Kathy Liebert on Small and Medium Pairs

Kathy Liebert on Small and Medium Pairs

The following poker strategy advice comes from a book by Warwick Dunnett titled Poker Wizards. He interviewed the Super Stars in poker and packed all their strategic advice into one book with over 300 pages.

Here I am reviewing the advice from Kathy Liebert provided in the book.

Small Pairs
Pocket 2's to 6's
Kathy did not comment on small pairs. I will ask the author if he recalls whether she avoids these hands, or just forgot to discuss them.

Medium Pairs
Pocket 7's to 9's
Kathy talks about understanding your opponent, your position and your chip stacks in deciding whether to play these hands.

If Kathy has 100x's the big blind, and the player in an upfront position raises and he is also playing a lot of hands, Kathy will call the raise in late position. However, if it's a solid player making that raise and Kathy has 10 to 20x's the big blind, she will fold. The larger the stack compared to the blinds, the more she will consider other actions.

She does not call big pre-flop raises with these hands either. And, if she makes a move with a raise and gets re-raised she will fold.

She does give position a lot of respect in her decisions. An upfront or middle position raise will have her folding unless she has a big stack. A pre-flop raise from the back position is different. She will re-raise if she thinks her opponent is weak.

Conclusion
Kathy plays these pairs slightly different than Chris. With a big stack, Chris leans towards folding not wanting to lose a big stack set over set.

Like Gus, and any other pro, Kathy attacks players when she feels they are weak. That is why she is willing to re-raise a late position raiser. The interesting thing to me is that an opponent who raises in back position may have a strong hand like A-Q, A-J or even 10-10, but when he gets re-raised he may muck being afraid of pocket Kings or Aces.

I have only played against Kathy once. It was in an LA event, and she was to my left. I was playing real tight. On this one hand everyone folded to me in the small blind. I had A-A. I limped hoping to trap Kathy. She checked. I checked the flop. She checked. I checked the turn. She checked. I bet the river. She folded. The thrill of victory:)
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Chris Ferguson on Small and Medium Pairs

Chris Ferguson on Small and Medium Pairs

The following poker strategy advice comes from a book by Warwick Dunnett titled Poker Wizards. He interviewed the Super Stars in poker and packed all their strategic advice into one book with over 300 pages.

Here I am reviewing the advice from Chris Ferguson provided in the book.

Small Pairs
Pocket 2's to 6's
From early position, Chris folds.

Medium Pairs
Pocket 7's to 9's
Chris will put in a small raise from an early position, but will fold to a re-raise unless it is not a big re-raise.

In middle to late position, he raises first in the hand pre-flop. If there are limpers in front of him, he may call. But, if he has a big stack he will fold not wanting to risk losing a lot of his chips set over set.

It's interesting because he says he will not limp in with pocket 2's when he has 200x's the big blind, but he will limp in when he has 50x's the big blind. He finds the risk/reward ratio not as favorable when he has 200x's the big blind.

Conclusion
The more I review how the pros play the small and middle pairs, the more interesting I find it. First, I think that we have to realize they play in events with a lot more starting chips and a lot more time to play poker. Online, the structures are not as good in most cases.

Another thing I find interesting is that both Chris and Dan worry about set over set, while Daniel and Gus are willing to take that chance.

It was interesting that not many of the players discuss their opponent's chip stack when calling a raise after a limp with these pairs. Gus appears to be willing to call given the potential to win a big hand. While the other pros clearly are not.

I believe comparing the play of poker pros will help in your thinking about your tournament poker game. If nothing else, it will make you realize that not even the poker pros think alike.

The reason I selected Chris Ferguson is because he is leading in the poker poll. If you haven't voted, please consider taking part. Thanks!

Dan Harrington on Small and Medium Pairs

Harrington on Small and Medium Pairs

The following poker strategy advice comes from a book by Warwick Dunnett titled Poker Wizards. He interviewed the Super Stars in poker and packed all their strategic advice into one book with over 300 pages.

Here I am reviewing the advice from Dan Harrington provided in the book.

Small Pairs
Pocket 2's to 6's
Harrington says that he tends to fold the small pairs 2-2 through 6-6. He says he may play them if his opponent has a big stack and he has a big stack. However, if someone raises you are generally not getting the correct odds to play. In addition, he warns that 1)you may not get in cheap since players behind you may raise 2)you may not be heads-up. And the more players seeing the flop, the more likely someone else may hit a higher set.

Medium Pairs
Pocket 7's to 9's
Harrington says he plays these hands in the later positions.

Conclusion
Dan suggests a very tight approach to playing small and medium pairs, compared to both Gus and Daniel. This is probably not a surprise given Harrington's nickname of "Action Dan."

