Joined: Mar '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 6714
Pocket pairs can be a good sorce of profit when played right, so heres a little guide on how you should be playing them.
Big pocket pairs: Most online players are aggresive and loose so tend to call any pre-flop bet, so a raise of 3-4BB is neede and should be enougth to get rid of the loose player trying to hit str8s and weak flushs. If your lucky and you hand becomes stronger then check and hope the villians did too. (some players will limp with AA, not advisable but in the right hands a gold mine)
Mid pocket pairs: You should be acting accourding to your table, as in dont play the ultra tight players raise with 77 etc. If in EP feel free to get in cheap if possable(some tables it will be an instant fold). In mid/LP you should be mainly be raising, players will put you on a steal, if flop comes big your folding (not always) if low your raising, (1 over card is fine).
low pocket pairs: I tend to just fold, but again if you can get in cheap do so, then its either fold or if it makess set then check and be sneekey.
Hitting your set: 2 things you must watch out for is str8 draws (or made) and flushes. Checking your set will make other players think that you have missed the flop. When they raise, you should just call.(Just calling is amateur play, but it does not give away any information on what you hold).Continue to call his bets until the river unless it is obvious that they are on a draw, If that is the case make a large raise(at least pot). If you hit the nuts on the river then make a value bet. Getting value out of your bets is important. To big a bet will scare the villian away so it is important to make a bet that will be called(or better re-raised).
AA KK QQ JJ TT = Play in any position 99 88 77 = Play in mid or late 66 55 44 33 22 = Play in late
Again poker is never simple and this guide is, so alway keep your witts about you, and know when to get out of a hand. GL all.
Joined: Oct '09
Location: Lithuania
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 2805
good post just give u +1 AA KK QQ JJ TT = Play in any position yes i agree maybe TT i am not playing but always puting all in if have these pairs
99 88 77 = Play in mid or late if u are the chip leader u can put all in and if u loose just stay and play but if u are in the loosing one must think play or no but also a lot we can say then playing at the tables with over players and study they strategy
66 55 44 33 22 = Play in late never play because is the most loosing pairs and easy u can be put into the out of any bigger one play if only check and no rising
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
It amazes me how many people raise all in with a pair of 4s or less. People don't seem to realize that a pair vs two over cards pre flop is practically 50/50. And when you have a small pair, the chances that someone else has a pair is surprisingly high.
Nice post. Some good advice although I think it doesn't always pay to play your pairs exactly the same way. Experienced players should probably mix it up a bit but be careful limping with the top pairs. Very likely to get you into trouble especially if you can't let go of an over pair on the flop.
Joined: Nov '09
Location: Canada
Age: 48 (M)
Posts: 302
very nice tread b1gfoot hope a lot of people read it so i can stop being suckout with my aces and i agree with awood88 you have to play different once in a while cuz i dont know for others but i take notes on others players it has been very profitable in the past for me hum think i got i nice tread here too lol
Recently I lost about 10 $5 SnGs with the same scenario... I have pocket AA. I raise 4 or 5 BB (depending on the position and if there's any limper) and I get 1 flat call. Flop doesn't look dangerous, for example J52 rainbow. I bet aggressively and my opponent calls. Guess what happens? He calls with set which he caught on the flop after calling my raise with pocket 22 or 55, etc. I understand that people may try their luck in the beginning of SnG when the blinds are low, hoping that they'll hit and make a suckout but in the mid and late stage? Sick! I had to make a few breaks because this happened a few times during one session... I was afraid that I'll start making crazy decisions and finally tilt... It didn't happen but I it was so close..... Well, good luck at the tables Mobsters!
Joined: May '09
Location: Spain
Age: 49 (M)
Posts: 1331
Hi!!
Great post. I think there´s many ways to play pp. The way B1gfoot says is profitable if you are playing SSS, if you play BSS you can introduce more movements, like call for set value or things like that.
Two things more:
1. NEVER limp high pp, lots of people do it and cry later.. 2. Raise your pp 3BB in NL50+ (in fact, all your raises). You want to introduce intelligent steal at that level.
Yea PP's are great to have, especially the big ones, AA, KK, QQ but i see alot of people overplaying these postflop, when there real strength is actually preflop & thats where you want to build a big pot, preflop, not post. I see too many people losing to sets, flushes etc etc & get mad & go on tilt when in reality they overplayed 1 pair on a dangerous board & can only blame themself (and I myself have fallen victim to this before when i get too greedy against a fish i really want to stack & got pissed when i lost to two pair K4 etc lol)
Joined: Jun '09
Location: France
Age: 43 (M)
Posts: 670
Hello Me I have a fairly simple pattern: - Micro pairs 22 33 44 55: I open limp in early position limp around if someone has already limped before me, and bet in late position if nobody has limped forward ... - The middles peers 66 => 99: I bet in every position there limpers or not, and as ugly 3bet - The big TT to AA, classic ... like a bomb lol
Joined: Aug '09
Location: Brazil
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 10
I don't like to "robot" the poker....the play with pockets depends of the game, the table and the players....sometimes it's a good ideia to drop JJ in late position...it really depends of the table... But i like the phil gordon's strategy...NEVER limp, NEVER....that way, you wont be readed
Joined: Jan '10
Location: Germany
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 1379
i guess its fine to play so at the beginning of a tournament. With ongoing time it won´t work always. I mean it`s nice to have a small overview but in the end, every hand is about your image, your oppenents image, your stack, your opponents stack, position .....
"set mining" 
