How do you play a small pocket pair early in a tournament?

Say you have 22 or 33 early in an MTT with around 50BB. You call an open and miss the flop completely.

I always find these hands awkward because calling preflop feels fine, but once the flop comes K 9 6 you're basically hoping to hit a set or find a really good reason to continue.

Do you like playing small pairs in these spots, or do you try not to get involved with them too much?

On K96 just fold and move on. On a board like 884 call at least one bet and go from there especially with 55-77.

Better not to risk it and keep analyzing the next moves

I usually just limp for a set mine but I can defend with it from the blinds if it's heads-up and I might open it from the button if the table is weak. I know that all pocket pairs are supposed to be in almost any opening range but I'm not a huge fan of small pockets. They lose to ANYTHING that hits the board and most fish love to continue with any value at all. Even on a paired flop, like 884 if someone min bets I'd probably call but otherwise fold because how likely will 33 hold up on the run out? Yes, 4 outs to a boat but It's usually bad news. If I'm in a situation where I'm not prepared to check-fold them on the flop I'll just fold them pre. Mostly this is because when playing exploitatively against fish it's better to just stay tight. If you do open them late though, and you get checked to on the flop, c-bet, c-bet, c-bet.

I'm sure that there are better players than I am that play them all with success.

fundiver199 said:

On K96 just fold and move on. On a board like 884 call at least one bet and go from there especially with 55-77.

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Sure, but 66 and 77 at least I would call mid pocket pairs. They start having a decent chance that the runout will show below them, or at least one card does. If the run out is K5 I'd feel a lot better holding 66 than 33.

I usually increase it at the beginning to make several fold ups (something around 10Bb). Then I analyze the cards on the table and my opponent.

lwccasz said:

I usually increase it at the beginning to make several fold ups (something around 10Bb)

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WHOA!!

I fold. There is plenty of times to gain chips back!

Small pocket pairs are good in multi-pots. There is an opportunity to win a lot of chips if to hit a set and the hand is disguised. The board decides a lot and it is difficult for small pairs to hold out until the showdown.

Play them fast and if you don't flop a set, move on pronto. Late in the tournament I would not play them at all unless I have a massive stack.

Nesehorn156 said:

Say you have 22 or 33 early in an MTT with around 50BB. You call an open and miss the flop completely.

I always find these hands awkward because calling preflop feels fine, but once the flop comes K 9 6 you're basically hoping to hit a set or find a really good reason to continue.

Do you like playing small pairs in these spots, or do you try not to get involved with them too much?

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Small pairs are fine to call with 50BB, especially in position, but you have to be disciplined after missing the flop. On a K-9-6 board, if there’s significant action, I’m usually just folding 22–33. The mistake is calling preflop and then feeling obligated to continue just because you started with a pocket pair.

i would limp , then reraise allin preflop . go big or go home ! as played it's an easy muck on the flop .

skaterick said:

i would limp , then reraise allin preflop . go big or go home ! as played it's an easy muck on the flop .

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But then someone has to raise you pre-flop. If everyone folds or limps in, you have to hit. Also if you limp-jam an opening and get called, it's 50/50 that you're up against a better pocket pair and are crushed with only 2 outs or a miracle 4-card draw. That is a massive gamble with your entire stack. I would not advise it.

I’m fine calling with small pairs in position, but on a K-9-6 flop I’m usually just giving up unless I have a strong read or a good price. They’re much easier to play when you can set-mine cheaply and control the pot.

Most often, small pocket pairs will have to be played with a call preflop.Postflop, the decision tree splits into four branches: raiser or caller, set or not. It's important to understand that without a raise on any street, you won't be able to take home 100 big blinds—your winnings will be a third or half as much.However, there is a clear situation for a big raise on the flop, regardless of the position and image of the players: the board contains connected cards less than ten, plus the presence of a flush draw.

