Joined: Feb '10
Location: Canada
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 197
You would need to be a little more specific in which situation you are reffering to. There are many different ways of playing small pocket pairs in different situations.
Joined: Jan '10
Location: Germany
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 1379
this is just a question like... i don´t know.
Depends on what are "small" pockets. Which position do I have. What happened before... There are so many opportunities. openraising for preflop victory, fold because of utg, call when someone else already limped in, call a raise if both of you have more than 20 BBs.........................................................
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
playing small pocket pairs in anything other than a HU or short stack situation is pretty much about implied odds,very simply put (there are MANY other factors to consider) you want roughly 10:1 implied odds. Remember you must calculate this based on the SMALLEST stack out of yourself and your opponent not the biggest.
If you're not getting these implied odds, then do NOT set-mine as it is EV-
In other situations (like having a short stack in MTT) you may wish to open shove your small pair. Basically if you can not get 10:1 implied odds then you must either shove or fold, nothing else is profitable.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Portugal
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 4827
I usualy raise to see flop and then i put myself in a call/fold situation if there's nothing good for me on the table. But i can do a big raise if i am chip leading just to rob, or i can raise the stack of someone shorter to put him away.
Joined: Jan '10
Location: Germany
Age: 32 (M)
Posts: 1379
if you raise preflop you put yourself in a call/fold siiutation? No, don´t get this. If you call a raise with a pp I do understand but as you are the preflopaggressor I don´t see playing call/fold but making a conti bet.
Joined: Mar '09
Location: Canada
Age: 36 (M)
Posts: 3207
Posted by jessthehuman: playing small pocket pairs in anything other than a HU or short stack situation is pretty much about implied odds,very simply put (there are MANY other factors to consider) you want roughly 10:1 implied odds. Remember you must calculate this based on the SMALLEST stack out of yourself and your opponent not the biggest.
If you're not getting these implied odds, then do NOT set-mine as it is EV-
In other situations (like having a short stack in MTT) you may wish to open shove your small pair. Basically if you can not get 10:1 implied odds then you must either shove or fold, nothing else is profitable.
love reading your opinions on things! can learn alot from a genious like u! you give classes?
Joined: Jan '11
Location: United States
Age: 60 (M)
Posts: 3361
When I started playing which wasn't long ago I asked the Mobsters this very questions, but was a little more in depth with specifics. I used to fold a lot of my small pairs whenever someone would raise, but now I base my decision on position and how many players are in the hand. Of course if someone raises it also determines whether I will play the hand or fold. If no one raises and the blinds are 120 or less I'll generally call a min raise to see the others reaction. The flop basically determines how to play the hand from that point forward. All I'm stating is I don't want lose much so I keep my sense until I see what the flop brings, how many players stay and position is important. Probably very confusing, but considering I used to fold a lot of small pairs I've done better playing them as stated. jess probably has the best advice here, but a lot of Mobsters helped me with this some time ago. Good Luck to All!
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
Just another tip, I've recently read the book "Kill everyone" which is MTT strategy.. They mention a rule called "The rule of 5 and 10":
what this means: When deciding whether to play a speculative hand such as suited connectors or a small PP then use this to make the decision: If calling the bet represents 5% or less of the smallest stack (remember, its 5% of the smallest stack involved in the hand - which represents 20:1 implied odds) then call EVERY time. If it is over 10% of the smallest stack involved - then fold EVERY time (you're getting LESS than 10: implied odds, making it unprofitable to play a speculative hand).
If the call is inbetween 5%-10% then its a judgement call - use some thought such as opponent skill level (is the opponent a solid TAG player capable of laying down a big hand like AA/KK ? If the answer is yes, then fold, as your implied odds are greatly reduced.. Is your opponent an agressive LAG donkey ? if the answer is yes, then call up to 10% since your implied odds are great - based on the fact if you DO hit your set/straight/flush you will probably get paid !). Also consider position when calling between 5%-10% - if you have position then obviously you should be more likely to call, if OOP then more likely to fold - if OOP facing strong opponent: fold - if OOP facing weak opponent - then make a call based on your judgement of their style.
