Slow-Playing Big Pocket Pairs
Slow-Playing Big Pocket Pairs
Many poker players often grumble when asked about their experience with playing big pocket pairs. The classic phrase everyone uses is “pocket aces & kings are either good for winning a small pot or losing a big pot”. The statement does hold some truth, but that truth depends largely on the skill level of the players in question. Players that always raise pre-flop with aces, kings and queens get frustrated when the often result is that they just win the blinds. After enduring too much of this punishment they’ll start to limp in a lot with these big cards, only to find themselves getting beat out by others with two pair or better. But does this mean you can’t ever slow-play these hands?
As with most poker theories and strategies, a number of different factors play into the answer. First off, what type of game are you playing in? Limit Hold’em cash game? Deep stack tournament? Maybe a Sit & Go? The usefulness of pocket aces/kings doesn’t sway heavily depending on the type of poker you’re playing, but it does matter. In Sit & Go’s, you’re trying to accumulate chips quickly and eliminate opponents rapidly, so it would be a sound strategy to try and trap an individual opponent with a low chip stack when you have A-A. In a loose NL cash game though, limping in with aces will probably put you up against four players or more on the flop, which will greatly reduce the chances that your aces are still good. Remember, pocket aces and kings are still just a single pair, the least strongest hand ranking next to just ace high, so you need to remember that being dealt big pocket pairs does not make your hand invincible.
The next determining factor is positioning. In early position, you have to raise it up with strong pocket pairs. The chances of someone calling are strong, plus you’ve now established to the table that you have at the very least a decent hand. Limp in early position and you run the risk of the entire table limping in to see a flop, and unless you flop a third ace, it will be next to impossible to know how strong your aces are against so many opponents.
But now say you sit in late position and the action has been folded around to you and only the small and big blind are left to act. Depending on the table conditions (which involves you knowing how most of the players at the table play), you might want to try and sneak in with a limp here, either to try and play a strong hand post-flop or even make a re-raise pre-flop if the small or big blind put out a raise.
The thing to remember though, is that you can only slow-play your big pocket pairs to a certain extent. Don’t allow your opponent to see too many free cards, especially when there are straight and flush draws on the board. If you limped into the pot in late position and the flop comes and you check and someone bets, you probably want to check-raise them right here to see where you are in the hand. Someone with less than top pair will fold, while someone with top pair will either call and possibly even re-reraise, at which time you need to examine the board and see if it’s likely they hit better than top pair, is very possible if you let them see the flop for cheap with any two random cards.
Overall, it’s strongly suggested that you play your big pocket pairs aggressively. They are strongest in an all-in situation pre-flop against one opponent, and decrease in strength greatly when multiple opponents are still in the pot. So if you do decide to try and limp, make sure the situation makes sense and that victory is a likely outcome.
