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Middle
Pairs
By Chris Goudey
Posted: 11:00 am PDT 2006-10-18 |
Courtesy Of Internet Casino and Poker Room at WagerWeb.com |
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There are a lot of tricky hands to
play in Hold 'Em poker, but to me some of the hardest decisions come when you have a
middle pair (anything from 6-6 to 10-10) as your hole cards. It has taken me a long
time to figure out what strategy works best when I get one of these, and now I think
I'm comfortable enough with my results to share that strategy with you.
Middle pairs are tough because you never know how your hand stacks up to everyone
else that's in the pot, and there's also always the likelihood that you will no
longer have the best pair after the flop comes. The first thing you need to consider
when you get a MP (middle pair) is your position at the table. If you are first to
act and have a 6-6, there's a pretty decent chance that someone else ahead of you has
a bigger pocket pair than yours, and that's no good because then you only have two
outs to beat them.
Generally, if I'm in an early position and I pick up a MP, I will just call and hope
to see a cheap flop.
Seeing a cheap flop is what you are hoping for when you have a MP because usually the
only way you can win with it is if you flop a set (hitting your 3 of a kind). There
is a 7-1 chance that this is going to happen, so you have to consider the size of a
pot before entering it. If you call in from an early position, you are hoping for a
lot of callers, and then if you hit your set you have the chance to make a lot of
money.
The ideal flop for a MP is something like 7-J-A rainbow (all different
suits) when you have 7-7 as your hole cards. You're going to get some action on the
hand, so it's best to just check and see what happens. In this scenario I will almost
always just call whatever bets are out there and then wait until the turn to
check-raise. If the flop is scary, (let's say Q-J-7 with two hearts) with a straight
and/or flush draw, you need to come out betting strong to try to ensure you win the
hand. You need to make sure that someone chasing a draw is paying to do it. In that
scenario I'll usually bet the size of the pot so that the chaser isn't getting good
odds to try to see
those cards.
Now, let's say you've called with your MP in early or middle position and you get
raised. When the action comes back to you, you now have a decision to make. You need
to do some quick math and figure out if you are getting proper odds to call. You also
need to figure out what your implied odds are, meaning not only do you have to figure
out if you are getting proper odds on your money to call, but how much will you make
if you hit your set. The implied odds for you when you do hit your set are fantastic,
as most people
won't see it coming and you can get a lot of money out of them.
Because these implied odds are so great, I will usually call even if I'm
only getting 3-1 on my money (again meaning the size of my call is 1/3 the
pot).
The reason I can do this is because I have the discipline to lay my hand down if I
don't hit the set.
It is crucial when you play a MP to be able to lay it down if there are
cards higher than yours on the board. Yes, you're going to lose some money on the
hand, but remember, you only have to hit the set one out of every seven times to make
money on them, and when you do hit it, you're going to win a huge pot most of the
time.
Now, let's say you're in later position (the button and the two spots before it), no
one has called and you have 8-8. In this scenario, it is correct to put in a raise
and try and win the hand right there. If you just call you're not going to get enough
money in the pot to get to that 7-1 ratio you are looking for, so it's best to put in
a healthy raise (I usually go 3 to 3.5 times the big blind) and try to get everyone
to fold. If you do get called on your raise, again, have the discipline to fold after
the flop if you get over-cards to your MP.
Let's say you've either called a raise or gone to the flop with your initial raise
being called and you have 8-8. The flop comes 2-4-6 rainbow. Obviously your pair is
better than what is on the board, but you also have at least one person in the pot
that has represented a very good hand by either raising or calling a raise. At this
point you need tread very carefully.
It's doubtful that anyone has a 2-4-6 in their hand because we're talking about hands
that have been raised or called a raise. It's very possible you have the best hand,
but anyone still in the pot could have a bigger pocket pair than yours.
Usually what I'll do in this scenario is if I act first I will put out a
feeler bet of about 2/3 the size of the pot. If I get re-raised then I have to figure
I'm beat by a stronger pocket pair, but my hope is that my opponents don't have a
pocket pair and they have something like A-Q or A-J and they will fold. If you have a
MP and the flop comes out with all cards lower than yours, you really don't want to
see another card because it's likely that it will be higher than yours and then you
could be beat.
If I'm in later position on that 2-4-6 flop and there is a single bet ahead of me, I
will re-raise to see if I have the best hand or not. Just calling in that spot
doesn't give you any information about what your opponent has, but a re-raise should
either get him to fold or if he re-raises you back, you know he's probably got you
beat and you can fold.
Middle pairs are definitely scary to play but they are also extremely
profitable in the right scenario. Play them correctly and they might make the
difference between busting out early and making the final table! |
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