high pocket pairs

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Posted: 03-Nov-2009 23:05 by gpj77

playing them very aggressively normally works for me, limping is inviting trouble most of the time and you will normally get 1 caller if you raise 4bb, or 5bb in earlier stages and if everyone folds atleast you win the blinds.

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Posted: 04-Nov-2009 01:45 by Tinman764

Very situational in my opinion. What position are you in? Whats your table image? How is the rest of the table playing? What are the blinds and how do the blinds relate to your stack & the stacks of those around you? Most importantly though - what was the buy-in? Lower stakes will see more people calling strong raises with unexpected hands and possibly out-drawing your pair as they chase thier flush to the river.

Premium pairs (QQ-AA) are obvious raising hands. 99-JJ are tricky and depends on position and stack sizes, anything lower and you want to get in cheap and hit a set.

Being able to read the flop when you get a caller or 2 is also very important. Could the flop have improved your opponents hand, maybe giving them a higher pair?

Continuation bets are also something to be aware of. Use them when you think your hand is still good and test your opponent.

As a footnote - also something to be aware is the risk of becoming too predictable. Maybe your loosing because you only ever raise pre-flop with a pair. This will encourage players to call you with a good drawing hand, a suited Ace or suited connectors. If they hit thier straight or flush they can be confident that they have your pair beaten.

Once you've been sat at the same table for a while you will get a feel for how people are playing and how much to raise with your pairs. It's just a case of being aware of what's going on around you and making mental notes on what hands you've see the other players show down and assessing how the hand was played.

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Posted: 04-Nov-2009 15:45 by Flexatron

Very situational in my opinion. What position are you in? Whats your table image? How is the rest of the table playing? What are the blinds and how do the blinds relate to your stack & the stacks of those around you? Most importantly though - what was the buy-in? Lower stakes will see more people calling strong raises with unexpected hands and possibly out-drawing your pair as they chase thier flush to the river.

Premium pairs (QQ-AA) are obvious raising hands. 99-JJ are tricky and depends on position and stack sizes, anything lower and you want to get in cheap and hit a set.

Being able to read the flop when you get a caller or 2 is also very important. Could the flop have improved your opponents hand, maybe giving them a higher pair?

Continuation bets are also something to be aware of. Use them when you think your hand is still good and test your opponent.

As a footnote - also something to be aware is the risk of becoming too predictable. Maybe your loosing because you only ever raise pre-flop with a pair. This will encourage players to call you with a good drawing hand, a suited Ace or suited connectors. If they hit thier straight or flush they can be confident that they have your pair beaten.

Once you've been sat at the same table for a while you will get a feel for how people are playing and how much to raise with your pairs. It's just a case of being aware of what's going on around you and making mental notes on what hands you've see the other players show down and assessing how the hand was played.

Tinman764, 04/11/2009

great advice tinman

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Posted: 05-Nov-2009 23:01 by SharkTony

Big pockets become very vulnerable at low stakes tables because you often face so many opponents still in the hand after the flop. never overvalue pairs in mutliway pots, you might be a big favourite against one player but against multiple opponents your rarely in a great spot.

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Posted: 06-Nov-2009 13:52 by BenW77

Big pockets become very vulnerable at low stakes tables because you often face so many opponents still in the hand after the flop. never overvalue pairs in mutliway pots, you might be a big favourite against one player but against multiple opponents your rarely in a great spot.

SharkTony, 05/11/2009

This is very true, you can go as far as 8x big blind pre flop bet and you will still get people calling with garbage like Q9o etc hoping to hit. I would say low stakes have a go pre flop 4x to 8x to try to get HU, if you get more than one caller play the hand carefully unless you flop a set then value bet them to death (whilst watching the texture of the board, pkr loves a flush!).

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Posted: 07-Nov-2009 00:35 by satfat

if u dont know how to recognise good/bad boards and can fold when ur prob behind(not a dig... this isnt easy to do) just openshove or bet like half ur stack or sumthin ridiculous preflop. ull be amazed how many times ull get like 1 caller at the lo end stakes. big pairs are only monsters preflop and are usually losing on any board with 4/5/6 plyrs in on the flop

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Posted: 08-Nov-2009 10:39 by vernz26

thanks for all advice will put into practice your tips