How to play small pocket pairs? Part II

In the first article on playing pocket pairs the author gave some tips on playing pocket pairs from 22 up to 77. I liked the article, but I think that in tough games you won’t get away by playing your small pocket pairs like this. In this article I will discuss how to play small pocket pairs in shorthanded games (6 max), hereafter I will address adjustments for full ring and tournament play. The following discussion will distinct between playing pocket pairs in early/late position in the blinds in an unopened or opened pot.

Unopened pot
If you play a hand in an unopened pot, always come in with a raise and never ever open limp a small pocket pair. Raising is superior to limping because,
• If you always come in with a raise, you won’t give away information about your hand.
• You are building a pot, if you hit a set.
• Often you will be able to pick up the blinds, or pick up the pot on the flop with a continuation bet.
• Limp calling is very exploitable

I will elaborate on the latter. Let’s assume Player limps A call his small pocket pairs in early position. Player B, who has position on player A, knows this, since player’s A play is very transparent, and can raise any two cards. Player will call, because he thinks he has the right odds to setmine. Player A will miss the flop most of the times and player B can thus pick up the pot most of the times with a continuation bet (remember he can do this holding any two cards). If player A has hit a set and goes crazy on the flop, it will be clear for player B that player A has hit and he will throw away his hand. Player B will win tons of money from player A, since he will win the pot most of the times and doesn’t pay player A off when he has hit a set. Player A, on the other hand, will lose a lot of money in the long run with this play. I can’t stress enough that limp calling small pocket pairs is a major leak and a losing play.

Opened pot

Early position
If you are utg + 1 (which equals the hi-jack in 6 max games) and the utg has opened, calling can be an +EV play if:
• The utg can’t lay down big hands and probably will pay off if you hit your set.
• You are able to pick up the pot, without improving (e.g. bluffing on scary boards)
• There is not much squeezing in the game
Raising can be +EV too, if you have much fold equity and are able to play perfect post flop.

Late position
If the open raiser is in early position my advice is basically the same as for an opened pot and you are in early position. If there are already some callers, you might squeeze and pick up the pot right there.

If the open raiser is in late position (e.g. he is in the cut off and you are on the button.), you often won’t have to right odds to set mine. Most solid regulars open fairly loose from the cut off (around 25-40% of their range is quite standard). Your odds to hit a set is approximately 1:9. Since the regular plays a wide range of hands on the cut off, his hand is on average not that strong that he will pay you 9:1 off, when you do hit a set. Ergo, play small to medium pocket pairs purely to set mine is a losing play. On the other hand, since you are in position there are more ways to win than only flopping a set. You may have the best hand post flop and make correct calls, you might bluff the flop or float the flop and pick up the pot later etc. These latter plays are though more sophisticated and I would only advice them if you know your opponent well.

Blinds
Against an early position raiser I wouldn’t often fold. I would call of raise depending on the situation. Since the opening raiser is in early position, the chance that a flopped set is being paid off is bigger. This is even more true, when there are already more callers.
If there are more callers, you have the opportunity to squeeze as well. I think that calling or squeezing in a multiway pot is a trade off depending on:
• The chances that everyone folds to your squeeze
• The chances that a flopped set is paid off

If the opening raiser is in late position (cut off or button), you often won’t have the correct odds to set mine. So calling deuces in the big blind against a solid button raiser hoping to flop a set is a losing play. Since you will play the hand out of position, I think this should be a raise or fold play. If you get a substantial number of folds raising may be correct. If you do not and the solid button makes your life post flop a living hell, you can better fold. On the other hand if the button raiser is a maniac, who will pay your set off with any pair, set mining can be profitable.

Adjustments for full ring
Many good players don’t play these small pocket pairs from early position, because they just cannot play them profitable. I already discussed that limp calling is a losing play, but since in good aggressive games 3betting occurs often, many good players stopped playing these small pocket pairs in early position.
Adjustment for tournament play.
If limp calling is unprofitable in cash games it is even more in tournaments, because players are less deep and set mining is thus even less profitable. In the middle and end stage of a tournament you can better fold small pocket pairs in early position, because you are essentially stealing with them and not playing them for value.

I hope you liked this article and I like to hear comments on it!