[chris]

One of the biggest problems i have in online poker is going up againest pocket pairs. First off let me describe the situation. I play at the 1/2 Tables.
Alright im the SB, im delt 44 everyone folded except 1 guy. I re-raise 4 bux and the BB folds. Other guy calls

Flop comes 9-6-3 He bets 6 bucks; i call. turn comes another 9; he checks, i check. River is a 2

Anyway he bets 12 bucks. I call he turns over 77. Im really bad at figuring out wether people are on Face cards or low pockets because if hes calling my 6 buck re-raise, im thinking he has High cards or pockets. But this has been beating me because i always lose to higher pockets. Or i always lose to pockets when i have AK or AQ and i dont catch crap. My question is, how do you go in a situation like this?

If im in a situation like this but instead of 9-6-3 coming up and like KQJ or any face cards coming up i fold

[lork]

Well lets see 9 and 6 are both higher than 4 so that means if he has 9 or 6 or 77,88,99, TT, JJ, QQ, KK, AA which is very likely ur screwed.. so next time LIMP in w/ pocket pairs and FOLD if you do not hit your set. There is no reason to lose 20bucks w/ 44 unless you hit a set and get beat by straight or flush this is a ring game bud.

Hope this helps.

[chris]

yea but my point is i re-raise 6 bucks. The only caller im gonna get is one with an AQ, KQ, KJ Ace10 suited.

No tard is going to call my 6 bucks raise with a 9-3 or 9-5 or 9-6 or any of the cards flopped (sadly, there are poeple who do this and its common). THe problem i have is is trying to figure out if if hes holding faces cards or pockets, do you get what i mean?

9-6-3-9-2 , one straight possibilty, no flush possibilty no face cards,

No one is going to call to me with holding a 9 unless they have an Ace9 or Ace6 or Ace3 or Ace2 suited

youd be suprised how many ppl on poker stars just bet into the river with AK high

[razor]

Raising him back 4 bucks preflop with 44 is a bad play IMO. There are two schools of thought on small pocket pairs: 1. Raise in LP and try and steal the blinds and 2. Limp: No set, no bet.

Your play doesn't really do anything but get more money in the pot. Since he raised, he's telling you that he has at least a decent hand. By re-raising only 4 dollars, there is very little chance of your opponent folding. If you are going to raise here, you have to raise a lot (im not saying this would be a good play either) The final problem with this preflop raise is that you are out of position. Playing small unimproved pairs out of position is very difficult.

The problem here wasn't your ability to distinguish between a pocket pair and two overcards, it was that you played the pocket pair wrong from the beginning and put yourself in an awkward position after the flop. Also, if you knew he had nothing better than 2 overcards, you're still only a slight favorite. I had this same problem for a while, now i believe in limp: no set no bet, but sometimes a raise is right if it can pick up the pot.

[pritz]

i play pockets based on size

examples...if i have pockets lower then 7s. i NORMALLY wont fold them. but call without raising and hope to catch a set.

of 7's or higher, i will raise. say i have pocet 7s-pocket 10s(jacks through aces you shouldnt have trouble with) i will raise. after flop NO MATTER what comes out i will raise again. simply because if flop is A-Q-J people with a queen or jack will typically fold since your preflop raise will cause them to think you had an ace with good kicker, and people with A-x will believe they are beat by the kicker since you raised preflop. will raise my 7-10s till the end normalyl cus you will get a fold about 70% of the time. if they don't re-raise preflop it normally menas they either have a decent hand like K-J (and the A will scare them) or A-x in which your preflop raise will cause them to believe you have a good kicker

[louis]

He hadn't got a great hand, but I would probably stay in with 77. Pocket 4's aren't all that great though, and you shouldn't have stayed in when he stated raising 3, 4x the BB. He overestimated the worth of his hand, but you even more so. You could have played it more confidently perhaps, scared him out the hand, but this is risky with very little in hand and another pair on the board.

[Terup]