Hey guys. I've been struggling with making money off of low/medium pocket pairs (22-99). I've read some different suggestions online about how to play them, and I've been experimenting with these suggestions, but I was hoping I could get some feedback from y'all about how I can improve and make more money off these kind of hands.

These are the strategies I've been experimenting with (In $5nl):

1) If in EP: limp and hope no one re-raises me. Try to get as many callers as I can and continue if I hit a set on the flop. Otherwise, fold. The main problem I've run into using this strategy is a lot of the time my opponents recognize my limp as weakness and re-raise me giving me a really bad price to call. So I end up losing 1 big blind. Maybe I should just fold these? Not sure.

2) If in LP: flat call if someone has raised behind me and I'm getting a good price with good implied odds. If everyone behind my has folded, I usually raise to 3x hoping to steal the pot there. If I get a caller and hit my set on the flop then I'm golden. If I don't hit my set, then I sometimes cbet 1/3 pot, especially if I'm heads up and in position. But the main problem is, if my opponent doesn't fold, then I'm usually not sure where to go from there. If he calls it's likely that he has me beat, especially if there are over cards on the board. And if he raises I usually just fold. Maybe I should try betting again on the turn? Not sure.

Any suggestions on improving these strategies would be much appreciated. I'm hoping to improve so I can possibly start making money off of these hands even when I don't hit my set. Or is that an unrealistic goal? Looking forward to y'alls feedback.

1) Stop limping in early position. Just open them to a standard size. Typically you should fold small pocket pairs when 3bet. Small pocket pairs need the protection of the rest of your tight opening range, otherwise they become vulnerable to isolation raises as you've experienced.

2) It's almost impossible to play small pocket pairs profitably Postflop when you miss your set. The vast majority of your EV comes from the 12% of flops where you hit the set. The occasional Cbet bluff in position is fine, but it's okay to simply give up when you miss most of the time.

Setmining incorrectly can be a huge leak in your game. You need to win at least 8 times the size of the call, on average, when you flop a set.

As a rule of thumb, when setmining, the effective stack needs to be 20-25x the size of the call to ensure good implied odds.

Here's a useful video on setmining by SplitSuit

https://youtu.be/uwryypFdZU8

1) Pretty much everywhere you look .. Limping is bad for your overall game, especially from EP where typically if you show strength you don't get paid off anyway.

2) When you miss your set how about starting to play poker instead of cards? Poker is about ranges, position and tendencies. 'Card' players will get crushed online. Anytime you open and miss you still need to consider the situation ... Remember that AK misses the Flop over 65% of the time. Don't assume that since you missed the Flop that your opponents connected. As described above, if your opponents know you only continue with made hands then you will get outplayed often.

3) 20-25x for set mining seems a bit high, but that may be the going rate for how tough the games are online. You may want that stack range for 22-55, but 66-99 and TT-JJ should have a slightly lower threshold since they can win on their own more often. GL

Are you playing online 6-max, or a soft live game?

In 6-max, I recommend folding 55-22 UTG and MP, and I don't do much calling with them except in the BB. You can steal with them in CO, BTN and SB, but small pairs are pretty rubbish/breakeven even when played correctly. 66+ can be opened (not limped) in every position, and it's fine to check-fold or check behind if you miss the flop (you can bet if you have a straight draw, and use the pairs as bluffs if the board is good for your range, like AKx). Just stop playing big pots when you often only have 2 outs. "No set, no bet" as they used to say.

Thanks for the responses. So what I've gathered so far is: with low pocket pairs I have to accept that if I don't hit my set, there is a good chance I will lose the pot, unless I'm able to get my opponent(s) to fold to a c-bet. So my goal should be to make sure I get my moneys worth when I do hit my set. And the 1/8 times I do hit my set should make up for the 7/8 times I miss, as long as I'm playing correctly and getting the right implied odds. Does that sound about right?

Some ideas I've been kicking around - so no guarantee they'll work for you.

At a passive table I open bet small pairs from early positions. If you get just 1-2 callers you can either hit your set or continue by strongly representing your perceived tight EP-range on a (semi)dry flop with a king or an ace. Prepare to double barrel.

At an aggressive table in early position: If I'm not getting enough implied odds to call a single raise for setmining I just fold middle/small pairs. #SuperNit

In late position I'll usually call to setmine. Raises don't work often enough for my liking to make this a good stealing move. If I have someone I want to steal from in this position I choose trashier hands (they are easier to let go if it doesn't work out).

In middle position I'll open bet. First one to bet is perceived as being more 'top-heavy' so again a chance to c-bet/double barrel on a board that favors someone who has all the aces/kings in his range.

The "1/3 c-bet" never seems to work for me. Too many people will continue with an overcard or bottom pair or all kinds of trash that will draw out on me for that price. 1/3 pot also doesn't show a lot of strength. Some will pounce on this and bluff you off.
So I tend to bet bigger on earlier street(s) (wrt the pot). 80% or even full pot. That way you usually know after one bet where you stand. Bigger bets define the hands of your opponents more (if there's more than two opponents left on the flop there's little point in c-bet bluffing but it's a great spot to build a big pot with the same bet size if you do hit).

A bet you make projects an image of possible future bets in the hand. The guy who's considering a call isn''t just thinking "I have to put x in the pot to see the next card", but more likely he's thinking "should I really risk my entire stack on middle pair with backdoor flushdraw when it looks like this guy will bet pot-pot-pot?"

Oh yeah. Don't open limp unless you're planning to squeeze.

If you have to ask this question, then fold early, raise late, call to setmine if raised in front of you

FYP (Fixed your post)

There's a reason we use differing implied expectations the smaller the pair ... sometimes you hit a set and lose anyway (and a LOT MORE chips to boot than when you miss). So straight 'vacuum' math, yes, win one, lose 7, break even. But you need profit and you need a buffer for when you get coolered for those extra chips.

They say that Flopping set over set happens about 1-2% of the time you hit a set, which isn't too hard to believe since 9x9 is 81 and the 'hit' rate decreases for 'the other' Player since they only have 2 cards to hit their set with if you assume that you are using one of the Flop cards to hit yours.

The more obvious ways to lose are to straights and flushes.

The frequency greatly reduces if you assume that no one folds a pocket pair and everyone gets to see the River. GL

Sums it up about right.

If you're ever going to limp - and I do mean EVER - do so RARELY and ONLY in a real weak game where aggression in general is pretty low, but honestly, following this line of thought will get you into weird spots post flop. BUT, if you must know, you must know it all.

Happy poker-ing!