Poker Playing Small Pairs

Today I was playing the $5000 freeroll tournament and 2 ring games at Bet365 poker.  

Playing small pairs is tricky some times and I noticed I was playing them on one table and folding the same hand on another table.

That started me thinking when should I be playing small pairs?  

With a pocket pair you will hit your set every 7 or 8 times, you should play small pairs anytime you think the table will bet into you, or call more than 8 times your bet to get into the hand.

If you’re playing a ring game and the pots are averaging $10 then for a $1 blind you should play your small pairs, if someone raises it to $2 to get into the hand, you should fold unless you think that pot is going to $16 for some reason.

It is kind of tricky sometimes telling what other people are going to do but after a while you will just develop a feel for it and try to be right more times than your wrong.

When I get a small pocket pair table position really makes a difference for me, if there are 7 other people who can raise, and previously these people have shown they have a tendency to do that, then I am very careful about playing them.

That’s why I like playing them from the big blind, I know what it’s going to cost me to see the flop, and there are not to many guarantees in poker.

Playing small pairs should make you some money in the long run if you can read the other players right.