Best Casino Strategy

Don’t Overvalue Your Small Pocket Pairs

First of all, I want to say that pocket pairs are awesome hands in no limit Holdem. They are the bread and butter of every winning player because pocket pairs sometimes turn into sets. We all love sets because they’re hard to see and they usually win the pot.

But this isn’t an article about how great sets are. You probably already know how great it feels to look down and see a pair in your hand. What I want to talk about today is how to increase your winrate by not overvaluing your small pocket pairs.

With all that said, it’s easy to get carried away with your small pocket pairs because they have so much potential. You just have to remember that it’s possible to have too much of a good thing. If you play your small pocket pairs every single time they’re dealt to you, you’re costing yourself a lot of money.

Problem 1: Stack Sizes vs. Preflop Raises

This is the most common problem I see when it comes to overvaluing small pocket pairs. The whole purpose of playing small pocket pairs is to hit sets. Sure, sometimes you’ll win the pot without hitting a set but the main idea here is to get a small pocket pair, hit a set and win someone’s stack.

The best time to hit a set is when someone is attached to his hand. The classic example of the set winning a stack is an opponent getting AA, putting in a preflop raise and losing to your hidden set. There’s nothing wrong with playing small pocket pairs for raises but your opponent’s stack size better be worth it.

You will hit a set about 1 time out of every 8 pocket pairs you’re dealt. So 7 times out of 8, you’re going to totally whiff the flop. If you’re calling preflop raises every time, that’s a lot of money you’re spending calling raises and then just folding. Even if you can win an additional pot or two through trickery or luck, it still adds up quickly.

Even when you do hit your set, there’s no guarantee that you’ll win his entire stack every time. So that’s why your opponent needs to have a big stack size in relation to the size of his preflop raise. For it to be worth calling (and most likely folding on the flop), you need to at least have a chance to win a big chunk of money.

The old common wisdom was that you could call preflop raises with pocket pairs as long as the raise represented no more than 10% of the smallest stack between you and your opponent. That is a myth.

If you spend 10% of your stack chasing sets every time, you’d have to take your opponent’s entire stack every single time you hit your set to profit. We both know that’s unrealistic. Now if you move that 10% figure down to 5%, you’ll be right on track.

Problem 2: Calling Steals

You should play your small pocket pairs completely different in preflop steal situations. When it folds around to someone in late position and he raises your blind, you can’t just call with your small pair and hope to hit a set like normal.

The problem with doing so is that your opponents have a huge range of hands before the flop. They could be raising with just about anything. If you go set hunting when your opponents are just stealing, you’ll win big pots very rarely.

If you want to defend your blinds with small pocket pairs, that’s fine. Put in a re-raise or try to take the pot after the flop. Whatever you do, don’t just sit there and play fit-or-fold because your opponent will rarely pay you off.

Problem 3: Predictable Preflop Play

It’s funny how predictable some set hunters get with their small pocket pairs. These players will limp in from any position, call raises and then fold on the flop when the set misses. It’s almost always a pocket pair and it’s extremely predictable.

All you need to do to prevent this sort of predictability is mix it up a tiny bit. When you’re the first person in before the flop, come in with a raise. Even if you’re in early position and you have a pair of 2s. If you raise from early position with 2s and hit your set, nobody will guess it in a million years.

Making preflop raises with sets is also good because it gives you one more way to win the pot. Even if you miss your set, a simple continuation bet after the flop is often all it takes to win the pot.

When you’re ready to learn the secrets to crushing no limit cash games for truck loads of money, check out the Kill No Limit poker e-book and my free Poker Strategy Guide.