Win Poker Strategy

We have gone over how to play this very tricky hand in the two most dangerous positions, early and middle, and now it is time to go over how to play them from the catbird seat. Regardless of their size, small pocket pairs in late position can be very effective if you vary your play and take advantage of weak players at the table.

Late Position

When you are in the cutoff or button position and you look down at two matching cards, you have a huge advantage. Unlike early position, you don’t stand to throw money in the put on a lot of occasions and have someone else come right over you. If they do, it is probably because they were slow playing a big pocket pair and were waiting for someone else to make a raise. In most cases, it will be a sizeable raise and tossing your hand to the muck is a no brainer.

However, that is usually the exception to the poker rule and if player are only showing moderate strength in front of you or limping in, you can steal a ton of pots by playing this hand properly. Once again, let’s assume that we are looking down at 99, except this time we are sitting on the button.

First scenario has everyone folding to you. You have only the blinds to beat and if you are playing aggressively all day, this move may get you a hit back from the BB. If not, unless he is sitting on a hand, he will more than likely fold. Made it a big enough raise that he has to really think about protecting his blind. Usually a 4 or 5x blind will get it. However, if you have been stealing, expect him to fight back and possibly come back over the top. In most cases, you can come right back at him and take down the hand. This is where your knowledge of the players comes in and will dictate to raise or fold. Just calling is not an option here.

The next scenario is when you have several limpers and the betting gets back to you. I am a strong believer in that if you are playing any cards other than small suited connectors, this situation warrants a decent raise. This way, the blinds are not getting odds to call and if it gets back around to the limpers, they are going to have to think twice about throwing more money in with their KJo. A big raise here is a cause for concern and calling will be dictated by odds. You are not really worried about callers, be more worried about how that board comes out.

If you get a board that is stacked with over cards and you have multiple callers, you are dead in the water. Your best bet is to hope it gets checked to you and then possibly hit the turn. Throwing a bet to three over cards is asking for trouble and a loss. Now if the board only shows one over and you have limited callers, meaning two or less, you can put out a continuation bet of at least half the pot to see where you stand. You may be able to take it down right there. If you get a caller and there is no draw, be very careful on the turn as you may have someone who hit with a weak kicker. This is a dangerous spot to be in. All under cards is a no brainer pot sized or better wager.

Best case scenario is that the board hits and the set hits the board. You are going to be in great shape to make a huge hit here, especially if you have multiple callers. With an aggressive raise, the table will probably check around to you. Even if they don’t, your philosophy on betting is going to be the same. Your bet should be about ¾ of the pot. It is slightly more than a normal continuation bet and just enough that if you manage to get one caller, you may just get others to follow.

The dream situation is that there is one over card and someone has managed to hit it. You see a board of 29J and after you make your bet, your doomed opponent that is looking down at his AJ thinks he is about to crush you and comes right back over the top. Depending upon your stack, you have a couple of options here. If he has a lot of money and you are similarly armed, you may just want to smooth call and let him fire on the turn. This will allow him to think he is the best and then when he makes a bet on the turn, you can push. Odds may dictate that he has to call and you get to felt him and take down a huge hand.

If either you or your opponent is looking at a stack that is right around the pot, the flop bet is the time to get the money in the pot. Say the pot is about $500 and you have $350 left and your opponent is sitting close to that. He fires a $225 bet at the pot, there is no need to waste anymore time here. Push your stack in and he has not choice to call. With there being $1050 in the middle at this point, his last $125 gives him better than 8:1 and he would have to be a moron to let the hand go.

Small pairs in late position are absolute dreams. They have a nice chance to create a big pot, scoop a lot of blinds and allow you to get out cheap when the hand goes bad. You may take a hit every now and again with them, but if you play this way, you will come out way ahead of the game at the end of the year.

Small pocket pairs poker, and by this we mean pairs of 99 or less, have often been the cause of many bankrolls going across the table. Players will often overvalue their hand and end up losing a ton of money as they simply cannot let go of two matching cards in the hole. We are going to rectify this situation for you and show you how to play these cards to maximize profits and minimize your losses.

IN EARLY POSITION

This is probably one of the most difficult positions to play a small pocket pair. However, if done properly, you can make a lot of money by getting in on the action in this position with a small pocket pair. The move in early position is to simply limp in and see what happens. You do this for two reasons. You may have a chance to camouflage your hand with the right board and only a few players and you can also crush a huge hand if you happen to hit your set.

Assume you are under the gun and looking down at 77. You limp in and the player behind you makes a raise to 4x the blind. You are going to need odds to call here, which means that you want as many callers in on this hand as you can possibly get. There are two very good things happening when you get callers here. The first is that you are getting the 5:1 or better odds that you need to throw your money in. The second is that the more players that are in, the more likely the larger cards have already been dealt out. If you do not get 3 or more callers or if someone else comes over the top again here, you have to let the hand go, simple as that.

Now ideally, you get the callers in there and you have a shot at a monster pot. You are now is a no-brainer situation as to whether or not you proceed with the hand. If you have never heard the phrase “No Set No Bet,” you need to live and breathe but it if you have a small pair in early position. The only time you will bet out in this scenario if you are looking at a board that is all undercards to your 77.

For instance, you see a board of 2-4-6. In this case, you can make a bet that is at least the size of the pot and it will hopefully take down pot. You will immediately know where you stand of someone comes back over top of you. They may have been sitting on a larger pp or they may just be making a play. This is where your instincts and memory recall as to their earlier play will have to take over. It will also depend on how much money you have sitting in front of you. At this point, you may just be pot committed and the odds for your remaining cash will be so great that calling in the only thing that you can do.

Now if you get lucky and happen to hit your set, you are in a very strong position to make a lot of money. You can be pretty sure that with that many players, the raiser is going to make a continuation bet. This is a great opportunity to set up a check raise and make some serious cash. The one exception to setting up this play is when the board has a possible flush or straight out on the board. If that is the case, you are going to need to calculate the odds and take those hands out of play with a huge bet on the flop. You do not want anyone drawing to your set.

Now if you have a board that is not too dangerous, you are ready to make a check raise. Check your bet to the initial raiser and let him lead out. If you are lucky, one of the other players will have gotten something worth chasing. Depending upon how much money you have left in front of you, you may make a sizeable raise or push all in. You will hopefully be able to get isolation at this point and take down a huge pot. A time when you would bet out with nothing on board is when you have hit your set is if your remaining stack is less than half the pot. In this case, you can push right off the bat.

It is never recommended that you play the same way all the time. You are going to have to change up how you play this hand from time to time or you will risk the other players picking up exactly what you have. As a variation, you may make a small value bet on the flop hoping that the initial raiser will come back over top of you. Use the same betting strategy that you use when you have a medium hand and attempt to show some weakness. If they fall for the trap, you will have them guessing on every hand and can use your flop a set strategy to steal some pots down the road.