Poker: Playing Small Pocket Pairs

• 09.06.2025 5:30 pm
• headhunter
• 0 Comments

Playing small pairs might seem one of the easiest hands to play. If you have a small pocket pair such as deuces through sixes, your best, and easiest strategy is to call preflop and try to catch a set. Hitting a set on the flop, it's the only reason you have to play the hand further.

With small pocket pairs you will hit a set on the flop about one out of eight times. The implied odds are great because anyone with an overpair or top pair will have a hard time putting you on a small set. Sets are one of the trickiest hands in poker and the most rewarding.

Bottom set can be dangerous though and should be played with caution. This doesn't mean playing cautiously by checking and calling the whole way. Just be aware of your opponents and the kind of hands they would normally have. If you put them on a high pocket pair in the hole and the flop comes with two paint cards and your low card to give you a set, beware of set over set. It rarely happens, but is entirely possible.

For these small pocket pairs, you want to enter the hand as cheaply as possible. If you miss the flop, you have invested a little amount of money. If you hit your hand, you will get a decent return on investment. You don't want play these hands for any significant raises or for more than one raise. It is nearly guaranteed that someone has your small pocket pair beat and definite that someone has over cards to your pair.

When your small pocket pair goes up against two overcards, you are only a 50 percent favorite to win the hand. These odds aren't great. In addition, if your opponent hits a pair, you are down to just two outs because if the board pairs, your opponent's two pair beats yours.

One trick you can use with these small pocket pairs is stealing the blinds in late position if there are no limpers in the pot. Usually, you will have the best hand, but it won't be the case after the flop. Just end the hand here and move on to the next one.

If you started with two low suited connectors and hit one of your cards for a pair, this hand is usually not going to hold up. That's the problem with playing low cards, even if they are suited. Your flush is very weak if you hit it and the pair isn't very good either. Try to stay away from these types of hands because you could end up losing a lot of money.

Small pairs are dangerous because they don't beat too many hands. The only thing you are going to beat is a smaller pair or ace high. By the time showdown comes, this usually won't be the best hand.

Most of these rules apply to flop games, especially Texas Hold 'Em. In seven-card stud, you never want to start with low cards, even low a pair if your kicker is bad. It's not worth the money because you normally don't end up winning this hand.