Small pocket pairs in NLHE

Small pocket pairs are one of my most profitable plays in NLHE.

I will limp in and call a raise of up to 3xBB with my pocket pairs in any position. I will sometimes raise in any position with them, to throw off my opponents as well. If I get reraised, only then I may muck. (if it is a big enough re-raise, and his stack isn't warrented enough to get (isn't big enough))


The best part about small pocket pairs is that they are so easy to play after the flop - dump them if you do not hit a set. If you do, people almost always bet into you.

Just watch you don't get into the habit of always slowplaying a set. Although it is profitable to do it, it can also break you when it shouldn't.

If you do hit the set (especially if it was raised pre-flop), it is very tough for someone to put you on a set. Almost all people who raise pre-flop (3xBB) will fire out a large bet if rags hit on the flop, and will fire out a large bet when they hit thier high pair. Well, when your rag hits, they go broke. Don't be scared to play your small PP's with a raise, or a single opponent. The implied odds are normally huge.

Set/Overset happens, so if you lose to that, brush it off and re-load.

If anyone is confused by this post, I can explain in more detail later on, but I am trying to leave a final thought for the weekend.

Enjoy the weekend all - and get the luck when you need it!!

There are a couple of posts about this already floating about, I think Fnord wrote a program to calculate the odds of over pairs and such too.

Yup, pocket pairs are so nice. Sometimes It's better to bet the flop because the other person belives that they have the best hand, and you will get reraised.

I love playing small pp's. You can get in for cheap usually, if you hit you can win a big pot and if you miss the flop it's an easy decision to get out.

i dont go on the 3x raising rule.. pay more attention to stack sizes .. something like a 10% rule. if the raise is 10% less then both of your chip stacks, your getting odds to call any bet to try to hit a set.. implied odds of you taking down AA is pretty high.

I always raise small PP's if there is few people in the hand, and hope for blanks, if face cards come out, forget about it, in the worst case, you can loose a couple chips, best case you can hit a set on the flop, and pull in a pot.