Free Poker Strategy: Playing Big Pocket Pairs

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General Concept: Playing Pocket Pairs

“Most people overplay big pairs in the early levels of a tournament. Unless it’s a very late position battle (button vs. blinds or blind vs. blind), it’s usually a mistake to be three-betting with hands like J-J and Q-Q, and sometimes even K-K. If you reraise, you need to consider what kind of hands the other player is actually going to continue with, let alone four-bet. For example, if a good player raises from early position in the first level of a tournament, and you choose to three-bet with Q-Q from middle position, what are you going to do against a four-bet? Since the kind of hands that he will four-bet tend to be almost always K-K or better, it’s obviously a pretty big mistake to be three-betting here.”

— Alex Kamberis (Head Games: August 2010)

“I think sometimes people are tempted with their aces to make a really small squeeze-play if they are squeezing or reraising. I think that’s kind of a mistake. Pocket aces is not the nuts post-flop. Not that it’s not still a strong hand, but when there’s a lot of money in play, you really want to get a lot of money in preflop with your aces. You should be squeezing here with a pretty wide range. Even if it means I might not get to see the flop, I’m going to get three-bet more often, and I’m also going to get more folds if my bluff three-bets or my bluff squeeze plays are raised to 5×. So, that’s the standard amount that I use, especially when the preflop raiser is opening for a min-raise.”

— Andrew Brokos (Playing Pocket Aces Preflop: January 2010)

“If I open preflop with A-A or K-K and an opponent reraises, I think it’s incorrect to then reraise. The reason is, if your opponent is anybody who knows how to play poker, and he reraised you with the 8Club Suit5Club Suit or Q-Q and then you reraise him, you’re not going to get any action. Savvy players will fold Q-Q or worse, I believe. If your opponent is a clueless player and never folds, keep raising. But if he’s a decent player, just call. Guess what? On the flop, no matter what comes down, he’s going to continuation-bet. If he has a big hand, a lot of flops are favorable for him when holding Q-Q or K-K, and he will keep betting when you have A-A, giving your hand more value.”

— Phil Laak (Head Games: August 2010)

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