How to Play Small Pocket Pairs

Small pocket pairs are similar to suited connectors in that both hands are small by themselves but can be used to make powerful hands. The ideal outcome for any small pocket pair is to catch three-of-a-kind and break someone who can’t let go of some other strong but second best hand. Small pocket pairs are my favorite hands of them all because they are so difficult to detect and almost always win the pot if they improve to 3 of a kind.

If you take a look at your poker stats, you’ll probably find that small pocket pairs are some of your most profitable hands. They turn into a set 1 time in 8 and when they do so, they almost always win the pot. The problem with small pocket pairs is that many players get too excited over them and play them all the time. Like all poker hands, small pocket pairs must be played under the right circumstances to be profitable.

When to Play Small Pocket Pairs

Small pocket pairs can be played in several different situations depending on your goal with the hand. In some cases, you simply want to play a fit-or-fold game and try to win a big pot. In other cases, you can use small pocket pairs as a backup plan for when you try to buy the pot. It’s always a good idea to mix up when you play small pocket pairs so you don’t become too predictable.

Fit or Fold

The “fit or fold” mindset is when you decide beforehand that you will fold your hand unless you catch a set. The best times for this strategy are when there are several people in the pot and you don’t think you can bluff them. In this situation, your play is pretty simple: hit a set or fold.

When you play with this strategy, you have to make sure you are getting the right implied odds to try and hit your hand. Pairs don’t turn into sets very often so there needs to be the potential for a large pot. You also need to make sure you can get in for a cheap price. Pairs just don’t improve often enough to make it worth calling a bunch of raises.

Position is also an important factor to consider. You should only play small pairs from late position when playing the fit-or-fold strategy. The reason is simple: you need to know how much it’s going to cost to see the flop. You won’t have any idea from early position how many people are going to play and how much it’s going to cost.

One last thing: don’t ever open the pot with a limp. You should never play your small pairs in this manner. If you’re the first person in, you are going to lack position after the flop. On top of that, it’s easy for your opponents to guess what you have when you open-limp.

Coming in with a Raise

In short handed cash games, you can play small pocket pairs from every position if you’re the first person in. All you have to do is come in with a raise and take control of the pot. In most cases, you’ll either win the pot outright or only have to deal with one opponent.

In full ring games, you should wait until you’re in middle position to start playing small pocket pairs. There are more people to worry about in full games so it’s a smart idea to wait until a couple people have folded before you get involved. Once you get into middle and late position, though, feel free to open any pot with a raise.

Some poker players don’t like to play small pocket pairs from early position but it really doesn’t hurt anything. Sure, you’ll sometimes have to deal with being out of position, but that’s more than made up for with all the pots you win without a contest. On top of that, it makes you even more difficult to read. Some people only raise AA, KK and AK from early position and they are very easy to read.

As an added benefit, you’ll see some great comments from the other players at the table when you show down 22 after raising preflop from early position. Other players can get pretty irritated when you win money from them in an unconventional manner. It’s amusing and will sometimes even throw an opponent on tilt.

Calling Raises

It’s OK to call some raises with small pocket pairs but it should be done sparingly. You’ll only hit your set once in a while and end up having to fold the rest of the time. Poker players raise with all kinds of junk so even when you do hit your set, there’s no guarantee you’ll get paid. The ideal spot to call raises is when you are in late position and you have an opponent who likes to take his big hands too far.

Both you and the raiser should have large stacks for it to be worth calling his raise. You don’t do yourself any good if you call raises from players who have 20 big blind stacks. The potential win is so small that you’ll end up spending more money calling those raises than you do winning pots.

The size of the raise should also be taken into account. There’s a point of diminishing returns when it comes to calling raises and trying to hit sets. The old rule of thumb was that it was OK to call a raise of up to 10% the size of the smallest stack between you and your opponent. The thinking behind that is you can afford to risk that much since you’ll hit a set 1 time in 8.

The problem with that theory is that it assumes you’ll win your opponent’s entire stack every time you hit your set. That’s obviously not going to happen because your opponents raise with all kinds of hands and don’t hit the flop every time. A better rule of thumb is to call a raise for up to 5% the size of the smallest stack between you and the opponent.

Position is just as important. You should only call raises when you have position on the raiser. If you call raises from out of position, you’ll have a harder time extracting money with your sets and winning pots.