How to play small pocket pairs?

diablo312 · #1 07-07-2005, 01:44 AM

Hi,
When I started playing poker a few months back, a friend of mine who is good at poker told me to limp in with any pocket pair and to even cold call if I am getting 3-1 odds. Over the 72K hands I played (most at .5/1 on PartyPoker) my biggest 2 losing hands are 22 (-0.28 BB per hand) and 44 (-0.27BB per hand). Was my friends advice wrong or I am just playing small pocket pairs poorly? I mostly play them for set value and never chase down with under pairs. I am especially unhappy limping in with small pocket early since someone often raises. Here is an example hand:
Party Poker 2/4 Hold'em (9 handed) converter

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
2 folds, Hero calls, 3 folds, Button calls, 1 fold, BB checks.

Flop: (3.50 SB) 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], T[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets, Button raises, BB folds, Hero folds.

Final Pot: 3.25 BB

Buttons Stats (over 81 hands): VPIP 8.6 PFR 0 AA 0.75 (AA probably not accurate since I only have 81 hands total and his VPIP is so low)

Should I have been more aggresive there? The pot was so small so it didn't seem worth it. Should I just stop playing small pocket pairs early since they are costing me money?

Thanks.

jskills · #2 07-07-2005, 01:54 AM

Small pocket pairs are fine to play. Some pople play them from any position, some only middle and late position. Debates about what the lowest small pocket pair to open with UTG go from 22 to 88.

Regardless, you'd really prefer not to cold call a preflop raise unless you've got several callers. The idea is to flop a set and take down a big pot.

When the flop comes (and you don't hit your set) and you see cards like 10, J, Q, K, A - you can probably assume someone has a piece of it (since people play hands with high cards). Your odds of being beat go up with the number of people in the pot in this scenario. You now have 2 outs and even calling a flop bet is usually not worth it.

In your hand you posted, your bet / fold line on the flop was ok I guess - it might be better against one opponent. I'd just check / fold the flop. Wait for another opportunity.

ipconfig · #3 07-07-2005, 04:20 AM

Your Friend gave decent advice.

I am 15/30+ player. As you go up in limit you will find it dynamically harder to play 22-55 in EP & MP. I personally dont play 22-55 unless special conditions arise.

Late position its still hard even with lots of callers to make your odds correct. What hands are they playing? Set over Set?

I do play them in LP and I raise. No need for correct odds now. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Waloonga · #4 07-07-2005, 05:58 AM

Exactly, the reason people give advice that you can call any pocket pair from any position is that they are usually playing loose games with few raises. Higher levels are tighter games with more raising. The reason to see the flop with low pocket pairs is to hit the set or get out usually. However, for this strategy to pay off in the long run you need to make sure that the pot has become big enough pre-flop, this is the reason for wanting many callers. You may want to be careful using this strategy at a new table if you are uncertain how people are playing:

1) You want many callers, preferably few raisers
2) If you have raisers, you still want many people calling. If the raiser is to your right, you need to be sure that several people will call his raise. If the raiser is to your left and several players have called before the raise, you can count on most of them calling the raise as well.
3) If you don't hit a set with lower cards 22-77, fold, especially if there are any scare cards showing. In your example I would not have bet, but rather have folded.

diablo312 · #5 07-08-2005, 01:55 AM

Thanks for your help. I still play low stakes (1/2 and 2/4) so I'll stick with playing all pocket pairs anywhere for 1 bet pre-flop strategy. In my example, I thought I could take the pot down if noone had a T (I would not have tried it if the flop had more or better overcards). I'll try playing tighter when I don't flop a set.