Small pairs, early MTT HH

[david3103]

Fairly early in the tournament, small stakes on DTD during the day so what seems to be a very wide range of players and the potential for any raise to be reraised by and allin is high
and in three successive hands I get 77, 66, 55.
The 77 was UTG, I called, but folded to a subsequent raise/re-raise/shove - the cards played out and my 77 would have been well beaten
66 came in BB, there were raises before me, I've still got an above (just) average stack, but calling put all of them at risk. i folded and watched in horror as the other two fell out
55 - i made up the blind and saw a flop full of overcards, A J 10 i think ... folded to the first bet (which came from UTG)

What should I do with these small pairs though? Calling seems to just invite a raise and a foced fold when the board is full of overcards. Raising pre seems fraught with dangers of being outflopped (?)

As a continuation - I picked up 66 in the BB last night in a live tourney. blinds at 50/100 and CO raised to 300. sb folds, I call as does UTG
flop is 6 J K - i bet 500, UTG calls and CO raises to 2000
i shoved
He called and flipped KK....

SO
what am i supposed to do with small pairs?

[TheChipPrince]

Genrally limp, no set no bet...  In a headhunter i would still limp as invariably your going to get well payed if you hit the set, also i'd call a small stack's push far more in a headhunter than a normal MTT

[boldie]

Small pairs out of position in the early stages of a tournament..a safe rule is "no set, no bet"..you don't hit you just fold..no problem.

In position when you think you can get the raise through and pick up some blinds..or even think a continuation bet would go through, just raise with it.

A couple of things though. The flop would have been different online if you had called..never ever think "OHNO, I folded that!"

Also, if you hit yourset and someone else hits a higher one, that's just unlucky..nothing you can do about that..don't worry about it, it happens.

[Longy]

Limping in ep is fine but you should still have implied odds to call a standard raise, if not limp/folding is bleeding chips imo. When i say implied odds i want at least 15 to 1*, so i wouldn't limp with less than 30bbs or so.

In late position i raise just about any pair up, lagish is the best way to play in mtts. Looking to accumulate chips due to payout structure.

* 15 to 1 is based on the fact that even though we 7.5 to 1 to hit a set, we sometimes don't get someones whole stack. For example villian raises ak we have 66 flop q62 rainbow we are not getting ak to stack here very often. Also a small amount of the time we will get coolered (set over set) or outdrawn by flush and straights, 2 outers etc.

[cambo]

very good post longy people bleed chips all the time with small pairs in early position, especially when they have 20bbs or less, ive been open folding small pairs from early when ive got less than 30bbs working so far

[EvilPie]

In the blinds or late position it's often worth calling an early position raiser because you're more likely to get his stack if you hit your set and he has an over pair.

Generally late position raisers should be avoided because their range means they will usually need to hit to be paying you off nicely.

I like small pairs in the early levels because you often get good implied odds. Eg. blinds of 25/50 with even stacks of 3-5k. Utg raises to 150. If you find a small pair in late position or the blinds it is worth calling. If you hit your set and he has an overpair you have a very good chance of getting his whole stack. You've got 20 to 1 on your money if you hit which like Longy says is the sort of implied odds you need to set mine.

What I'm basically saying is that in the early levels you've got a good chance of getting paid by a raiser, more so than limpers. This doesn't work so well later on when you're only 20 BBs deep. At that stage a 4 x raise means at best you're getting 5 to 1. Nowhere near enough to set mine. Either shove or fold.

In your set over set loss you were just unlucky. This is exactly the situation you want, you hit your set and someone has an overpair. Just unlucky that he hit's a set as well. Calling the raise is fine because you had your implied odds. The cut off raise does normally widen his range but when there's already been a limp from utg he's got to have something to fight back with. Only risk here is that utg was setting a trap and comes straight back over the top but then you can get away easily.