Smalls pairs in early position

[darqblue42]

Hi...I'm new to the forum and I'd like to hear what you guys think about this topic.

When you're in early position during the early stages of a large, multi-table tournament, how do you handle small pairs in early position. I don't like to limp into the pot, but I also want to give myself a chance to see a cheap flop and possibly flop a set.

Any advice is welcome. Thanks!

[PocketBeats]

If it is early and the blinds are small relative to my stack then I will limp here. I will fold to any raise.

A raise will rarely win you the pot and any aggression by villains will force you to fold.

At an M of around 12-15 I will just fold. Small PP's just aren't worth risking a fair chunk of your stack on. Especially in early position.

Any errors in my reasoning?

[JoseGonzlez]

Im probably going to play them no matter what if the money is deep. At a higher buy in and more aggressive table id probably raise because i hate getting raised behind after limping.

Lower limit i just limp in it and hope to flop the set.

[SuperUberBob]

Depends on the table.

At a small buy-in table with passive preflop play, I may limp in.

I don't raise with them too often and will fold them more often than not at a tough table.

[J.A.K.]

Of all times in a trny to get small pairs in EP
, early is best. You get to raise cheap and establish a LAG image, or limp call with implied odds. You have to determine the cutoff based on your observation of the table. Experience is the only teacher in this respect. Also knowing your opponents helps so do your homework and keep notes. A strong opponent will not simply stack off with an overpair as a weak opponent will. So your "effective" implied odds are less against a good opponent. As you move up, generally speaking, open folding small pairs UTG is never absolutely wrong. Poker is dynamic, not static but you can "trust the math" throughout. You just have to learn to apply it correctly, and experience is the best teacher in this respect.

[gobboboy]

[ QUOTE ]
If it is early and the blinds are small relative to my stack then I will limp here. I will fold to any raise.

A raise will rarely win you the pot and any aggression by villains will force you to fold.

At an M of around 12-15 I will just fold. Small PP's just aren't worth risking a fair chunk of your stack on. Especially in early position.

Any errors in my reasoning?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't like folding a raise when you limp at all. The whole point of limping here is so you can call a raise without it killing your implied odds. How deep are you talking?

[TyFuji]

Early in a tournament, you will be getting proper implied odds to call if you limp/call preflop, especially since the pot is likely to be multi-way and there is also a good chance that there won't even be a raise. I am definetly more liberal about playing small pairs from late position, though, as position helps a bunch when trying to get value from sets and gives you a chance to float/bluff even if you miss (vs. a decent and predictable villain). I prolly dump these as soon as the bb is at the point where I'm not getting the right odds to call a standard raise after I limp.

[J.A.K.]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If it is early and the blinds are small relative to my stack then I will limp here. I will fold to any raise.

A raise will rarely win you the pot and any aggression by villains will force you to fold.

At an M of around 12-15 I will just fold. Small PP's just aren't worth risking a fair chunk of your stack on. Especially in early position.

Any errors in my reasoning?

[/ QUOTE ]

I don't like folding a raise when you limp at all. The whole point of limping here is so you can call a raise without it killing your implied odds. How deep are you talking?

[/ QUOTE ]

Exactly...you are not committing a penny here unless you are in for a pound. Meaning...do not call/call a raise unless you have "effective implied odds" Hint: you will need to make 7.5 on the current call to continue...figure it out and act accordingly!

[hamnegger]

i would not put in more than 5-8% of my stack preflop w a baby pair. so if im raised i look at 2 things.... if i call are others behind me likely to join the party? if its just me heads up is his stack large enought to give me implied odds?