (VPIP 50%-ish), then I'll raise up, eh, 55+ or 66+, depending on my confidence against them post flop.

[GTSamIAm]

Why limp 22-88? I could maybe see limping 55-88, but if I have 22, I'm not going to get odds to hit a set. And I'm not going to have the best hand postflop either.

[Koss]

If they'll play anything then hopefully they'll take any hand to the river. You don't have the immediate odds on a set but you should have no problem making up those bets on later streets from people who will call down with mid-pair.

[numeri]

[ QUOTE ]
Why limp 22-88? I could maybe see limping 55-88, but if I have 22, I'm not going to get odds to hit a set. And I'm not going to have the best hand postflop either.

[/ QUOTE ]
Generally, people will say you can get by with as low as 5:1 preflop for your set. (Some go lower - I wouldn't.) This is because of the implied odds. We're about 7.5:1, but we won't win every time. You can shift this to 8:1 or even 9:1 since we can hit our set and still lose. So if we're geting 5:1 preflop, and we really need 9:1, we're 4SB short. Can you make an extra 4SB every time postflop with your set? Against the opponents you describe, you probably can. That's why people call getting less than 7.5:1 preflop.

[shabamgoddam]

call w/ any pocket pair. raise 77 and up. 22-66 i play for set value, easy drop if u miss, BIG returns if u hit. only the most extreme action pf will make me fold a pp>66 in lp. they is ALL good. reasonable line against loose passives?
(grunch [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img])

*Grunching*
Pocket 5's and raising to thin and, hopefully, buy the button. If they're really that loose and passive expect PF calls but be prepared to slow down if big cards fall on the flop.

I play all of them for 1 bet.

I raise 88 and up.

[W. Deranged]

Raise 77+ and muck the rest. Open-limping here should not really be considered, as the pot will be played four-handed. 77 and above will hold up enough to win more than there fair share, so you raise with your equity edge. 66 and down probably won't, and since you don't have the odds to flop a set, they should be folded. (Note, not having the button makes this less attractive).

(By the way, if anyone wants to argue that it's really 66 or 88 that's the cutoff, fine. My point is that in a four-handed situation if these hands are good enough to play at all they are good enough to play for a raise.)