How to Play Small Pocket Pairs Like a Pro
Whenever you call a non-premium hand out of position, you need to think about whether you will have either fold equity or implied odds post-flop. When facing a raise, many players will automatically call any pocket pair in the blinds. There are a few situations where it can be OK to call small pocket pairs in the blinds, but it definitely should not be automatic. Firstly, stack sizes should be deep enough so that one has room to maneuver and exploit one’s opponent postflop. Then, one needs to ask whether one will have implied odds.
There are a few ways one can potentially have implied odds. The simplest is if villain likes to cbet a lot, and doesn’t like to fold ever after cbetting. If you can expect that a lot of the time when you flop a set and check-raise the flop, bet the turn, and shove the river villain will call with a weak range then it is correct to call out of position with small pocket pairs. Similarly, if you have an aggressive image and have been check-raising a lot, he may react the same way even if it isn’t his natural inclination. Another way you can expect to have implied odds is if villain likes to fire multiple barrels, particularly if they triple barrel a lot. One can check-call the flop, do the same on the turn, and check-raise or check-call the river depending on the board evolution. When you have these reads, it is important to make sure you consider that if you have implied odds when check-raising, you don’t have fold equity, and thus should not check-raise bluff. Further, if he likes to barrel off, you should not try to see a cheap showdown.
Another factor that may make it reasonable to call preflop is if villain will let you show down your weak pocket pair easily, or will not cbet a lot and then give up on the turn or river when you fire one or more streets after he checks back. However, with a similar idea to the above, one must make sure that one pays attention to the implications of this. If villain lets hero see cheap showdowns, then when villain starts barreling off one mustn’t start hero-calling him with weak ranges. One line that can be pretty effective for those villains who do not bet the turn a lot can be to check-call the flop, see a river when the turns checks through, and check-raise the river, as generally villain will have a middling hand that cannot call a check-raise. It’s important that villain is not a huge calling station when doing this, however, but it can take a marginally unprofitable preflop call and turn it into a profitable one.
If one doesn’t know whether they will be able to see cheap showdowns or have implied odds, calling preflop becomes incorrect. Essentially, calling preflop is correct when villain has a known tendency that can be exploited, but without knowledge of that tendency the hand itself does not have enough value to call. Further, we mentioned that when calling out of position preflop we should consider whether we have fold equity postflop. Small pocket pairs, however, are not the best hands to try to look for fold equity with as they flop lock hands, instead of equity pieces where it is likely we will improve even when bluffing.
Additionally, there are situations where one should fold preflop with small pocket pairs instead of opening them. These can include EP in full-ring games, or in any position with short stacks or aggressive 3-bettors behind. In full-ring games the reason is that regulars who cold call in position are trying to bust top pair and overpairs postflop, and a small pair, even when it hits a set, won’t play very well vs. that range. Vs. short-stacks and aggressive 3-bettors, preflop equity becomes a lot more important, which these hands simply don’t have. Thus, the important thing when playing small pocket pairs is to really think about why you’re playing them, and what tendencies you are exploiting in your opponents.
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