World Poker Forums

What do you do with small pairs, I'm mainly talkng about 2's throug maybe 6's or 8's? My thinking is that you either gotta go all in without seeing the flop and make someone really go out on the line and hope they draw a pair, otherwise just throw them away. Seems like a waste to even call and see the flop because you already have 2 of those cards so the odds of you drawing a third aren't good and a pair of 3's or something like that is pretty worhtless if you let others see the flop. Just wondering if anyone else has a better way of playing them.

low pairs, i always match the pot befor the flop to get a value out of it..more than usually, everyone folds and i take the pot..

A lot depends on how the betting goes. If I'm first to act, or if it's been checked to me then I'm going to raise 3x blind and try to take the pot that way. If someone has called the blind I will do the same and hope for a set on the flop. If someone has already raised before me I would probably lay them down unless I had a lot of chips, or was in one of the blind positions.

it depends on many different factorsif my opponents are tight, i will make a standard raise since i think i can just take down the pot right then and there...if i am short stacked, i will just move all-in and hope to take it down that wayhowever, at a looser table if i am in early position i will just limp in and hope to flop a set and possibly make a lot of money from the hand...in middle or late position, or if the game is shorthanded, i will still raise and hope to win the blinds...the only spot where i would fold without anyone raising first is if there is a table where i can't steal the blinds but don't have enough chips to see the flop cheaplythis is just a general baseline for how i play them, maybe you will not be comfortable playing this way...you should just do whatever you feel comfortable doing

You have it all wrong my friend, 95% of the time you should just limp with these kind of small pairs. By going all in with them you are only going to get called called by hands that have you crushed, so why do it. Now i can see if you are on the short stack, but if you have some chips then the limp in is the way to go. Now if i am on the button and no one has made a play on the pot, and i look down to find a pair like 4-4's, i might make a nice raise of 3-4 times the big blind, but i will never put all my chips in pre-flop on a small pair unless i am short on chips. By limping in if you get a big re-raise you can still dump the hand with out being pot stuck at all, by putting all your chips in the middle you have to have the best hand, this takes away any plays like being able to bluff the flop or play position. A limp may seem weak to a lot of players, but up front just limp, or if you are even in late position and there is action in front of you, you may want to dump the hand and move on. Pairs are great, but the can still be beat, i myself have been know to even fold bigger hands to big bets, so get used to folding hands, and get used to limping in.

The way to play this type of hand is variable from one game to another. If you're playing in a cash game, it's not a bad idea to see flops with small pairs. Some of the larger pots are won with small"sets"because they are hard to detect. I do not recommend raising with small pairs, or any other mediocre hand for that matter, because ultimately all you want is to see a flop. It's best to get in cheap and see how the flop benefits your hand. Small pairs, in the range you mentioned, have little or no showdown value. Therefore, if your hand is unimproved on the flop it should be relatively easy to get away from.