I've been studying full ring live games recently and feel like I'm learning a lot and getting better but I still feel uncomfortable in these spots.

I started raising around $15 +1bb for each limper behind as my standard and I was wondering how do I play 66-TT in early position. should I still be raising big? I usually get tons of callers and see over cards on the flop and feel like I wasted a big raise when I could raise smaller or even limp.

Thanks for any tips

If you don't feel comfortable with these hands from poor position then just fold or limp.

The answer really starts about where you are on your poker journey. If you are early on your journey, fold everything but TT PF. Adding 66-99 is more of your ability to play post flop, reading the hands of your villains and the texture of the flop.

would it be bad if I adjusted my size by raising 3x +1bb per limper with these hands in these spots but still raised big with my big hands? seems like even the droolers can exploit that. I think limp/calling would be a better choice. On slightly tighter tables I feel comfy keeping my big raises though

I feel my postflop skills are very high compared to the players at 1/2 since I did grind heads up sit and gos up to the $100 levels online before black friday and was a winner. I'm just trying to improve my preflop and multiway game for full ring lately. I do not think I should be folding

The middling pairs get better if you're on a tightish table where people are not doing a lot postflop. If it is a crazy table then better to limp. Raising smaller is just pot building in case you hit your set. This is ok if they are going broke with top pair hands in multiway pots; otherwise you will never get paid off enough when u hit a set to justify the majority of times when u lose.

Personally I open these a lot as I am confident in my postflop skills and will turn my hand into a bluff when necessary.

The easiest remedy for what your suggesting is... Add huge hands to your early limp range, hands that you can pop a re-raise to. You can do the math on what the proper limp vs big hand range is.. and if you're getting pushed around by the same guy, you can use your limp fold image to pop it also. but the main thing here is with the earlier your position and lowerer the pair, the less inclination you should be towards raising.. I won't raise with 1010 early alot of times because it opens the door to a squeeze and its okay if you limp 1010 and high cards come, easy fold. also the lower pairs.. its not a bad idea to set mine but i will probably start raising 99 UTG x4 depending on the game obv

So much here depends on your image at the table, or, more precisely, what image will help you maximise your win-rate. If you want to switch into LAG gear because the table is passive and you believe you can successfully c-bet a number of boards from EP, then by all means raise 66-TT like you would AK.

However, if you don't believe LAG is the best proposition at a table, then I'd only be raising these hands occasionally, depending on how often you've been raising in the previous orbits.

In the end, this comes down to a question of FE, your ability to c-bet and sometimes fire a second barrel.

PS. I don't believe limping these hands from EP is default -EV, as some might suggest, although sometimes your hand can be a little transparent if you c/r when you hit a set on the flop. I'd be interested to hear arguments for why limping mid p/p from EP is -EV, though.

Obv make it at least 6bb or the whole table will call your opens and then you are playing for set value only.

Yeah I wouldn't fold; limping small pps is usually good on 1/2 cause a set is such an insanely strong hand, people don't like to fold much and people are so bad at hand reading.

This is a completely different game than the online game. For 1, you are having to commit a lot more chips when you raise (ie 3x raises don't work here). For 2, live players will flat you preflop with hands as strong as JJ/QQ/AK. For 3, live players (particularly those you will face at 1/2) have a harder time folding to c-bets than online players do (this is compounded if they view you as an aggro player). I came from a 6-max online background but find it much more profitable for me to play tigher hand ranges primarily from good position in live low stakes games.

you don't need to always flop a set to win with 66-TT

What do you need? Seriously.

TDS gives a good answer. If your postflop skills in FR cash were high, you'd never use the example of HU SNG tables to prove it. In fact based on your comment, I'd say your post flop skills are probably below average for 1/2 in reality. Don't feel bad about it. Nearly everyone at a 1/2 table thinks their post flop skills are above average for the table and half of them are wrong.

HU SNG brings other advantages to the table that most FR players don't have. Build on those and recognize where you are actually weak.

Hand reading skills, proper positioning of the hand, at least level 3 thinking and a good understanding of board texture. In all but the weakest games, playing small to medium pairs only to set mine is not profitable.

^ also, just to add to venice's post a 7.5X+ open (and given how lots of 1/2 games will play kind of shallow) does not really leave much room for post-flop play.

Example

1/2 FR, effective stacks 100BB
Hero raises 5x with 66 UTG, folds to B/N who calls. S/B, B/B fold.

Flop
K32 ($23).

Hero bets $15, since he believes Villain is calling wide on the b/n. Also Hero is perceived as TAG and therefore definitely has KQ+ within his range.

Villain calls $15. Only 77-10s continue along with K9-KQ, maybe A4-5, 45s.

Turn
K324 ($53).

Hero has a little more equity with a gutter. There are more non-K combos in Villain's range than Ks. Hero can still represent a K.

Is a second barrel +EV? If we bet $40, Villain calls, and we don't improve, do we give-up? Pot will be $133 on the river and Hero has $135 left.

Are these the sort of spots that make raising mid pair from EP just not worth it? Or can we develop post-flop skills to a level where we win this kind of hand more times than not?

The 4 is a bad card for you on the turn. If he had second pair, he still has it (or in the case of 44, improved). If he has Kx, nothing has changed. Only if he was floating you with complete air is he folding. If he has complete air, LLSNL players rarely bluff out on the turn. Not a good bluffing situation.

You'd want to see a broadway card on the turn. That turns the second pair to a 3rd pair. They go away. Air disappears. Weaker Kx hands may decide that the odds are too long to catch up.

These hands are difficult for even the most skilled to play from EP. Balancing, table dynamics, stack sizes, your own table image, hand ranging, board texture are among the various factors behind how to play them.

Flopping sets are difficult, and blind c-betting can be spewy unless your reads and plan are well thought out. I like the suggestion (think it was Venice) of playing TT. Personally I'm down to 99, with 88, 77, 66 play dependent on the factors mentioned above.

I can see how barrelling turn isn't really +EV in the 66 example. Without running endless scenarios, it seems like mid-pairs aren't that great as semi-bluffing hands OOP. I mean, what you're suggesting here (barrelling a broadway pair to rep either two-pair or a better second pair) can be done with ATC, really.

Ideally, hands like 109, J10 and Q10 are better for these type of HU situations, in which the B/N's calling wide, especially as these higher-connected hands are more likely to gain some equity on the turn and river.

So, 66 in EP is a limp/call if implied odds allow, limp/fold if stacks are too shallow, or just fold if the table dynamic is not right. I'd be interested to read other potential +EV scenarios, where Hero raises 66-99 from EP with the intention of c-betting flop, and, possibly, barrelling turn and river.