I wanted to know how you guys play the smaller poket pairs 6-9. It seems everytime I even put a small raise I get stomped on the flop. Now I've just resorted to sitting on it and trying to catch a set on flop/turn. Thanks for the input.

tournaments, cash, NL, limit? position?

Do you have any hand histories?

I play my mid pairs more agressively than most (depending on position of course), but I like to throw in a strong raise and get heads up with someone. I can survive one paint card typically if i am heads up, 2 and I am gone. I'll limp with the 6's very often, but 7's through 9's I am am aggressive with.

This allows me to clear out the field and know what i am up against. When I catch a good flop of all under-cards I can bet strongly and take the pot. When 1 overcard hits (unless its an ace) I am typically betting out to define my hand.

This has worked well for me, but its not for everyone. I am a tight aggressive player, and using this somewhat loose strategy with these hands is excellent disguise for my game. When I hit a set on one of these, no one is ever putting me on a mid pocket pair. When I don't hit a set, I have given myself a shot at winning the pot also.

Originally Posted by Antneye

I can survive one paint card typically if i am heads up, 2 and I am gone. I'll limp with the 6's very often, but 7's through 9's I am am aggressive with.

Seems to me that 2 overs falling with 77 would happen more often than not. I haven't actually seen you play but this seems to me that this sort of play would bleed out more than it brings back in. It's also very situational but putting in a raise with 77 in lvl 1 or 2 of an sng is just throwing money away most of the time.

Originally Posted by Saj0916

I wanted to know how you guys play the smaller poket pairs 6-9. It seems everytime I even put a small raise I get stomped on the flop. Now I've just resorted to sitting on it and trying to catch a set on flop/turn. Thanks for the input.

Beavis points out a very important condition required to answer this question. There are times when an absolute wrong move can become correct under different circumstances.
In (very) general terms - ring games with 8-10 players, these mid pairs are limp-in quality from mid to late position and not much advised from an early position unless you think you can stand a raise which you very likely will get in a full ring game. The very best advice that can be given when play mini and mid pairs is the FFF formula - If the Flop don't Fit, Fold. which basicly means flopping a set or folding right there on the flop to any bet. At 10.9:1 for 2 draws and 22.3:1 for one draw, you will be hard pressed to find sufficent odds to justify chasing trips to the turn and river which far too many newbies (otherwise know as fish) do with these pairs and draining their bankrolls one and two calls at a time.

On the positive side, any pocket pair is very decieving and the mini and mid pairs are very sneeky so when you do flop a set (12% of the time), you generally have a winner (84% of the time).

Aces-o-8s

Originally Posted by Saj0916

I wanted to know how you guys play the smaller poket pairs 6-9. It seems everytime I even put a small raise I get stomped on the flop. Now I've just resorted to sitting on it and trying to catch a set on flop/turn. Thanks for the input.

All in, any position!!!!

Ok, I'm kidding. I think your problem isn't that you don't understand how to play medium pocket pairs, it's that you don't understand position. Otherwise I'd expect to see you include that in your question.

Do a search for "position" and read a couple of threads. And remember, POKER IS A STRUGGLE FOR POSITION.

Oh yeah,

AND MAY THE FLOP BE WITH YOU . . . ALWAYS.

it depends on the situation. late in tourneys i'll open the pot for 3-4x the BB from mid to late position, but usually i'll limp in, and even call raises, especially if im in position. this allows me to do one of 3 things: fold to a bet if the flop is dangerous (pretty much any ace/JQK/etc..., flop the set, or pick off bluffs from overcards. even if overs flop, sometimes i can assume i still have the best hand.

for example, i have 66 on the button. folds to a middle position player who opens the pot 4x the BB. i call, and the flop is 9-10-3. he goes allin, and i call, he flips over AK. this situation has happened so many times, because people loooove to bet their AK, AQ hard even if they miss the flop. they still have a 25% chance to win, but i'll take that advantage.

of course, this depends on your read of the player, because if you do this with anyone, you'll find yourself running into overpairs more times than you'd like.