55 UTG and pocket pairs in general

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (8 handed) - Full Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

Villian has VPIP of 15.49 and PFR of 11.27 over 79 hands which from what I gather are fairly standard TAG stats


UTG+1 ($1.04)
MP1 ($2.09)
MP2 ($2.13)
CO ($1.83)
Button ($3.31)
SB ($2)
BB ($2.49)
Hero (UTG) ($2.27)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with 5, 5
Hero bets $0.06, UTG+1 raises to $0.10, 6 folds, Hero calls $0.04

Flop: ($0.23) 5, 2, Q (2 players)
Hero bets $2.17 (All-In), 1 fold

Total pot: $0.23 | Rake: $0.01


Pocket pairs are where a lot of my profit comes from but I am not sure how well I am playing them. In general I will raise or call a raise with them from any position and then try and stack someone if I hit or fold if I miss on the flop.

My understanding is that you play them for their implied odds so building a decent pot before the flop with a raise and then getting all of the money in on the flop if you hit is the best way to play them. This way if they fold then you get whatever is in the pot and if they call then you will stack them most of the time. Is this strategy as in the hand above profitable? I have played a few pps like this and had a few people call with TPTK which is great but is playing them like this +EV in the long run or would I be better off with a different strategy or is the answer the usual "it depends"?

Thanks.

If you were at my table and i observed you doing this. I would take a note.

*3xbb rse utg w/ 55 , then all in on a Qh 5c 2c flop*

so , you wouldnt get your implied odds from me.

You want 15-20x your initial investment when you do hit. That's going to be hard to do if you're only getting value from hands you coolered. You get called here by like 22,AcQc, sometimes QQ+, or if they get stubborn with AQ.

Try betting a sane amount, like 20c on the flop, and aim to get value on multiple streets from a much wider range. Like Overpairs, top pairs, flush draws, maybe some mid PP's, and occasionally people peeling Ace high.

So pot sized value bet is the best option?

pre is fine. flop is retarded

better to put villain on a range, then play some poker
anyway, pot-pot-pot if you decide to bet flop after considering all options

Point taken. I will try to be less retarded next time.

Do you advocate always making a pot size bet on the flop if I am going to play?

Do you think his flop calling range changes if you bet 10c or 15c as opposed to 20c?

im c/r'ing this flop fairly often...

^^ i'm not. i'm betting so that my money goes in against a far wider range (their calling range) and has a higher EV. my point being that at these stakes, people typically call bets with a wide range, and bet a pretty small range (aka it's passive)

Note that at 2NL (and probably 5NL as well), it is a valid strategy to limp/call your small PP in EP at relatively aggressive tables. This is because if you raise and someone 3b to a proper size (ie not a minraise like in the hand above), you'll have to dump your hand for lack of implied odds. In the game these days, 3-betting is much more common and people fold much less to cbets so raising your small PP in EP is not very profitable, if at all.

Mind that limp-calling is generally a bad habit, and this play is super-transparent to decent players, who will immediately recognize a set mine. But at 2NL it will still make you a ton of money. At higher stakes, you mostly will be folding 22-66 in EP.

Originally Posted by rpm

^^ i'm not. i'm betting so that my money goes in against a far wider range (their calling range) and has a higher EV. my point being that at these stakes, people typically call bets with a wide range, and bet a pretty small range (aka it's passive)

ok, but one should assume (maybe not) that hes gunna be cbetting the majority of his 3b'ing range, and if were assuming he calls too much, he'll call a c/r lighter than he should, no?

Originally Posted by thelorax

ok, but one should assume (maybe not) that hes gunna be cbetting the majority of his 3b'ing range, and if were assuming he calls too much, he'll call a c/r lighter than he should, no?

tbh i didn't notice he had min 3-bet us pre when i made that comment. i think i still prefer leading though. but you have a valid point. if he had sized his preflop 3bet properly i think i would prefer a C/R. but because he seems to suck at both bet-sizing and poker, i think we should just bet/bet/bet/bet etc.

I don't like the c/r due to his stack size, it may blow him out of the pot.

Originally Posted by frjd2

Do you advocate always making a pot size bet on the flop if I am going to play?

Try to keep your bets in the same general ball park to disguise your range, something like 60% to 90% of the pot, but think the hand through about how to get his stack by the river. Flop bet like $0.15, turn bet ~$0.32. If he calls both of those it leaves his stack a bit more than 1/3 psb for the river. If he calls the turn then he'll probably feel committed and the pot odds on the river will be really enticing.

Originally Posted by Shotglass

I don't like the c/r due to his stack size, it may blow him out of the pot.



Try to keep your bets in the same general ball park to disguise your range, something like 60% to 90% of the pot, but think the hand through about how to get his stack by the river. Flop bet like $0.15, turn bet ~$0.32. If he calls both of those it leaves his stack a bit more than 1/3 psb for the river. If he calls the turn then he'll probably feel committed and the pot odds on the river will be really enticing.

fair enough, i didnt see he had a half stack. i just like getting monies in on turns in these situations.

i probably wouldn't have called the 3bet while OOP with 55

Originally Posted by fokus smokus

i probably wouldn't have called the 3bet while OOP with 55

I'd agree, if he had 3bet to a decent size.

lead for like .14

Originally Posted by fokus smokus

i probably wouldn't have called the 3bet while OOP with 55

There is no problem calling this min 3b OOP to set mine. The rule of thumb is to call if the remaining stack of your opponent is 15 to 20x the amount you have to call.

In this case, the fact that your opponent min 3b indicates that he is surely bad enough to stack off with his pairs when you hit your set so the fact that you are OOP, although detrimental, is not enough to justify dumping your hand.

checking the flop is a superior play here, we don't have to worry about protecting our hand or building the pot against this player's stack size and by checking we allow the 50bb stack to further commit himself

leading lets him play his hand pretty much perfectly, his stack off range will be wider/weaker vs. a c/r