"No set, no bet" as the saying goes.
It's great when you flop a set with a small pair (22-55), but what about those situations where you miss?
Today I want to explore 4 spots where you should look to play more aggressively with small pairs whether you hit a set or not.
Let's dive in...
1/ Check raising for value with bottom set after defending the big blind
30bb BB vs LJ with 22 on K72fd:
OK, this should be the easiest to understand, but it's crazy how many players I see continue to slow play in this spot.
This is the bread and butter spot to check/raise with a set.
The LJ should bet their entire range for a small size and they have to continue with a lot of this range facing a raise, like:
Two pair (K7s)
All top pair
All underpairs
All 7x
44-66 with a club
Flush draws
Some back door flush draws (e.g. AJo with a club or Ad8d)
Because of this, you can raise a lot wider than bottom set for value, including two pair and your best Kx.
As you're out of position, it's also harder to get stacks in if you just call the small c-bet on the flop. The LJ could easily check back the turn with a lot of the hands they would call facing your flop check raise.
2/ Raising in position for value with bottom set after calling preflop
40bb BTN vs LJ with 55 on AT5r:
Facing a small bet you should look to raise when you flop bottom set because you unblock the hands that will call your raise.
So even though you're in position this time, when you face small bets as the preflop caller in these spots, you should still look to raise for value.
Notice as well that 22, and to a lesser extent 33, are raising as a bluff in this spot.
In order to raise for value with hands like 55, AT and your strongest Ax hands (AQ/AJ), it's important to have some bluffs in this spot. While there are some gutshots (KQ/KJ) raising here, you have to be more creative with the other bluffs to hands that unblock the c-better's bet/folds.
Also, 22 and 33 can make disguised back door straights or bluff the original raiser off the hand on later streets.
3/ Range bet boards where you can get better hands to fold as the preflop raiser
60bb CO vs BB with 33 on QJTr:
You should always be on the look out for boards where you can bet your entire range.
BBB (three broadway) boards and ABB (Ace with two broadway cards) are very good for you as the preflop aggressor against the Big Blind because you have a huge equity and nut advantage.
This leads you to being able to bet big with your entire range, which includes small pairs.
When you bet big with 33, you're betting as a bluff. This means you expect to get better hands to fold.
On this QJTr board, as you have such an equity and nut advantage, you can expect strong hands to fold. This includes all Tx, Jx with no front door straight draw or backdoor flush draw and even some Qx with no front door straight draw or backdoor flush draw.
4/ Betting when checked to in position with 4th pair after calling preflop
50bb CO vs LJ with 33 on AKQfd:
The LJ is supposed to bet this flop a lot for a small size because it's so much better for them. They have more equity and a higher proportion of very strong hands.
However, some of their more medium strength hands don't want to bet and it's these that you want to target in this spot by sometimes bluffing with a small pair.
When you bet on the flop you can get most better underpairs (44-99) to fold, plus some Kx and Qx too, especially if they don't have a flush or straight draw.
As you don't bet that often, you can actually get some of the weaker Ax hands (A2-A4) to fold. Given that your bluffs are mainly 22-44 it makes sense for the LJ to start folding A2-A4, as they block your bluffs.
You can't bet all the time though as this would lead your betting range to be unbalanced towards bluffs since you just don't have too much in the way of value hands in your range.
Summary
There might not be a greater feeling in poker of flopping a set. And that's why it's great to play small pairs because you can make a very strong and often very disguised hand.
But when you don't flop a set, it's important to find the spots where you can start bluffing and getting your opponent to fold better hands.
Always think about the logic of the spot and make sure your bet makes sense.
This week's action tip: filter your database for small pairs and see if there are some missed spots for playing them more aggressively.
That's it for this week.
See you next time.
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