Poker Tip of the Day - Playing Small Pocket Pairs

At first glance a small pocket pair in No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker looks like a good thing but it is a very vulnerable hand. Such hands are subject to overcards on the Flop, if not overpairs before it.

Small pocket pairs are just one card shy of a set, but they don’t carry enough power or strength to pay a premium price to draw for that set.  The way to play small pocket pairs in No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker is with extreme care and skepticism.

When you do decide to flex your muscles in with a small pocket pair, you can still get out if you get re-raised or hurt on the flop. What you do not want to do in No-Limit Texas Hold’em is to keep throwing away more chips on such hands when it’s obvious that someone else has you beaten.

Even a more loose poker player demonstrating strength should probably be respected as a real threat when you are holding such a marginal hand.

Depending on the No Limit Texas Hold’em Poker situation, there may be times when a raise is called for with small pocket pairs, such as when a poker player is on the button and no one has yet entered the pot on the come in round.

A hand of small pocket pairs may be enough to steal the blinds with on a raise, and should you get called you at least have something to work with.

In a No-Limit Texas Hold’em Poker Tournament situation if you are operating with a short poker chip stack you may come out with both barrels blazing with small pocket pairs, as you will likely eliminate at least some of the field (and their potential draws) with your show of strength and, again, you do have something (a pair) to work with and draw with.

Like other Texas Hold’em Poker pairs ranking beneath queens, the lower you go in rank the less you can answer strength.

You can sometimes demonstrate strength with small pocket pairs, and perhaps your show of it will gain respect but keep in mind that you cannot answer strength with small pocket pairs, at least not in the long run, and you will toss away a lot of poker chips trying to do so.