Pocket Pair

fat_dancer

I am a new player and would like some advice on how to play pocket pairs mainly low, i seem to keeping losing hands and chips however i play them especially 8's for some reason just need help anyone please

Thanks

hustler12

Low pocket pairs, middle pocket pairs... early on i like to limp in or see a flop as cheap as possible, if i dont hit 3 of a kind on the flop im out of there even to a min bet probably! Later on either shove or fold them. I think it is a good idea to fold them a lot of the time later on though as you are probably only going to be in a 50 50 situation if you get called or dominated by a better pocket pair. 7s upwards though are fine to shove with and any pocket pair if you are really desperate. But just try and hit your set and fold if you miss most of the time.

YoungUn

Tournaments: Early on, limp with all pairs TT and downwards and play them for set value (ie, if you don't hit a set, get out of there). Late on, you want to be folding all your small pairs especially when in early position. There will just be too many occasions where you get called behind by 2 overs and suddnely you're racing for your tournament life which we often want to avoid. As hustler says, probably fold 66-22, and if you're playing any of them and you're first to enter the pot ALWAYS raise and play the hand for its actual value and not for set value.

Cash: When stacks are deep I pretty much always limp with every pair 99 downwards and play them for set value. The implied odds are pretty big with these hands, you either lose a little because you see a cheap flop and pass when you miss our set, or you get in cheap, hit the set, and hopefully win a big pot. Raising isn't necessarily a bad idea, especially in later position, but I never like to do it in early position because if I get re-raised I'm playing a marginal hand in a bloated pot out of position, which is always bad!