Small pocket pairs

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DoIHaveAFlush

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Hi all,

One question that I posed myself while playing in a tournament today.. How do you suggest playing small pocket pairs such as 22, 33 or 44? Obviously it depends from tournament stage, stacks, players, position etc. But would you rather minraise preflop, call, possibly even jam?! When I get small pocket pairs and I see that there is a lot of action preflop, I usually fold them thinking that opponents have higher pairs or AJ+..

Looking forward to your feedback!

Cheers,
 
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Overall, small pocket pairs have really been the only hand I ever limp with from early to mid position. I'll usually bet 3bb from late position and usually fold from the blinds if someone bets. Though with small pocket pairs there not really anyone way to correctly play them and it can be difficult to win pots.
 
It all depends on your position and of course on the way your opponents play. I always bet 3bet after the blinds to pick up the pot. But if someone calls, then it is further depending on the flop. But you need to try to play pocket pairs.
 
DoIHaveAFlush said:
Hi all,

One question that I posed myself while playing in a tournament today.. How do you suggest playing small pocket pairs such as 22, 33 or 44? Obviously it depends from tournament stage, stacks, players, position etc. But would you rather minraise preflop, call, possibly even jam?! When I get small pocket pairs and I see that there is a lot of action preflop, I usually fold them thinking that opponents have higher pairs or AJ+..

Looking forward to your feedback!

Cheers,
Click to expand...
when i have small pairs pocket ,i usually call if its still small stacks and the card opens then i will continue if not i fold .too risky
 
If I have at least 25BBs I will minraise from early position or call a raise of 3BBs or under from middle / late position (as long as the raiser has a decent size stack. If it's from a short stack then I'm not getting the right implied odds). If someone 3bets or jams over my minraise I just fold, unless it's an extremely short stack and I'm getting a great price (and there's no risk of someone behind me rejamming). If it ends up being heads up and I was the preflop aggressor, I will c-bet and sometimes take the pot there. If I get called then I'm usually giving up on the turn unless I hit my set. If I hit my set, I'm doing whatever I can to get stacks in. Low pocket pairs can be very profitable, but most of the profits come when I am deep stacked and playing against others who are deep stacked. Guys in the micros love to play for stacks with TPTK and those are the type of players you can double up on when you hit your set. That's just been my experience.
 
I think the key thing here may be the tournament phase, because in the early stages when the blinds are very small
, a good move can be a call in the hope that we will get a set on the flop, because statistically such a set will hit 1 in 7 hands: P
 
Pocket Pairs

DoIHaveAFlush said:
Hi all,

One question that I posed myself while playing in a tournament today.. How do you suggest playing small pocket pairs such as 22, 33 or 44? Obviously it depends from tournament stage, stacks, players, position etc. But would you rather minraise preflop, call, possibly even jam?! When I get small pocket pairs and I see that there is a lot of action preflop, I usually fold them thinking that opponents have higher pairs or AJ+..

Looking forward to your feedback!

Cheers,
Click to expand...


Play pocket pairs carefully. Depending on your chip stack and the amount of the bet my opponent makes, I usually call. If his bet after the flop is affordable, I call again. Many times I've folded after the flop and the turn would have given me trips. Winning these type of hands is now your win big pots but if they have a bigger set of trips it could cost you. Most of the time they don't have a bigger set. If they make an aggressive bet before the flop it's usually with AA, KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AQ, A-J, A-10. If you have say 2-2 and the flop is 9-5-2, I'd say you are in control. Watch out for two suited cards on the flop. They may have a flush draw or even a straight draw. Good luck!
 
Thank you guys.. Appreciate your feedback, really valuable advice you're giving here. Thumbs Up!

Cheers,
 
Small pocket pair are such a double edged sword. You are probably leading to start the hand. If you have more than one player in the hand though, after the flop you may very well be miles behind at that point. Even when you hit a set you have to be wary of straight and flush possibilities. Those will crack a set more than anything and hitting that set can definitely give you a false set of confidence. Dont get me wrong, when you hit your set you usually will have the best hand but be cautious of someone raising your bets or continuing to call you on every bet.
 
Most of the times I limp, although I don't like to limp, but in these cases I do it, because these hands are one of the most vulnerable. I prefer to play small pocket pairs slowly, because there your decision of the flop is one of the most easiest, because if you do not hit trips or straight draws you are sure that the only right option is to fold, because somebody will have for sure until the end of the hand a better pair or something else. If you hit one of these two things your hand becomes one of the strongest. That is the reason I love to play with small pockets, because the decisions are simple.
 
I don’t like small pocket pairs at all. I have a similar opinion with you. Most of the time I also throw it away, except as a first jack, above a stack of 30 bb. The worst, with 2-3 bb all-in 22 pockets ! 😱
 
Like you said it depends on a lot. Your going to face over cards and miss the flop a lot so I wouldnt advise limping from earlier positions as your going to miss the board and have to check fold you also face the prospect of another player raising behind you. I fold small pocket pairs from early position almost always utg 1 and 2
 
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