From a personal standpoint, my best tournament result was in a pre-WPT event in Reno. In that event I recall always throwing away small pairs and feeling good because not once did any of those pocket pairs hit on the flop. I may have even folded pocket 7's and pocket 8's in early position.

Of course, since that event, I became a lot smarter (?) and now I almost always play pocket pairs if I can get in cheap.

How about you?

Gus Hansen on How to Play Medium and Small Pairs

Playing Small and Medium Pairs Based on Gus Hansen

Now that I reviewed Daniel's advice on these hands, I thought it would be interesting to see how Gus Hansen approaches these hands at a full table. For my analysis I am using play from his book Every Hand Revealed.

Hand 15:
Pocket 7's
In middle position he raises the 100/200/25 blind to 650. The cut-off raises to 2300 and he calls the re-raise. Gus has 28,850 in chips, so he is risking about 7% of his stack. He folds when the flop has three overcards.

Hand 21
Pocket 5's.
He limps and in first position, and gets raised to 800. He calls. Gus now has 58200.
The flop is 10-10-9. Gus check-calls. The turn is an Ace. Gus check-calls. He admits he should have folded.

Hand 33
Pocket 8's.
He raises from the 3rd position and gets no callers. His raise was a little over 3x's the big blind, given the ante.

Hand 42
Pocket 7's.
The button raises to 4000, with blinds at 500/1000/100. Gus is in the small blind with 68000. He re-raises to 12600. His opponent re-raises to 45300. Gus folds.

Hand 45
Pocket 4's.
Gus limps in the third position and only the BB is in on the flop. Gus hits his set and wins after checking the flop and betting the turn.

Hand 49
Pocket 3's.
He limps and folds when he missed on the flop.

Hand 67
Pocket 9's.
A player raises in early position to 3800. The blinds are 600/1200/200. The next player calls. Gus is 2 off the button and says he will either call or re-raise. He doesn't want to call since he doesn't like to hit sets when he "doesn't need to." He re-raises to 13200 and everyone folds.

Conclusion

Not surprising, but Gus is more aggressive than Daniel.

Gus limps with small pairs, but is much more aggressive with middle pairs.

With medium pairs, if he gets re-raised pre-flop, he will call a small percentage of his stack in hopes of hitting a set. If there is a raise in front of him, he will re-raise putting pressure on his opponent to fold rather than hoping to hit a set. This is something that Daniel does not recommend.

Daniel Negreanu on How to Play Middle and Small Pairs

Middle and Small Pairs

Lately, I've been misplaying these middle and small pairs. So I went back to review how Negreanu would play these hands using his small ball tournament strategy. This information is taken from his latest book Power Hold'em Strategy.

Middle Pairs: Pocket 7's to 10's

Don't overplay these hands. They are good hands because of their implied value rather than their preflop strength.

Pre-flop: If first in the pot, a raise of 2.5 times the big blind.

Flop: If you hit your set, play to win big. If you miss, don't auto-fold unless the action indicates a lot of strength.

Small Pairs: Pocket 2's to 6's

Play these pairs like the middle pairs.

Pre-flop: Do not re-raise your opponents.

Example #1:

You have 10s-10d.

A tight player under the gun raises before the flop. You call from the button.

Important note: Please don't re-raise a tight player who raises under the gun with pocket 10's. I see this happen too often and the only reason I can think someone is doing this is because they are not paying attention.

The flop: 8h-4h-3c.

The tight player checks. What should you do?

Bet becasue 1) Your opponent checked and it will define your opponent's hand 2) If you check, your opponent will have a chance to hit his most likely hand, A-K and 3) A flush draw is present and you can lose if he hits his hand and/or picks up a flush draw on the turn.

If he check raises you here, just fold. Tight players won't make a play in this situation.

If he calls your bet, proceed with caution. He may be setting a trap with pocket Aces.

Example #2:

You have 9h-9c.

Blinds $25/$50 and a player raises to $150 from middle position. You call on the small blind.

Flop: Qh-7d-2s. You check and your opponent bets $300. This opponent is aggressive and tends to c-bet, so you call.

Turn: 7c. You check and your opponent bets $600. What should you do?

Check raise to $1200 or $1500. If he re-raises you, you can fold. If he calls, check the river. If he bets the river, you are beat.

Example #3:

You have 4d-4s.

You raise the $50/$100 blinds to $250 in late position. The small blind calls.

Flop: 8h-9s-9h. The small blind check calls your $400 bet.

Turn: Kc. The small blind check calls your $600 bet.

River: 8d. Your opponent checks. What should you do?

Don't check even though the board counterfeited your small pair. Bet $800 into the $2700 pot. It looks like a legitimate value bet. If you are wrong, that small a bet will not hurt your stack if you are beat.