Dealt 15 pocket pairs in 3 hours. Should I be raising all these pf?

[binki]

4/8 at The Bike and get the following pp's
33 4 times
55 3 times
77 3 times
99 3 times
KK once
AA once

I tossed 33 twice to pf raises ahead of me, I limped with the 3's the other 2 times as well as the 5's once. I raised all the others. I won 3 of these hands, KK driving all the way, 99 against AQ who limped pf and 55 with the turn getting a set. The other hands were all disasters and I tossed all of them except the AA by the turn.

Should I be raising all of these or just tossing the lower pairs?

[Matt Williams]

Wait, you folded pocket pairs BEFORE the flop? Uhh... big mistake. You are playing WAYYYYY to passively both before the flop and after the flop. Read SSHE.\

Also, learn the difference between a set and trips. It's important. A set is a pocket pair and a 3rd card on the board. Trips is when a card matches 2 cards on the board. A set is tremendously stronger, especially in low limits.

[binki]

I folded the 33 twice preflop with raises ahead of me. I kept all the others.

[Matt Williams]

[ QUOTE ]
I folded the 33 twice preflop with raises ahead of me. I kept all the others.

[/ QUOTE ]

What was the situation? Was the raise UTG and you were to his left? Or did 3 or 4 cold call? If you were to the left, 3-bet it unless it's some tightwad that only raises w/ aces. Cold calling is semi-OK, but if you 3 bet it you may get someone to fold a higher pocket pair. If 3 or 4 cold called and you 3 bet, they most likely call the 3rd bet. If you hit your hand, it creates a monster pot for you. But if the flop misses, be prepared to dump it.

[BigBadBabar]

matt, i am not sure if 33 all of a sudden is a great hand against raises, even live? i'd be happy to 3bet 77 or something, but 22 or 33, meh. i'd rather coldcall and see the flop, but i don't think a fold is bad.

[Matt Williams]

[ QUOTE ]
matt, i am not sure if 33 all of a sudden is a great hand against raises, even live? i'd be happy to 3bet 77 or something, but 22 or 33, meh. i'd rather coldcall and see the flop, but i don't think a fold is bad.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, if I had to choose, I would say cold-call>fold. This is small stakes, so there is no way I am folding preflop unless it's something like UTG raise by a tight player, everyone folds and I am the button. I think the key is dumping the hand on the flop if it misses. But a lot of people(you've seen them) feel obligated to calling down the river. Basically, if you don't want to raise, cold call. But don't fold. If it were 3 bet to me, fold absolutely. Personally, I just don't like being the first to cold call.

[elindauer]

[ QUOTE ]
If you were to the left, 3-bet it unless it's some tightwad that only raises w/ aces.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't tell if you're joking or not. If you're joking, I obviously don't get it, and will simply point out that this is advice is quite bad.

The problem is that you are either slightly ahead or way behind. You're also going to to bluffed out much much more often than the reverse, so even when you are ahead your hand will not be easy to play postflop, save the few times you are lucky enough to flop a set.

Fold 33 in EP at most tables, and definitely fold to a raise. I can't even construct a scenario in my head right now where I would 3-bet 33 in EP. You'd have to make all the players at the table ridiculously bad.

-eric

[Matt Williams]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
If you were to the left, 3-bet it unless it's some tightwad that only raises w/ aces.

[/ QUOTE ]

I can't tell if you're joking or not. If you're joking, I obviously don't get it, and will simply point out that this is advice is quite bad.

The problem is that you are either slightly ahead or way behind. You're also going to to bluffed out much much more often than the reverse, so even when you are ahead your hand will not be easy to play postflop, save the few times you are lucky enough to flop a set.

Fold 33 in EP at most tables, and definitely fold to a raise. I can't even construct a scenario in my head right now where I would 3-bet 33 in EP. You'd have to make all the players at the table ridiculously bad.

-eric

[/ QUOTE ]

No, I'm serious. If I am in a loose game, 3 betting really isn't going to make a difference. This is 4/8 that he is playing. I play 4/8. I've seen 7 or 8 players make it capped pre-flop. You will win huge pots if you spike a 3. Now, if this is 4/8 online, then my reasoning is bad. But live with people on vacation, I am raising this. Have you played 4/8 live? The players ARE rediculously bad.

Read page 84 of SSHE. The FIRST sentence states, "Many people may be surprised to see that we recommend playing small pocket pairs so often, particularly from early position and against a raise.".

What's good for Sklansky is good for me.

[car ramrod]

[ QUOTE ]
"Many people may be surprised to see that we recommend playing small pocket pairs so often, particularly from early position and against a raise.".


[/ QUOTE ]

my guess is that means it's ok to call raises with pp's. hope we get a big pot going, then play primarily for set value. I don't see why we would want to 3bet 33 from ep at a loose table?

[Matt Williams]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
"Many people may be surprised to see that we recommend playing small pocket pairs so often, particularly from early position and against a raise.".


[/ QUOTE ]

my guess is that means it's ok to call raises with pp's. hope we get a big pot going, then play primarily for set value. I don't see why we would want to 3bet 33 from ep at a loose table?

[/ QUOTE ]

Cold calling is OK, but personally I don't like being the first one to do so. If I have a choice between cold calling and 3-betting, I am 3 betting. But absolutely do not fold, which is what the OP did.