Later on - speculative hands weaken a LOT in strength - as you aren't getting the implied odds to call them and you also have TOO many chips to correctly open-shove with them.. HOWEVER - interestingly - as the blinds increase (or your stack decreases) these hands pick up value again, once you get under 10bb you should start open shoving hands like small-medium pps, suited connectors etc - based on previous action on table, position, etc.
Joined: Apr '11
Location: Romania
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 6669
It really depends on the situation but usually yes. There are two things here, how small the "small pocket" is, i mean 2-2 or 3-3 it's not the same with 9-9 or 10-10 which are very strong hands of their own. The second most important thing is the position in which you are. If i have a small pair > 8-8 and i'm in UTG i only limp, not raise. If i'm in middle position i also limp and only in small blind or big bling i raise it before me all were limpers. If there was a raise before me and now depends how much the raise is i call and maybe i get a set on the flop. If i don't get it i usually check/fold but now it really depends what type of players are at table. The reason for which you play small pockets is to get a set on the flop, there is no need to invest more in a hand like a small pair if you didn't hit the set on the flop and the flop allows multiple straight or flush draws. Now it you hit the set on the flop but in the same time there is a straight or flush fraw possible you need to play aggressive the hand(i usually overbet).
Joined: Oct '09
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 57 (M)
Posts: 667
Funny thing is I was playing a 9 handed sit'n'go when I began reading your thread and guess what I was dealt pocket Jacks in early position so I raised twice the BB and was re-raised with one caller, so I called. Flop went
A, Q, 10
I thought a good flop for me so I raised 1/2 pot and was re-raised all in. This obviosly made me think that the raiser had an ace.
I called
the raiser had 10, 2
I thought nutter and happily waited for the turn it came
2h
the river was a 7
The answer is I should have gone all-in before the flop,but, as a previous threads have said what type of idiots are playing out there?
Joined: Mar '11
Location: Germany
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 1242
Posted by jessthehuman: Just another tip, I've recently read the book "Kill everyone" which is MTT strategy.. They mention a rule called "The rule of 5 and 10":
what this means: When deciding whether to play a speculative hand such as suited connectors or a small PP then use this to make the decision: If calling the bet represents 5% or less of the smallest stack (remember, its 5% of the smallest stack involved in the hand - which represents 20:1 implied odds) then call EVERY time. If it is over 10% of the smallest stack involved - then fold EVERY time (you're getting LESS than 10: implied odds, making it unprofitable to play a speculative hand).
If the call is inbetween 5%-10% then its a judgement call - use some thought such as opponent skill level (is the opponent a solid TAG player capable of laying down a big hand like AA/KK ? If the answer is yes, then fold, as your implied odds are greatly reduced.. Is your opponent an agressive LAG donkey ? if the answer is yes, then call up to 10% since your implied odds are great - based on the fact if you DO hit your set/straight/flush you will probably get paid !). Also consider position when calling between 5%-10% - if you have position then obviously you should be more likely to call, if OOP then more likely to fold - if OOP facing strong opponent: fold - if OOP facing weak opponent - then make a call based on your judgement of their style.
Later on - speculative hands weaken a LOT in strength - as you aren't getting the implied odds to call them and you also have TOO many chips to correctly open-shove with them.. HOWEVER - interestingly - as the blinds increase (or your stack decreases) these hands pick up value again, once you get under 10bb you should start open shoving hands like small-medium pps, suited connectors etc - based on previous action on table, position, etc.
Hope this helps
Hm,Jess, I guess this is a nice tip and I will try to remember it and to use it at the table. I love tips/rules which can be remembered easily when the situation comes up and I guess this rule is very usefull and easy to learn. Thanks for this.
