I'm not sure of the exact mathematics behind it - we'll save that for Marm and others.

I think that's just pure bad luck, man. What can you do? You can fold PF...tough to do, unless someone raises an ungodly amount (one advantage of NL)...or you can raise and hope to push out the other pocket pair PF (highly unlikely). Stick to your guns, and I'm sure that the mathematicians will say you will win over the longhaul.

Originally Posted by Antneye

I have just lost 3 straight set over sets when I limped in with low PP's, hit a set and lost my stack to a higher set......

General Q.

Are the implied odds of hitting your set with a low pp limp offset by the odds of facing a higher set? Should I be folding these PF? Or is it just a bad run that I have encountered higher sets and need to keep on doing what I'm doing?

I hit on 6's, and 4's and lost to a set of 9's twice. I dont recall the 3rd....i think it was 6's v 9's again.......ugly shit.

The sad part is that each time I knew I had run into a higher set but couldnt lay it down because I have seen so many people overplay top Google Page Ranking or 2 Google Page Ranking that I couldnt walk away.

what position(s) were you in when you limped? I fold low pp's in EP as they are only good for one bet PF, and if it gets raised after me, i'll muck it anyway. In LP, at least i'll have some knowledge of whos involved and what the action looks like before I limp. And I usually never raise low pp's, even from LP b/c if there are callers, and I miss the flop, there is a very good chance I'm beat.

oh wait.....are you talking about limit or no limit?

my answer was for playing limit.

Well Limit or NL, I'll still usually try to see a cheap flop. If I can do that, I can either muck it when I miss the flop with no real sacrafice, and when I hit my set, I can look forward to a big pot...

But in NL, there is much more that can change what you do. Stack sizes, the table's image, how the people to your left respond to raises....all that.

Bad luck. Apparently Helmuth can dodge bullets, but he can't dodge losing to a higher set:

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/poker...hil&id=2358457

Also, in an episode of HIgh Stakes, Ted Forrest was in a pot with Jerry Buss. Buss had been playing tight as anyone. Forrest flops a set of 2s and of course Buss had a higher set. Buss moved all in and could Forrest lay it down? Nope, went broke, losing 100k.

Well, he's hitting his set. And losing a 'big pot'. He's wondering if he's playing low PP correctly and just taking his lumps like a man.

I say its simply bad luck.