Playing Big Pocket Pairs by AVP Resident Pro Benton Blakeman
Lately I have found my recent strategy articles to be getting more and more advanced. While some enjoy this I worry that others are being left out in the cold. I often forget that some people are just making the transition from limit hold em to no limit and are lacking in some of the basic principles needed to succeed in this game that we all love. Because of this I'd like to take a step back and talk about a somewhat elementary subject, yet one that I often see less advanced players struggle with- playing big pocket pairs like AA, KK, QQ, and JJ....
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My only comment is that I no longer consider JJ a "big pair"; I personally place it with the 99 & TT, rather than with QQ-AA, since I find that the post-flop situation is more often like those hands. It may just be my play style, but I've had much more success with playing JJ like TT than like QQ.
Joined: Fri May 25, 2007 6:33 am Posts: 905 Location: Owings Mills, Maryland
Benton, one situation I find difficult is playing big pairs utg. About 50% of the time I am limping then calling if I get raised and it seems likely there will only be one or two opponents. If it turns into a multiway limp I will try to play like I have a top pair type hand out of position and try to keep the pot small. If there is a raise with multiple callers I will re raise pre flop abouta pot sized bet hoping to play a big pot against one ore two opponents.
It may just be my play style, but I've had much more success with playing JJ like TT than like QQ.
Yeah, I think I agree with King Kashue... I make so much money with JJ... TT... 99.... and lately in some situations I even do similar things with QQ. One night somebody UTG who I knew was a very good player, raised to $10. And I thought, oh boy this has the feel of being pocket Aces maybe. So I was in early position with my QQ, and I thought maybe I'll just play it & go for the set this time instead of raise. And lo & behoe I flopped a queen. Well the guy bet & I just called. Then he bet again & I just called and on the river he went all in... so I said all in, too.
Well, then he said that he "missed" or something... could tell he was hesitating & didn't want to show his cards, so I layed 'em down so he wouldn't have to be embarrassed or whatever was the reason... maybe he DID have aces... or nothing... I'll really never know. But he then said he was representing what I had... well I'm not going to assume anything.
You know sometimes when I have something good & somebody raises me & I lay it down... I say something like "I really needed you to fold there" "I would be embarrassed to show you that hand" "How did you know I was bluffing?"
You know... just to throw them off maybe. Well, so you really can't believe whatever people are saying all the time. Anyway, I agree those middle pairs can make a mountain of money if you remain cool.
I see people UTG raising to $15, $20, even $25 dollars with Tens or Jacks & they say they HATE those hands. Well I LOVE them !!!
My only comment is that I no longer consider JJ a "big pair"; I personally place it with the 99 & TT, rather than with QQ-AA, since I find that the post-flop situation is more often like those hands. It may just be my play style, but I've had much more success with playing JJ like TT than like QQ.
I should have clarified. In the bigger games like 5/10 and bigger I'd classify Jacks as a big pocket pair, but I think in 1/2 with the amount of callers there normally are preflop I'd consider jacks more like 99 or TT and play them a bit slower, although I'd still be open raising them (as well as 99 and TT) if no one has raised, and I'd be raising if there are limpers in front of me, likely 4-5 times the big blind plus one extra big blind for each limper ($10 is my standard open when I play 1-2, so I'd make it $12 with a limper, or $15 or so with 2 limpers in front).
Benton, one situation I find difficult is playing big pairs utg. About 50% of the time I am limping then calling if I get raised and it seems likely there will only be one or two opponents. If it turns into a multiway limp I will try to play like I have a top pair type hand out of position and try to keep the pot small. If there is a raise with multiple callers I will re raise pre flop abouta pot sized bet hoping to play a big pot against one ore two opponents.
Is this a bad idea?
This may work at the lower limits but once y play 2/5 or bigger the only way it will work is if you also limp reraise with hands other than premium pocketpairs to balance your range. Otherwise players will realize that when you open limp and the call their raise you likely have a suited small ace, a small to medium pocket pair, or a suited connector and when you limp reraise you have QQ+. This is very bad as good hand readers will start to play perfectly against you. I would highly advise that if you use the limp reraise as a big part of your early position game then you need to throw in some limp reraises with suited aces, suited connectors, and hands like AK and AQ as well to balance your range.
Yeah, I think I agree with King Kashue... I make so much money with JJ... TT... 99.... and lately in some situations I even do similar things with QQ. One night somebody UTG who I knew was a very good player, raised to $10. And I thought, oh boy this has the feel of being pocket Aces maybe. So I was in early position with my QQ, and I thought maybe I'll just play it & go for the set this time instead of raise. And lo & behoe I flopped a queen. Well the guy bet & I just called. Then he bet again & I just called and on the river he went all in... so I said all in, too.
Well, then he said that he "missed" or something... could tell he was hesitating & didn't want to show his cards, so I layed 'em down so he wouldn't have to be embarrassed or whatever was the reason... maybe he DID have aces... or nothing... I'll really never know. But he then said he was representing what I had... well I'm not going to assume anything...
He didn't have AA, most likely he had AK and was trying to blow you off a TP type hand. Nice when someone else do all the work for you.
Are you sure he is a very good player though? Triple barrel (allin) against a tight player out of position is not that good. Do you have a tendency to get blown out of a hand? Something to think out, why did a "very good" player did that against you?
although I'd still be open raising them (as well as 99 and TT) if no one has raised
Oh yeah. Honestly, I'm happy to raise with any pair 77+ and can raise with any pair, depending on the situation and table. I'm just very quick to get away from JJ or lower - I'll withstand a re-raise with QQ+, but JJ are just fishhooks looking to drag me and my stack down under water
Joined: Thu May 03, 2007 12:28 am Posts: 3691 Location: Drawing Dead and Getting There.
Yaks never lose. They're entitled to win. If you beat my yaks it must be 'cause you're a donkey. 'Specially the red ones.* *See, you said this one was to be not so high-level advanced, so's a limit dunce like Local Rock could even play.
_________________ Life is six to five against. -Damon Runyon
Well, he said he won a good tournament at Venetian or something... like 20,000 or 30,000 thousand. Plus I saw him a week or two before that... and he had a gigantic stack built up, and he was active in hands & forcing people out. Seemed very good. Kind of like BentonBlakeman is trying to teach me.
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