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1) First off is pocket pairs, more specifically 10's and lower. I'm never exactly sure how to play these. I've been taking your advice and pretty much played them in any position, for just about any raise preflop (if it's a big one and will take my entire chip stack if I don't hit the set, I will typically sit that one out) and so far it seems to work fairly well (busted a guy out today with deuces when he had pocket aces, but didn't make a large enough bet preflop).

My question is: at what point do you stop "limping in" with pocket pairs? Is there a magic value of your pocket pair where you say to yourself that you have to raise enough to isolate one or two people? 9's, 10's, J's? Typically I love it when lots of people are in preflop with a small raise and I call with a low pocket pair and hit the set, but this has also cost me some of my largest losses as it's tough for me to get away from a set. Even betting a substantial amount postflop (I never slow play a set with so many people in there), you might still have 3 to 4 people still in there chasing after a flush or straight draw (remember, this IS microlimits) or trying to improve their top pair.

Like I said, I typically like this situation, and probably 3/4 of the times I win a decent amount. But when I lose in this situation, it's usually a disaster for me as, like my fellow .10/.25ers, I'm often not quite as disciplined as I should be to get rid of the set and I'll get burned on the turn or river bets and end up losing two times or more of what I typically win with sets. And I'll just sit there stewing about not getting that 9-10 offsuit out of the way when I had the chance after a 6-7-8 shows up on the board. Of course at these times I often forget how many times I've won by people chasing, but the wins are never as much as the losses.

So just in case my question got lost in the confusion of the above paragraph, at what point (or value) do you try to start isolating people with pocket pairs? Or do you NOT want to isolate them with anything except may A, K or Q's so more money can build up in the pot? Or is the whole problem my discipline with keeping the sets when I know I should throw them away and figure that it's just poker and those things will happen?

Answer: How you play middle and low pocket pairs depends on what you are trying to accomplish. The first goal is trying to win a huge pot by hitting a set, but you aren't likely to win if you miss. The second goal is to play the hand on its own strength and hopefully win the pot unimproved. The most important factor for either of these goals is the amount of players in preflop. Let me give you an example of how the same hand would play in two different situations. Let's say you have 88 in late position and a few people are in before you, with a raise or without a raise, the chances are that you are going to need to have a strong flop to keep playing.

The goal here would be to play the hand and hopefully hit a set; the cheaper the price to see the flop, the better. Now on the other hand, let's say you have 88 and only one or two people are in before you. A hand like 99 or 88 can hold up by itself, unimproved, if you limit the competition. With your position and with only people limping before you (suggesting they don't have great hands), a raise may cut down your opponents to the ideal number: one. You might even win the pot with two opponents if they don't flop anything comfortable enough to call you on the flop when you bet (remember they don't know if you have AA or 88).

The pocket pairs in no limit holdem are stronger because people don't call as much to see the turn and river like they do in limit holdem, but the fundamentals are the same for limit. If I have 99 and there are only one or two people in before me in limit holdem, instead of calling, I'll raise to increase my chances of winning. And if the flop doesn't look good, I've bought some position and I can check and get a free card. Now, as for how low you can go with the pocket pairs and still turn a profit is a tough question. If you were to religiously raise 22, 33, and 44 in most games, you would lose. Those hands have very few flops that look good, even with one opponent.

I think a safe way to play for now would be to raise your 99 and up from any position when you play it (unless there are raises before you) and with the pocket pairs that are 88 and below, try to limp in or call and do more trapping. If you can get heads up with a raise preflop with the small pocket pairs, you can try it now and again to mix up your play, but it can create some difficult situations post flop, that if you aren't experienced enough, might cost you some chips.

Tournament play with pocket pairs is slightly different. In tournament play, a pocket pair can be a godsend if you are low on chips, or an automatic call if someone with a short stack raises. In cash games, you aren't looking for 50/50 race situations (like 55 against AK preflop), but in a tournament, you have to play some of those to win. And just how the pocket pairs strength was increased when we went from limit holdem to no limit holdem (because people can be bet out on the flop more easily), the pocket pairs strength in tourney play also goes up. People are less comfortable with draws in tournaments than in cash games, so the value of a pair in your hand is increased (as long as you follow it up with a bet on the flop).

Question: 2) This next question is more of an online ethics or etiquette question. Okay, as an extreme, lets say I have pocket 2's, one other person is in with me with AK. The flop is A, 2, 2. The turn is a K. At this point I'm of course wanting to get his entire chip stack over to my stack and it's one of the times that call for a true slow play. He's the first to act and comes out firing. If I call immediately, I figure that HE'LL figure that I may have AK, AA or KK and that's not what I want. Even better if two suited cards are up. Now comes the question: exactly how "tricky" am I allowed to be through chat?

You usually only have about 30-45 seconds before deciding your play. I pause a second as if I'm thinking about it, then type:"Hmmm...2? AK? Drawing for flush???" (Rhetorically asking questions I know he won't answer) I pause again, and just before the final warning buzzer goes off that I have 15 seconds I might type : "I guess I'll find out". And call his turn bet. The river card is comes up an A. If he pushes all in now it's over and I push in immediately. If he's worried I won't call that amount and pushes in a good sized bet (hoping I come over the top of him), it starts all over again with me, pausing, maybe saying something like "I don't put you on an Ace" to justify my going all in. He calls and I win. Of course, if he has pocket Aces I'm screwed, but I'll always take that chance.

Now, I've never done anything like this. I HAVE paused til the 15 second warning to make someone think that I'm really thinking their bet or raise through (that's worked several times), but I've never actually been so...disingenuous in chat like this. I guess my question is: would doing something like this be considered a breach of etiquette? Or is it a perfectly legitimate way to get your opponent to overvalue his hand and undervalue yours? I didn't once say something like "I don't think you can beat my AQ" in the above example (plus if I did I think most everyone would see right throught that) so I'm not talking about my hand but rather what they may have in theirs.

Also I know that at a $25/$50 table someone would read this play like a book with large print, but we're still talking about microlimits here. And I also know that I'd have to be doing a lot of chatting during my hands (at least on the large bets and raises I'm involved with) to set something like this up, maybe even showing them how honest I was about everything I said a little earlier in the session. But my original question remains: Is it legitimate or not?

Answer: Sure, anything you say is legit. There is no problem with "lying" at a poker table. Deception is part of the game and if you can finesse someone into making a play they shouldn't, more power to you. It is understood that everyone at the table will use whatever method they can to win a pot (and maximize that pot). There is a difference between cheating, or shooting an angle, and trying to cover up the value of your hand. We try to milk our hands for everything they are worth and part of that is slow playing -- body language, betting, talking, etc.

I don't draw a distinction between not raising preflop with AA and intentionally making a gesture that gives my opponent the idea that I am weak; both things are done to mask my hand. Poker is a game of skill. I don't feel the least amount of pity for someone who comes unprepared to the game. You should use everything at your disposal for beating me, because I will be using everything at my disposal for beating you. As long as you aren't being abusive to another player, or cheating, anything goes.

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