Pocket pairs are without a doubt are the greatest starting cards, but landing a low with them can be dangerous. It seems like a daunting task to win playing pocket pairs, but it’s actually quite easy. There are a few things to consider when you play Texas Holdem, specifically playing low pocket pairs.
The first thing you need to understand is how to position your cards properly. Proper position means you want to be in front of only the player in first position, unless you have a monster. Usually everyone will have checked the first position before the blinds and will be in the small blind or big blind with the dealer. It’s a good idea to try and be the first to bet out of position with low pocket pairs.
The reason being is you want to be the first to bet out of position with any cards because you will have the advantage of being last to act post-flop. A limitation of the way it works is that no one can raise unless they were the first to act pre-flop, unless you are in the blinds or big blind. It’s important to note that players after you can check, and players after them can call as well, if it’s possible.
Because of the fact that everyone has checked, you can raise with low pocket pairs as often as you want from any position, as long as no one is expected to call you as well. You can even raise with low pocket pairs to try and push players with stronger hands out of the pot. Players who have hit a pair on the flop, even if they hit the top pair on the flop, are likely to let it ride for a small amount of money. You can take this potably cheap, and then you can take your winnings.
If someone does call, you can get tricky and make a big raise in order to pick up some pots where you make the pot odds members fold. When you do this, don’t be afraid to let the pot go to the river. When you do this, you make your opponents pay for a river call as well, meaning you take the pot out of the game entirely, unless someone has a monster.
To make your low pocket pairs, you want to be very selective about the hands you play, and the hands you give up on the flop. The more selective you are the more you’ll force your opponents to have to have a real hand in order to have a chance of winning a pot. You shouldn’t call if you’ve made a low two pair hand, even if you’ve made a set. Most people when they’ve made a set hand, they’ll slow down a little, and selection of hands to play is dependent on that hand alone.
With low pocket pairs, it’s often better to draw to an outside straight or flush draw than to play it aggressively. This is because you have less of a chance to win the hand pre-flop, unless of course you flop a set. If you make your set, you should win the pot, or at least take down pre-flop to start slow.
Now when you’re playing low Egp88 pairs, you should be able to get into many pots. Unlike high pairs, you are at a disadvantage if you draw out on an opponent when you are in the small blind, big blind, or if you are playing from the first positions. With low pockets, you are at a greater advantage pre-flop. This is because you can take the pot fewer times, when you make a low two pair hand. You may not win the pot every time, but over a long enough time line, you will always come out ahead.
Many times a player will have a small pair, say for example, 78, and they raise pre-flop. If an opponent calls with the same pair, you can’t be faulted for drawing out. Since they’ve already shown that they have a hand, you will only win the pot when you hit your set. Low pocket pairs are just another hand to gamble with. If you have a pocket pair, and you flop a set, most of the time you will win the pot, unless another player has a better set.
Being selective about the hands you play is one of the most important aspects of being successful in low limit poker. The more hands you play, the less information you have on your opponents. However, in low limit poker, you are competing only against the other players at the table, so there is less information available to you than at a full table. Thus, you should be able to get through a game with relative ease.