Well if im shortstacked and I need to take down some blinds im confident going all in with almost any pocket pair. Low ones with an alright stack, i'll do a hefty preflop raise (usually do this with 5s or higher) get it down to headsup action take a stab to see if they hit and very often taking it down postflop. Only problem with my strategy is getting caught by a higher pocket pair.

I would limp in if I was in a late position and the stakes were small enough to warrant seeing the flop. Otherwise fold or you'll end up getting yourself into a situation you wished you hadn't.

Try Winning Low Limit Holdem by Lee Jones. Yeah, I know, millions of people recommend millions of different books but this one really is that good. It is recommended by many players in the forums I frequent so I read it myself to get me started.

I realised how little about poker I actually knew. I am still very much a novice though and I am learning more each time I play. Oh, and losing less

The odds of flopping a set to a pocket pair are 8.3:1 or 10.8% which means you have to make at least 8.3:1 bets per win just to break even. Getting raised after limping in from an early position and/or having only 1 or 2 opps will severely cripple getting the required pot odds to justify playing these mid and mini pairs from anywhere except LP to BB.

Ed Miller in Small Stakes Hold'em does advocate playing "Any pocket pair" from any position in a loose game but does qualify this by getting in cheap (calling only 1 bet raise) and with several opps (at least 4) to pay the freight when you manage to hit a set that 10.8% of the time. NEVER cold-call a small pocket pair! If the set misses on the flop, the biggest mistake made with these small pairs is trying to get them to pay anyway by bluffing/semi-bluffing the pot. If you don't have position (and the table image to pull it off), this can be a real big leak in your game and even given the position and the chance, it is often better to take a free card than to try for the steal. I really like SSH and what it recommends EXCEPT for playing 22-66 from early and mid positions - they miss/lose too often to be profitable from anywhere except late position and the blinds - then it's one bet, hit the flop or fold!

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Close, this isn't including the times you lose. You really want about 10:1 in implied odds to play a set .

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“There's no sense in being precise when you don't even know what you're talking about.” - John von Neumann

Hows this for some real nasty mid pair play. Villain was a total donk who had been bullying people with crap all day and showing his bluffs. The sum-na-bitch lured me right in. I would have probably folded to any significant raise pre-flop.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t30 (6 handed) converter

BB (t2160)
Hero (t3115)
MP (t3305)
CO (t1785)
Button (t1445)
SB (t1690)

Preflop: Hero is UTG with , .
Hero calls t30, MP calls t30, 2 folds, SB completes, BB checks.

Flop: (t120) , , (4 players)
SB checks, BB checks, Hero bets t60, MP calls t60, SB folds, BB calls t60.

Turn: (t300) (3 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t150, MP raises to t300, BB folds, Hero raises to t3025, MP calls t2725.

River: (t6350) (2 players)

Final Pot: t6350
Main Pot: t6350 (t6350), between Hero and MP. > Pot won by MP (t6350).

Results in white below:
Hero has 5s 5d (three of a kind, fives).
MP has Ad As (three of a kind, aces).
Outcome: MP wins t6350.

This was the beginning of a VERY bad night of poker for me.

Seeing as he was a bully, didn't his relative subtle play here alert you at all? It seemed he was trying to massage chips out of you, not clobber you into folding.... That, and your all-in is a bit overkill.... I think I would have gone for a re-massage and tried to get him to bet out on the river, not force him to fold on the turn.

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I know I messed up. This guy was playing any 2 cards and I got it in my head that he was on a strt draw........I panicked and tried to end the hand right there.

I consoled myself with the notion tha I was going to lose them all no matter how i played it.

Actually it's right on!
8.3:1 = lose 8.3 times : win 1 time or 89.2% lose and 10.8% win!!
Taken right off the odds tables @ www.homepokergames.com/odds.php and I did say "just to break even"!! So ya, if you're getting anything better than 8.3:1 - say like 10:1 - you're now making a profit making the call over the long run.

Maybe I shouldn't have assumed that implied odds were a given but thanks for pointing it out for those who might have missed it!

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Actually, bonch is about right, and the exact implied odds are very subjective, but you can hit your set 10.8% of the time and still lose can't you?... so for those rare times, add ing a littel more to the implied odds is good. So yeah, you're needing about 10:1 implied to play for the set.... But that's not very hard.....

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I will correct myself - replace the word 'lose' with 'miss the set' and 'win' with the words 'hit the set'.
Of course even hitting a set on the flop does not insure a win - although it will go on to win only 84% of the time. So Bonch and Marm are making a good point by padding the pot odds. However if you'll read my first post, I said "you have to make at least 8.3:1 bets per win just to break even." meaning for every bet you make, you will have to win back 8.3 bet "just to break even". Depending on how many opps you have, how aggressive they are and if they have hands to challenge with, this could mean more than 1 win in 11 to show a profit. All the more reason to play these hands from a late vs early position.

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