Why do people think low pocket pairs are good?

[Jack Bauer]

I mean seriously? I understand if you have AA or KK or QQ but I have seen people going all in when they have 66.... Like, you know that any other pair will beat that, right? The chances of you getting three of a kind are much lower than someone else's chance of getting a higher pair than you. By all means, raise a lot with high pocket pairs, but when its a pair of fives or sixes that's just ridiculous...

[invas0r]

rekt

[Joker]

Low pair is good in heads up
Much worse with more than 2 players

[ColdVenom]

You're being highly vague with your thought process here. Low pocket pairs are good depending on the situation.. stop blindly babbling about people playing a certain way and try to deepen your understanding of the game. That's just my 2 cents.. but it just sounds like you're stuck on a certain feeling about hands on a rant and aren't really giving much deep thought about the topic at hand.

[Jack Bauer]

Originally posted by ColdVenom:

You're being highly vague with your thought process here. Low pocket pairs are good depending on the situation.. stop blindly babbling about people playing a certain way and try to deepen your understanding of the game. That's just my 2 cents.. but it just sounds like you're stuck on a certain feeling about hands on a rant and aren't really giving much deep thought about the topic at hand.

If someone has a low pocket pair, they will be beat as soon as someone else has a higher pair with a card in the flop. If, to take my earlier example, someone has two sixes, that's not a great hand because my 9 and 7 will beat it if a 9 or 7 appear on the table, and the chances of that happening are much higher than the chance of a third 6. As the previous comment said, if there are more than 2 players, its a worse hand, because it is highly likely someone will have a higher pair. The whole point of raising with a J-A pocket pair is that very few pairs will beat it, but raising with a low pocket pair is bad strategy as someone will likely have a better hand than you as soon as the first three cards of the flop are revealed.

If I am ranting, it is because I'm annoyed at thinking people have a good hand only to find out that they THOUGHT they had a good hand because they had a pocket pair.

[barps]

Originally posted by Jack Bauer:

Originally posted by ColdVenom:

You're being highly vague with your thought process here. Low pocket pairs are good depending on the situation.. stop blindly babbling about people playing a certain way and try to deepen your understanding of the game. That's just my 2 cents.. but it just sounds like you're stuck on a certain feeling about hands on a rant and aren't really giving much deep thought about the topic at hand.

If someone has a low pocket pair, they will be beat as soon as someone else has a higher pair with a card in the flop. If, to take my earlier example, someone has two sixes, that's not a great hand because my 9 and 7 will beat it if a 9 or 7 appear on the table, and the chances of that happening are much higher than the chance of a third 6. As the previous comment said, if there are more than 2 players, its a worse hand, because it is highly likely someone will have a higher pair. The whole point of raising with a J-A pocket pair is that very few pairs will beat it, but raising with a low pocket pair is bad strategy as someone will likely have a better hand than you as soon as the first three cards of the flop are revealed.

If I am ranting, it is because I'm annoyed at thinking people have a good hand only to find out that they THOUGHT they had a good hand because they had a pocket pair.

The amount of times I had nothing at all (let alone even a small pair of 2s) is very high so unless you are a very lucky player and you get pairs with each hand, a pair of lower cards is a true gold especially if you play it right and be aggressive at the table. The only real difference in between a pair of queens and a pair of 3s is how you play it because that's the only thing the opponents see. I think what annoys you is losing to people with small hands once you throw the cards. Well, that's poker.

[Jack Bauer]

Originally posted by barps:

Originally posted by Jack Bauer:

If someone has a low pocket pair, they will be beat as soon as someone else has a higher pair with a card in the flop. If, to take my earlier example, someone has two sixes, that's not a great hand because my 9 and 7 will beat it if a 9 or 7 appear on the table, and the chances of that happening are much higher than the chance of a third 6. As the previous comment said, if there are more than 2 players, its a worse hand, because it is highly likely someone will have a higher pair. The whole point of raising with a J-A pocket pair is that very few pairs will beat it, but raising with a low pocket pair is bad strategy as someone will likely have a better hand than you as soon as the first three cards of the flop are revealed.

If I am ranting, it is because I'm annoyed at thinking people have a good hand only to find out that they THOUGHT they had a good hand because they had a pocket pair.

