Playing Pairs in Poker

When you sit yourself down at a usa casino poker table and are dealt pocket aces, life is good and things are simple. How about when you’re dealt pocket deuces, though? Playing small pairs is a tricky task if you don’t know what you’re doing. The basic aims when you get dealt a small pocket pair – which is any pair between deuces and eights – is to get to the flop cheaply and make a set.

A Game of Poker is played from highest to lowest pair

Up to 13 pocket pairs are available when you play Texas Hold'em. A pair of 2-2 is obviously the lowest in poker, while a pair of A-A is the highest.

However, you must know what a premium pair, a medium pair, and a low pair is in your starting hand. This will change depending on where you are seated and your opponents. However, in general you should call small and medium pairs in late position when facing a single raise. In early position, don’t be afraid to call if you get value, or just muck them.

It is necessary to know the difference between a premium pair, a medium pair, and a low pair , or re-raise from any position if facing a raiser.

Implied Odds

Implied odds are crucial when playing small pairs. This means that you want a high amount of people in the pot and small price to enter. When this dynamic is in place you stand a much greater chance of winning a lot of money. Thus, it makes a lot of sense to simply call a raise pre-flop and hope that other people do the same.

Laws of Poker Probability

According the laws of poker probability you will make a set roughly 1 time in 7 which means that when you make a call pre-flop you need to take this into account. The effective stacks (you and your opponent’s) need to equal 70 big blinds or more before the flop in order for you to profitably make a call.

In a nutshell, playing small pairs requires you to get in cheap and make a set. The great thing about making a set is that you’ll often make a lot of money, especially if the pre-flop betting indicates your opponent has a strong hand.

Don't invest too much Money

The biggest mistake you can make with a small pocket pair is to invest too much money. Indeed, it’s almost certain that you’ll need to improve in order to have any showdown value so it’s vital that you only commit yourself when you know you’ve got a strong chance of winning. A good way of practising this is to try free poker online at a site like www.jackpotjill.net or other online casino sites where they offer free demo games which require no deposit.

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