Pocket Pairs

[CaliNaughti]

In the last few weeks I have noticed alot of players, not just here raising 5x the blinds with what I consider small PP's. I was wondering if this is done because they want no action in the hand. You see I dont really raise with a small PP (unless I am SS) because as soon as the flop comes I feel I am beat unless I hit trips. I wont call an all in in front of me with a small or med PP unless I have a huge stack or am chip leader.

Stealing low blinds to me is a waste of time. Aside from what the "books" all say what does everyone else here think a small, med, large PP is?

Small: 2-6
Med: 7-10
Large: J-A

[Luckymonkey]

betting 5xBB with a small pair seems like it will be wrong in almost any situation to me.

Against a loose-passive table I love calling for the set value in any position. loose-aggressive table I like to call in mid/late position if I see a limper or 2 already. I will even call a small raise in late position if there are 2 or more callers already, and the stacks are big enough.

Against a tight table I will usually fold, but might raise to 3xBB from the cut-off or button on occasion if nobody has entered the pot.

In a blind vs blind situation I will usually raise it to about 3.5xBB.

Also small pairs are nice hands to push pre-flop late in a tournament when you are down to less than 10 Big Blinds

[Raise, Ha!]

I like to bet 3x the BB basically announcing that I have a PP (of any denomination). I feel that there are players among us who get any Ace and will then call 3x - 10x the BB and they seem to always get the auto-ace or auto-king. Then you almost have to take your foot off the gas. The 5x strategy seems fine to pick up blinds and those loose calls but the texture of the flop is everything and has to be followed up by a pot sized bet to get them to come to their senses if they miss. I don't think position matters worth a hoot at the lower levels.

[SavagePenguin]

I see people raise 5x bb with small pairs as well. And the kicker is, when they get shoved on they often call, hoping for the coin flip. I can't explain their reasoning.

I used to be a "standard 3x bb bet" player. I'd open to 3xbb assuming I was stacks were deep enough to justify it.

Now I'll pretty much open with 2.5x bb bets, be it 4/4 or A/A. It gives me more wiggle room to get away from small pocket pairs, and you have pretty much the same fold equity as people who will fold 3x bb bets will fold to 2.5x, and people who would only call 3x bb bets are only going to call your 2.5x bb bets.

If they call, now I get to see a flop for about 17% cheaper. If I hit my set or actually have A/A or whatever, I'm pretty confident in my post-flop play, and I am *not* going average wins 17% less that I would have if I opened to 3x bb.

[xxlurchxx]

You should bet the same size no matter what hand you have, otherwise you tip folks off as to what hand you likely have. The other option would be to vary your bet size without reguard to your hand strength. The bets of 2.5-3x make the most sense as you want to win the blinds or give yourself room to get away from the hand. The BB has the odds to call if if you bet less than 2.5 with almost any hand. The reason for this is few hands are less than a 2/1 dog to lose to any 2 random cards that bet.
If you can get people to fold for less than it can be profitable however do not be upset when your Aces are cracked by 2 4 when it hits 2 pair.:violin: