Small Pocket Pair Against AA - May Not Be That Bad

When I am playing ring games I am looking at the table and trying to decide which hands I can play profitably at this table.

For example small pocket pairs will hit their set about one time in 8.  So when they hit you have to make 8 times your blind to break even on them, anything else you can get out of them is your profit.

Lately I have notice several people who go crazy with pocket Aces, and quite a few people who go crazy with pocket Kings.

They will cap every round to the river with these hands.  That means if they hit AA or KK and you can beat them, you’re going to get a big payoff.

What started me thinking about this was an accident that just happened to me, I was playing a ring game this morning and I had JT, I thought that’s not a bad hand then someone raised and it was reraised.  I was playing 3 other games so when I got back to this game I clicked on call even though I wanted to fold.

JT only wins 14% of the time which is not good enough for me to call 3 bets before the flop.

So I hit 2 pair on the flop and now I am happy I am in the hand, the other guy raises me every time I bet all the way to the river and turns over KK.

The pot was $38.00 it would have been more if I would have capped it every time.

This really got me thinking that when someone raises pre-flop it might be worth calling with a small pocket pair, if they are one of the players who will raise every bet to the river with KK or AA.

When you hit your set you can make enough to cover the other 7 times you missed and still make some money.