Hey, here is the situation:

I open raise with pocket pairs 55-99 OOP and do not hit a set on a flop with 1-2 over cards vs 1 caller.
I try cbetting against some type of players but normally always get called and check the turn if my set does not hit (again). Then the villain normally then bets and I fold.

I'm taking this approach because I just end up losing to someone who called with T2o and hit a T on the flop or turn. (If I try to cbet more than one street)

Excluding the fact that I can exploit these kind of players in other situations, is this an ok approach for most of the situations at this level (NL2) in the context described? If not, what else should I consider?

Thanks!

Setmining with small to mid pocket pairs is a perfectly good approach to take. I would lean toward less frequent c-betting with them if you are often getting called (obviously I’m talking about flops where you have overcards and you did not hit the set.). You are not making your real profit from these players by getting them to fold flops that they should float; your profit is coming from value hands where they just can’t let go of that T2 type hand on a T high flop when you do have your set. Possibly you can get dance if they show a lot of weakness, like you’re IP, you both check the flop and they then check on a no -threatening turn - I would probably barrel in a spot like that. Otherwise you are perfectly fine just playing these pairs for set value and not worrying about it.

Thanks for the input stremba, really appreciate it.

In general, your pocket pairs aren't super profitable when you don't hit a set.

If you want something deeper to consider, think about denying equity to your opponent's hands (what hands you get villain to fold). For example, on Q52r, if you cbet TT and villain folds 98s, that's not really a big win for you. But if you bet a hand like 66, it's great for us when villain folds JTo or 98s or whatever. Even on a board like KJ3, cbetting 44 and folding out some Q7s or T8s is quite decent, but a hand like TT or 99 doesn't work like that. Often if we're not rangebetting, our highish pocket pairs like starting with a check because they don't benefit as much from folding out our opponent's trash hands.

In terms of turn barreling, I would say you can usually give up at a 2nl level if you cbet and get called unimproved. Turning pocket pairs into bluffs is sometimes a strong concept, but definitely part of a more advanced strategy and not something to worry about much at microstakes.

check raise more turns.