so i got a low pocket pair

[bylanta]

when playing no limit cash game I get dealt a low pocket pair, lets say threes. So to my knowledge I have about a 10% chance of making trips on the flop. At what point is it a good idea to call someones raise pre-flop when I have limped in?

[Tiburon]

Your chances of hitting your set on the flop are roughly 8:1 against. So, the total money you will win when you hit your set should be at least 8 times what you must call preflop. For example, you must call $10 into a $90 pot preflop with 33. You should call as it gives you +EV.

However, you can still make a call without proper odds if you believe you will win more money later when you do flop a set. For example, you have to call $10 into $40 pot this time, but your opponent has $100 left in his stack. You are confident that he will put the rest of his money in later in the hand. So although your current pot odds are only 4:1, your implied odds are 14:1, so you should call.

Hope this helps.

[Splossy]

Do a search on the 5/10 rule which covers this.

In most games it's unlikely that you will get the straight odds so start thinking implied off the bat.

Also bear in mind that if there are other limpers after you that your call might well coax them into calling too which will improve things for you.

Consider raising low pairs yourself. This has a few potential advantages: you can win the pot right there without a fight, you can rep a high-card hand on the flop and take it with a CB, it can disguise your hand when it hits. Obviously all depends on opponents etc but worth thinking about.

[mariachiinc]

Position is everything... button... raise, UTG... FOLD middle... limp or fold. Button raise is +EV, UTG limp -EV

[ottsville]

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Position is everything... button... raise, UTG... FOLD middle... limp or fold. Button raise is +EV, UTG limp -EV

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Please share your reasoning. I would think your final statement would be dependent on game conditions, players in the blinds, etc. but since I am a NL newbie feel free to enlighten me.

[jdog1999]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Position is everything... button... raise, UTG... FOLD middle... limp or fold. Button raise is +EV, UTG limp -EV

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Please share your reasoning. I would think your final statement would be dependent on game conditions, players in the blinds, etc. but since I am a NL newbie feel free to enlighten me.

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I am not quite sure what he meant by -EV but I can think of one problem with being in early position and calling. If you do hit your set you could have problems extracting money from your opponent because it is more difficult to disguise the strenght of you hand.

[Splossy]

I don't see a significant problem in extracting money from a set in any position.

[Pov]

[ QUOTE ]
Position is everything... button... raise, UTG... FOLD middle... limp or fold. Button raise is +EV, UTG limp -EV

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I do not agree with this, particularly at low stakes. I do think it's important to realize that your implied odds are lower from early position for two reasons:

1) It is more likely someone behind you will put in a raise preflop which cuts into your implied odds or you'll end up against only a short stack. So this play should be avoided when in a fairly aggressive game unless stacks are deep.

2) It will be somewhat more difficult to get money post-flop from out of position. This is mostly opponent dependent. Some bad players will be vulnerable regardless of position, some will only be profitable to go up against with position. But it's not a certainty either way.

So these two things do not necessarily mean the play is -EV and my PT database shows a solid profit with small pairs in early position. It is definitely less than in later position though.

I'll also disagree that you should automatically raise these hands in late position, even the button. Sometimes you're more likely to get the money with a min-raise or a limp. Keep your options open mentally and evaluate in the context of your current situation. That's probably more +EV than anything else you can do.

[AKQJ10]

[ QUOTE ]
I don't see a significant problem in extracting money from a set in any position.

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No, but you can extract more with position. Regardless of on which round you decide to start your betting/raising, opponent will have to take one more action OOP without that knowledge.