by Niche Poker
Small pocket pairs can be very profitable starting hands in Texas Holdem poker. However, many people misplay these hands or play them in the wrong circumstances – ending up losing money with them. This article looks at how to play small pocket pairs both before and after the flop in order to maximize your profits.

We start by looking at the reason why small pocket pairs are so valuable – the opportunity to hit a hidden monster hand. Next the circumstances in which small pairs are playable before the flop are covered. Finally we look at how to play small pocket pairs when you miss the flop entirely.

If we define small pocket pairs as 22 through to 66 it is easy to see that you will rarely hit an over-pair to the flop with them. The real value of these hands comes the one in eight times that you flop a set with your small pair. In these circumstances you can win many times your initial bet by taking the entire stack of an opponent, for example if someone holds pocket aces.

The potential for a big reward from a small investment is known as your ‘implied odds’. That is to say the times you hit you will often win a huge pot – this makes up for the times when you miss your hand and need to fold to betting action on the flop.

When playing a hand with implied odds value such as small pocket pairs the critical factor is the size of the bet pre-flop compared to your potential gain. On average you will flop a set once every…. continue reading at Niche Poker