All of these are some great strategies guys and i will try to implement them when i play

Small pocket pairs (22–66) are mainly played for set value early in tournaments. Open them more often from late position, and be cautious calling raises when stacks are shallow. If you miss the set, usually give up unless you have a good reason to continue. Deep stacks make small pairs more valuable.

I don't like to get involved much, it depends on my position and stack to play low pairs

DDepending on the chips and position, I only pay to see the first few cards; if it's a set, great, if not, fold and continue the game.

Early in a tournament, I usually play small pocket pairs carefully. If the raise is small and I have enough chips, I don't mind calling and trying to hit a set on the flop. If I miss and there is a lot of action, I'm normally happy to fold. I don't think it's worth risking a big part of my stack with a small pair so early.

I only play small pairs, 99 or lower, if the bet is just one big blind, hoping to hit a set on the flop. If I don't hit the set, I just check. If there's a bet, I fold.

Basically the same as I would play them in a cash game, but I'm not calling as much to set-mine, no more than 6% of my stack,( 3BBs at a 50 BB stack ).

It all depends on your position and your stack when deciding whether to play them or not. When you do play them, you're basically hoping to hit a set on the flop so you can play the hand more confidently through the later streets.

If you don't hit your set, you usually have to play more passively and adjust your bets depending on whether the community cards create draws or bring cards that could make the hand more difficult to play.

Everything depends on the situation: your exact pocket pairs, the exact board hitted, your position, how many players are in the hand, the villain's position, how many players are in the table, the specific modality of Texas Hold'em you are playing, the ICM pressure, the villain's stats, your stack size, villain's stack size, etc.

Nesehorn156 said:

Say you have 22 or 33 early in an MTT with around 50BB. You call an open and miss the flop completely.

I always find these hands awkward because calling preflop feels fine, but once the flop comes K 9 6 you're basically hoping to hit a set or find a really good reason to continue.

Do you like playing small pairs in these spots, or do you try not to get involved with them too much?

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Anyway, about this specific situation, thinking quicly, all I can say is that you need to play by your range, not by your hand; so you need to play by your needings, not by your feelings. Otherwise, you will loose more chips than you will win.

For a simple example: if you are the UTG in a 9-max table and BB only calls it (early tournament and low ICM pressure), you need to bet most part of the times when you hit this board (don't make villain's game comfortable, easy and cheap to play), because you have way more good hands combinations than your opponents should have: you have better kings, you have some gutshots that would make you be nut sometimes, you have AA as overpairs, you have more flush draws with A and with Q, you have pocket KK, pocket 99 and, maybe, pocket 66 (in this situation I created, you shouldn't have hands like 22 or 33 most part of the times, but, if you do have it anyway, just play like you haven't it and you may make your opponent fold some second or third pairs, some straight and/or flush draws he may have, you may also make him fold top pairs or even some two pairs, if you are good enough at bluffing and your opponnent is not a crazy calling station; but, if that's the case, be wise and patient and make him pay your better hands combinantions and reduce your bluffing frequency; you will unbalance your game, but this will let you exploit this type of player; bluffing is telling a story: if you tell a clear lie, everyone will know it, but if you tell it like is true, is really hard to contest the story you are telling; anyway, don't slow run your nuts and overplay your worst hands; make a balanced range and your opponent will not be able to know if you are bluffing your worst hands or if you have your best hands because of your polarized range; and if you decide to play more passively, he also wouldn't know if your are really weak, if you have draws or medium hands that doesn't need to grow the pot too much or if you are slow running your top range).



Again: everything depends on the context, so go learn more about the game and evolve your skills to be a better player, then you will know what to do in these specific spots. 🫡🪖

I usually play small pocket pairs cautiously early on. They can be useful when the price is right, especially in position, but I don't want to invest too many chips just hoping to hit a set. Stack sizes and the action before me would probably determine whether I continue or let them go. How do you adjust your approach when the blinds start getting bigger?