The amount of times I had nothing at all (let alone even a small pair of 2s) is very high so unless you are a very lucky player and you get pairs with each hand, a pair of lower cards is a true gold especially if you play it right and be aggressive at the table. The only real difference in between a pair of queens and a pair of 3s is how you play it because that's the only thing the opponents see. I think what annoys you is losing to people with small hands once you throw the cards. Well, that's poker.

I am not losing to these people, what annoys me is I mull over calling them on their ridiculous all ins, end up calling their bluff, only to have my JQ matched with their 66 or something like that. It makes it difficult to tell who actually has a good hand and who is just thinking their low pocket pair is unbeatable.

But these people are not winning when they do this lol. If I'm not calling their bluff, someone else usually is.

[BabyIguana]

I had a panic. My game history and funds seemed gone but it turns out I had logged in with the wrong user name.

[maxie]

Originally posted by Jack Bauer:

I mean seriously? I understand if you have AA or KK or QQ but I have seen people going all in when they have 66.... Like, you know that any other pair will beat that, right? The chances of you getting three of a kind are much lower than someone else's chance of getting a higher pair than you. By all means, raise a lot with high pocket pairs, but when its a pair of fives or sixes that's just ridiculous...

Absolutely correct they are stupid

[WolfCall]

Well I guess it's not real money. I wish I could play a lot of the people here that play BINGO at every table when they go all in with some of the crap cards the have, Pre-Flop. lmao

[Kalmar]

Nothing is guaranteed. Take advantage of them. Personally, I have no faith in AA, I see that fall all the time.

[Swesal]

Originally posted by Kalmar:

Nothing is guaranteed. Take advantage of them. Personally, I have no faith in AA, I see that fall all the time.

As was already mentioned by Joker, and Coldvenom.... Pre-flop pocket pair are very strong, and pocket Aces is literately the best pre-flop hand you could get. Pocket 4s has more equity heads-up pre-flop then A/K suited. Pocket 2s has more equity then A/K off-suited. The idea that pocket pairs are weak is foolish because you have the opportunity to push potentially better hands out before they get to see that they have a better hand. If it is bad/foolish to go all in pre-flop with pocket 3's, then it is equally bad/foolish to call it with A/K suited(equity pre-flop is about the same). One of the examples given was heads-up 9/7 is a better dealt hand then pocket 6's, and this is objectively not true, 9/7 has about 45% equity, and that is not just the pair potential, but the clearly apparent straight potential, and yet still the worst hand. Also the question isn't, would you go all in with 9/7 versus pocket 6's pre-flop, it is actually.... would you go all in with 9/7 versus 'mystery hand' to see the flop? Or would you simply fold?

Equity is dynamic, and the more people in the hand, the worse your hand is. So when you are dealt one of the best hands(which pocket pairs are) you actually want to get other people to fold before the flop, or to call you pre-fold when they have no idea of if A/K suited is actually a good hand. The issue is there is no context from the OP to when someone is going all in, as going all in pre-flop is not the same as going all in post-flop, and all the OP is really says is "pocket pairs are bad hurdurhur" which out of context is true, and not true. If someone has pocket pair, and they go all in when everyone has seen the flop, then yeah it is likely a losing hand. On the flip, if someone has pocket pair and bets before the flop, they at that very moment have a very strong hand, the flop could change that, and again the more people that see the flop, the worse the pocket pair is, so it is advantageous to bet big pre-flop, and push a bunch of people out, or get them to call you and go into the flop blind.

[WiseOdin]

Idk, I have a mission to win 30 hands with pocket pairs and I've had two over a hundred hands.

Seems they're either not as common as you think, or I'm just very unlucky.


As far as the topic goes, if they have similar missions, they're possibly going all-in pre flop to force the rest of the table to fold. After the flop when other players have stronger hands, the pocket pairs don't matter as much. Because you're not challenging him going all in when you have A/7. So he wins the hand with his pair of deuces.

[TheStoryteller01]

The value of low pocket pairs completely depends on the number of players (potentialy) still in the game.

A 66 is definitely not something to go all-in when more than 3 players are still up to bid.