Playing AXs and small pairs from EP

[linuxrocks]

How do people play AXs and small pairs in FR? I tend to limp them and see cheap flops. Is it better to raise them? I guess it's better to raise small pairs than AXs. If we raise, what do we do if we get 3-bet?

[BadBigBabar]

it depends on the table and how it's playing. if it's a tight aggressive table i muck small pairs first in in early position. i don't really limp first in at all, but that's just my style and is a function of the games i play in. axs is a weaker hand in limit than in no limit and is liable to lose you a fair bit of money if you're not careful. if it's folded to you a few spots in, by all means raise both of these hands, but folding them is okay too. after a few limpers i limp small pairs and axs, but that's more in mp or lp.

[kbdunn]

Babar is right, it depends on the table. Small pairs limped for set value work great on tables that are loose/passive preflop and aggressive postflop, allowing you to see a flop cheaply getting good PF odds, and action postflop if you hit your set.

Axs can be difficult to play out of position, limping in EP can be risky, either the table mucking around to a LP raiser and being isolated by a better hand, or the times where you have a play an A high flop OOP with a ton of villains behind you, though much of the time you will get some sort of flush draw to work with. Be more inclined to limp in with Axs in EP if the table is loose/passive PF, so there is decent overlay to make up for the times you do get dominated.

A8s+ can be a strong hand in later positions, especially if you can isolate one or two limpers or if it is folded to you in HJ/CO/B.

[neurotiq]

Hmm, just like your last post that I responded to, this depends on an awful lot on the table dynamic. If it's a loose and passive table, I'm very willing to play these hands in EP. Remember that the odds of flopping a set is 7.5:1, though you can make some of this up implied. If I see 5+ going to the flop regularly, I'm more than happy to limp small pocket pairs in early position.

[Bulletproof Monk]

wow never raise

usually fold all of them preflop now.... if you have a very good table you can limp tho

[LateFlag]

I fold these hands from up front unless somebody else is already in and table conditions are right (I can expect a few more limpers if I limp).

If you're limping with these hands from under the gun in any ordinary full ring game, that's a leak. Check your PT stats if you don't believe me. The days when you could limp 22 from utg with impunity are over. If you're open-raising these hands utg, that's a gigantic leak but you already knew that.

[TimovieMan]

AXs and small pairs (66-) get mucked in EP, unless it's a loose and especially PASSIVE preflop table, then I'll limp in with these hands.
But on a regular table they don't come into play unless at least one (and preferably more) limpers are already in...

At an aggressive table, it's a clear insta-muck from EP...

[LukeSLTS]

I need at least three limpers in front of me to play the small pairs. I play the suited Ax similarly except if I am in late position and there are no limpers or maybe a single limper I will raise to isolate/steal blinds.

[KitCloudkicker]

imo in most online games Axs and small PP's suck in FR unless in MLP or later. exception is if you are unbelievable awesome postflop.