I everyone,

I started few days ago a new challenge in cash game and I decided to start with trying to beat the 10NL - 6 players. After 2000 hands (I MTT 4 tables) I have a VPIP of 15% and a PFR of 13.5%.
I am basically a tight player and I noticed that i don't play pocket pair (JJ and under) and suited connectors. I sometimes play it agressively Button or cut-off to steal the blinds or to Cbet flop if nothing too scary.

So my question: What can i change in my game to take advantage of this pocket pairs?

I have the jacks. Jk dude.

Why don't you play pocket pairs under Queens? Is it simply you don't like seeing over cards on the flop? Explain

Exactly, I would not be able to make a proper decision if i get an overcard on the flop, and I feel that this kind of move will end by earning a small pot or losing a bigger one.
But I completely understand the power of small pocket pair in tournament.

According to my reading about (basic) poker theory, small pocket pair can be played smoothly before flop in order to catch several people and hope for the set. In 6-max, most of the time it is heads-up on the flop and implied odds are pretty bad.

And i am also not confident playing Ax with x <= 9 when I am in early position and/or OOP post-flop...

Are you transitioning from full ring?
(usually)You should play pairs agressively. Folding them is way too tight and calling is too passive.
Are you asking how to play the pairs post flop?
P.s:you are too tight for 6max

Overcalling to set mine is fine.

OP, it looks like you need to start by working on a hand chart for yourself i.e. decide what your default pre-flop opening hands will be for the different positions on the table.

If no-one else has opened, you should be raising from every position with every pocket pair.

Postflop, you should usually simply fold small to medium pairs to aggression if you didn't make a set or an overpair. You should be cbetting often but not always - that's a whole big topic by itself.

Playing a set correctly is like everything in poker, it depends, but by default, playing them very fast and aggressive is best.

You can overcall small to medium pocket pairs if you have roughly 20:1 effective stack sizes, to set mine.

EDIT

You might want to start at 2NL or 5NL instead of 10NL by the way.

Pocket pairs:

Early positions including blinds (SB, BB, UTG, UTG+1)= Limp with 22-99, Raise-Call with TT-JJ, Raise-Reraise-Shove with QQ-AA.

Mid position up to the CutOff= Same as above but raise-call with 88-JJ.

Late position= Depending on the players who are in the hand and the blinds to come, play all pocket pairs aggressively with a raise. Flat call any reraise and be prepared to use your position postflop if you miss! Shove 99-AA if just the blinds are left, Shove JJ-AA as a 4 or 5 bet, otherwise call a reraise.

Easy...

Good info there, will take that on board and add to my game

In 6 max im raising 22+ from all positions expect the blinds if its folded to me or limped round to me.

UTG : Raise 22+
MP : Raise 22+
Cutoff : Raise 22+
Button : Raise 22+
Blinds : Call 22-TT Raise JJ+

By raising our pairs all the time it allows us to represent a lot more on the flop against the right type of player and board.
It disguises our hands when we hit a set as well.

If my pair is 3bet preflop then I'm pretty much folding everything but premiums unless I'm deep enough.

Guys, thank you very much for your help.

"Are you transitioning from full ring?"
Kind of... I used to play poker tournament few years ago, those were the days when Jamie Gold won the main event And when I could play online poker with guys around the world.
I just reopen my Pokerstars account a week ago and I decided to get back into it (Btw something pretty bad happened in the US about online poker right?).

"You might want to start at 2NL or 5NL instead of 10NL by the way."
That's fine, I got a secure job , I play only 5-6 hours a week. I am fine losing money at this limit if it has to be that way.
I chose this limit actually because it was the lowest back in my time.

"You can overcall small to medium pocket pairs if you have roughly 20:1 effective stack sizes"
I use the auto buy-in to be at least at 100bb anytime. I thought that was a good idea as a rather tight player. Am I wrong?

JamieMacLEAN, DanJWarburton:
Thanks a lot for your demonstrations. i understand that i definitely have to be more agressive with my pocket pairs. I will try to follow your rules for a while and get some usefull feeback from HM2 to see if it is profitable for me.

Just to go a bit further. How would you play something like:

Hero (BTN): TT
Vilain: (CO): 3Bet
Hero call
Flop: 49K (two colours)
Vilain bet half pot
Hero ????

PS: I will probably use this thread again in the futur to get back to you with some stats on my pocket pairs game.

No, that's fine. I'm saying if you call a raise with a pocket pair for purposes of flopping a set, a good rule of thumb is that both your's and your opponent's stack is at least 20x the amount you are calling. So they raise 30c UTG, you have 22 on the button, you should call if you both have at least 30c x 20 = $6.00 in your stack.

He might actually have recommended it because the lower the table, the softer they are.
Beer worded it kinda wrong there, you should have at LEAST 20:1 implied pot odds (amount to call: effective stack).
This is the call20 rule, and calling with pocket pairs preflop with the intention to fold non-set flops is called setmining.

Effective stack is the smallest stack in question, if I have 100BB and you have 20BB the effective stack is 20BBs.
I call unless opponent has a high 3bet range or a low cbet range.

Good luck at the tables.

EDIT: I read the positions at your post wrong, if you are BTN and he is CO, then he called, you raised and he 3betted. I probably never faced a slowplayed 3bet from CO in an unraised preflop .
I'd fold PF or Flop.

I thought you said TOP TOP!