Firstly it will help to define what we actually mean by medium pairs in Limit Hold’Em. I think that medium pairs can be classified as J-J down to 7-7. I would classify A-A and K-K as premium pairs with Q-Q as a ‘big’ pair. Pairs lower than 7-7 I would classify as small pairs. This being my very first article for this website then I think that it is only fair to give a little background into my history regarding Limit Hold’Em and poker in general before we move on.I started playing full time poker online in 2002 and Limit Hold’Em was my main game, in fact it was my only game as I didn’t play anything else at that time. So having played the game for six full years and also having studied the game for that length of time, I would say that Limit Hold’Em is by far my main game although I play it much less these days.
Anyway, onto the point of this article and this is how to generally play medium pairs in 6-max Limit Hold’Em games. The great thing about medium pairs is that they play very well in heads up situations. If there has been a raise before you then you can re-raise to try and isolate against the original raiser. Re-raising also has the added advantage of creating dead money in the pot when you get the blinds to fold. You have created a +EV play when this happens and with the blind money in the pot and with you having position and the best hand then life could not be any sweeter.
One of the reasons why these hands play so well heads up is that they will frequently dominate the hands of many players who have wide raising ranges. Many players like to open raise with any Ace and especially when it is suited so hands like 7-7 through to J-J will have a great edge against those types of hands.
But in order to give yourself the maximum possible advantage against these players then you really need to be re-raising in an attempt to isolate against these hands. Let us look at an example with the 8c-8s. You are on the button and the UTG+1 raises to $20 in a 6-max Limit Hold’Em game and it is folded around to you. By far the best course of action here is to three bet. This re-raise puts maximum pressure on the blinds.
But calling increases the pot odds of both the blinds and especially the big blind but it also increases their implied odds as well. Calling also makes it more difficult for your pair of Eights to win the hand as there is now the potential for more players to become involved thus increasing the chance of hitting more flops and overcards.
If you three bet and the blinds fold and you see a flop like Qd-6c-2h then the chances of you being ahead are very good but change that to a three or even four way pot and suddenly we have an entirely different situation. Also you cannot even assume that no one has flopped top pair even if it is checked to you as many players will routinely check to the raiser with decent hands. Also because you already have some semblance of a hand, medium pocket pairs have strong showdown value and will win you many pots that way.
Another factor to take into account is that you will lose less money post flop with medium pocket pairs simply because you will be dominated less often. For instance, I would much rather three bet a raiser with 8c-8d than with a hand like Qs-Jh. If I am three betting hands like A-Q, A-J, K-Q, K-J etc then you can be in serious pay off trouble and lose several bets in the process of finding out that you were behind from the get go.
Also hands like Q-J cannot stand heavy post flop action in strong aggressive games and this makes medium pairs a better proposition in those types of games. For example, a $50-$100 game and the UTG + 1 raises with A-K (unknown to you at the time) and you three bet with the Q-J. The flop comes 9c-6h-2c. Your opponent leads out and you call and the Turn card brings the 3d and your opponent leads out again and you decide to make a play for the pot and raise.
Even if you correctly figure out that all your opponent is holding is overcards, what you cannot always accurately deduce is their reaction to your raise. Let us say here that you get three bet on the Turn, now you have no real choice but to muck the hand. You allowed yourself to become sucked in with a moderate hand and then tried to do something fancy post flop and you ended up getting clobbered when you really shouldn’t have been involved to begin with.
But with a medium pocket pair, you are also in a far stronger situation post flop and you can see the River far more easily in tougher games when placed under pressure which you will be a good percentage of the time. In the bigger Limit games like at $30-$60 and above then you will be encountering bluff raises, bluff re-raises and pressure plays a plenty and those mediocre Broadway cards just cannot stand the heat when they don’t connect and also can suffer from pay off problems when they do.
You can get away from many situations with medium pairs like when the flop comes Ad-Ks-Jc and a solid player raised from under the gun pre-flop and you three bet with pocket Sevens. Your opponent leads out on the Flop and now unless you know your opponent very well, you basically have no future being in the hand as this is the worst possible flop for your hand. Just to round off this article, I am not saying that you can never three bet with a Q-J and I am not saying that you can always three bet with medium pocket pairs as PAHUD readouts may indicate an alternative play. But if you aware of the strengths and weaknesses of certain hands in Limit Hold’Em then it can go a long way to helping you avoid the pitfalls.
Carl “The Dean” Sampson is sponsored by Cake Poker and can be seen at www.cakepoker.com/thedean