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Pocket pair
Most players hesitate when dealt a small pocket pair. They aren't sure what to do with the hand.
Should you raise or should you limp in with your hand?
Well, it really depends on the action at the table and your positioning.
Let's say your sitting just to the right of the button and you're dealt pocket 4's.
Drew is to the left of the big blind and is first to act before the flop.
He comes out firing and makes it $10 to play. Josh is next to act and he calls the raise along with three other players.
There is $53 in the pot up to this point, and its finally time for you to act.
You know you're beat right now.
In fact, you may have the weakest hand of everyone. So do you muck the 4's?
No, this is where you play the pot odds and call the bet.
This may be your biggest win all night if you hit your trips.
The flop hits K,9,4 and Drew begins the action with a huge bet.
Two others call and the action is back to you. You push your entire stack in because you know you will get a caller.
Plus, there are 2 hearts on the board and you don't want someone to catch a lucky flush.
If they want to chase, they will have to pay the price.
Drew calls the all-in bet with Big Slick and you take his entire stack.
This is how you play a small wired pair when the pot size is right.
Even though you know that someone may be sitting on pocket aces, you're going to rake a huge pot if you hit your trips.
When the flop hits K,9,4, your opponents can never put you on pocket 4's.
These are the hands that you make money with if you play correctly.
Now what if you're dealt pocket 4's while on the button. Everyone at the table has limped in and the action is to you.
How do you play the hand in this situation?
You have to play aggressively so you make it $15 to play. This is a rather large bet but you did it for a reason.
You want to get rid of the crap hands at the table and hopefully go heads up against just one opponent who has a hand like AJ or KQ.
This is exactly what happens. Drew is the only player to call your bet.
The flop hits A,K,2. Now you've got a huge advantage because Drew must act first. He checks to you and your pocket 4's.
Now you represent the flop as though you've hit the ace or king on the board...
You fire out a $40 bet. Drew looks down at his pocket 5's for a moment and soon mucks the hand because he has to put you on a big hand... when in fact, he has you beat.
This is how you play aggressively with a small pocket pair when you have good positioning and everyone has limped in.
If you play these hands correctly, you're going to steal a few extra pots a night and be the player at the table that dictates the action.
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