Joined: Jan '11
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A lot of you pros or experienced players may think this isn't worth posting, but I've only been playing poker for about 4 months. I love the game and have had some luck! What kills me is when a player raises and only has a small pair! My question is, is it wise to raise whenever you get a pair prior to the flop? Replies appreciated!
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 33 (M)
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id say it depends how u feel. maybe a small raise or just a call to see the flop and see how the hand plays out. welcome to BRM hope to see you in the forums more often. p.s please dont leak the freeroll p/w`s lol
Always raise, pairs, big or small, i hate limping in with them and pretty much love to isolate any limper in front of me wit a PP... remember they only have a 30% chance of making a pair while u already have a made hand preflop, so be sure to use the advantage... although knowing when to ditch them is also important as u will be playign bigger pots wit a preflop raise..
Joined: Jan '10
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it all depends on position, your small pair may look like a monster to someone else at the table, better be ready to back it up with another bet on turn and you just might win the pot due to everyone folding.Or if ya miss the flop fold it then dont chase it out or you will be pln from the rail. welcome to BRM and good luck to you
Joined: Jan '11
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Thanks for all your replies! Serious and deeply appreciated. Allso, pOck3, no leaks here! That's one thing that really ticks me. Thanks to you all and BRM!
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If you play cash or 1 table sng I would say small raise is good to build a pot and in mtt call is best option... Anyway, always remember this: NO SET NO BET
Joined: Dec '09
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to be honest i dont limp with much if im in the hand i will prob raise not very often i limp, as master says above you have a made hand and if its only a small pair dont make it cheap for them to call you with any two cards and beat you but also know wen to give up but my rule is never limp. P.S PUNISH THE LIMPERS
Joined: Oct '09
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welcome there to our big familly off BRM i hope u ll enjoy this site and i think u must post there becouse we allways bring u advises how to play in one or over situation how not loose to much and also how to fold AA poket .. its very important and i think one day u ll be great poker player not very far from pro good luck all
Joined: Dec '09
Location: Ireland
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read a book or 10, id recommend Arnold Snyder[any thing by] or Danny Ashman. More tailored for rookies instead of pros. Ill give you my opinion on it anyway but you should take the advice on books.
In early position with medium small pair,generally I try limp,get to see a flop cheap,i would fold to raise and few callers as your chance of hitting a set are slim and your out of position. in late I will always raise as I have position[crucial]. on flop,unless your pretty sure youve been out drawn by a couple or more callers, always have a stab at it to see where you are. i wouldnt suggest no set no bet advice giving by my good friend[and good player] jovicakralj, as you give the oppertunity to opponent to catch if he didnt already. lot to talk about on this so i really would recommend learning from books etc. as much as you can before you pick up too many bad habits.
Good luck at the tables and welcome to the forum
Edited by Irisheyes (17 February 2011 @ 14:15 GMT)
The answer to the question "What I have to do when I have XXX in my hands?" is always the same: it depends. Depending on position, your stack, your opponents, cash or tournament, blinds ... So, always is very difficult to answer, sorry. In a particular and very detailed situation everybody can give their opinion. In a general question such yours, each opinion has relative value, imho
Joined: Jul '10
Location: South Africa
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I agree that everyhand plays out differently all depending on the factors that DaMessiah said previously. Such as stack size, position, cash or MTT etc. I like a raise with any pocket pair. Its plus EV for everytime you do hit a set and you'll be taking their whole stack pocket ducks, quack quack all the way
Joined: Jan '11
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hey green.....welcome to brm and the poker world in general.....don't ever think that a poker question is not worth posting.....ALWAYS ASK QUESTIONS if you have a question.......that goes for more than just poker .......as far as small pairs go.....I'm just as clueless as you are.....sorry I couldn't be of help...if I have a small pair(lower than 10's) I just limp and hope to hit trips......but that's how I play and not everyone plays like me.......good luck to yo green....google some poker books.....there are MANY out there which you can learn from....take care.....
Joined: Jan '11
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I've read everyones advise and will take it to heart! The book sounds good Almonds and pOck3 has a good point about hands not making players. But, thank djhempey advice and supporting the "Read a Book" sounds like the first step to learning something. By the way! Started out with pair of 5's this am and did finish 100th place in freeroll. Maybe not much to some, but it's pretty good for me.
Joined: Feb '09
Location: United Kingdom
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My suggestion is to look at hand groups and set mining, in deep stack tourneys and cash games it pays to ensure your in position with small pairs and look to flop a set which happens on average every 8.5 times, big pairs QQ, KK and AA play themselves most of the time and should be raised unless you have a very good reason not to, for example a player has position on you and his vpip is 60%+ and his PFR is 40%+ then you could call knowing he will raise alot of the time and reraise him when the inevitable raise goes in
Joined: Jan '10
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Good point carlos but i dunno if vpips and pfr's are the right thing to introduce to these guys straight away
Generally i hugely agree though, qq+ play for themselves, small pairs, position, set, bet.
When you get deeper *not stack wise, skill and game sense* you can consider squeezing with smallish pp's but you also need to be able to fold ( if viable ) after a 4/5 bet
At the end of the day everybody plays hands differently, its finding the balance in your game that is essential, and only you can find that balance )) gl gl and all the best.
Joined: Feb '10
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I would wait for a big pair like AA or KK if it concerns ring games or MTT. But that is my style of playing poker, everyone has it's own style. You have to develop yours.
Books are available used from major resellers on the internet, so you can get these at a fraction of the cost of new. Some of them are also available in pdf if you know where to look… which lets me read books I wouldn’t ordinarily shell out the dough to buy. My advice to new poker players: Play lots of hands and discover your style and preferences. Maybe Omaha or 7stud will be more to your taste than hold ‘em. Maybe MTT, SNG, DON or cash. Take advantage of the free bankrolls, play the better freerolls out there, read the books, and discuss poker here on the forum. Post hands where you would like input from other players and evaluate the feedback. If you post hands, give as much info about the hand as possible, e.g. how many players, MTT or not, blind levels, player tendencies at your table. Lastly and very importantly: chart your results. Even if you don’t buy poker software (I just use excel), charting your results lets you see trends, gives you goals to shoot for and forces you to think about your game. GL!
Joined: Nov '10
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Posted by Almonds: i wouldnt suggest no set no bet advice giving by my good friend[and good player] jovicakralj, as you give the oppertunity to opponent to catch if he didnt already.
My friend I was thinking like this: If you limp that will me multi-way pot and if you dont hit set 33 doesnt worth s**t on board like 69j or something so you cant raise on board like that...
mabie good luck
.......as far as small pairs go.....I'm just as clueless as you are.....sorry I couldn't be of help...if I have a small pair(lower than 10's) I just limp and hope to hit trips......but that's how I play and not everyone plays like me.......good luck to yo green....google some 
