Medium Pocket Pairs, Call The Raise?

Sometime earlier today I was watching a tournament on I believe one of the ESPN sports stations on my local cable tv. This tournament was being shown in it's early stages as the bets I noticed were as low as 300 chips. One of the things I noticed is that many professionals playing in tournaments, whether small blinds or large, seem to call raises with low and medium pocket pairs.

Every strategy discussion I have seen and everything I've read has said to back down with those low and medium pocket pairs, yet the professionals are doing just the opposite.

Now I know some might say that the professionals play a different game than the rest of us but I disagree with that. They may be playing for higher prize pools but the game, the right and wrong plays are basically the same so with that said. How do you play those pocket pairs when up against a preflop raise.

yeh ive seen that too on wsop. some players do that i think coz if they catch a set on the flop, they could win a huge pot coz no-one would expect a call with 22 or 44 or whatever, but if they dont get anything its an easy lay-down

Also, at that point they are a slight favorite to any over cards. It's not terribly likely that someone is going to raise just a little bit if he has a big pocket pair. Like Scotia said, if he manages to hit his set on the flop he's in good shape, and if the flop comes with low cards there is also a good chance that the person who raised totally missed his flop (assuming you put him on two over cards).

yes....I dont think anyone ever said that you should fold pocket pairs to a raise in general terms......however I do think that it is correct to fold a small pair to a BIG raise in early/ position...with position being the most important factor....but the reason why pro's can get away with making incorrect pre-flop calls is the fact that they are VERY skilled in post flop play. See, that is where the real skill in hold em is, post flop. Pre-flop can be somewhat mechanical.

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Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.

nice point from franky. if you're gonna call with low pair, you must catch a set, be very skilled playing post-flop or be prepared to lay down your hand. how lucky can gus hansen get, btw? recently he called an all in with 10 3 o and caught top pair on the flop how does he do it? i think he must be able to stop time, go around to the dealer and take a peek at the cards.

Yeah, he reminds me of Toto Leonidas. He is absurdly reckless and it seems to almost always pay off for him. Guys like that are a huge part of the all-in craze we have to deal with online. But I digress.

From what Ive seen they bluff an an awful lot more than any game Ive ever been in.I may be wrong but it seems like its whoever bluffing and catching wins alot of those hands.Is that how you are supposed to play?

not in low limits shawneeIA.....bluffing means bye bye chips.....I only bluff occasionally when I KNOW no one has crap or I am playing against extremely tight players.....in the low limits you just play straight forward poker....the reason is that people in the low limits dont fear losing there money because it will not affect there income or lifestyle....People will call a 10$ bet just to know that they did not get bluffed.......but when the stakes a 10's or 100's of thousands of dollars, you tend to swallow the pride and play with your head.....and you must remember that this is the final table also and people know the cameras are on.....I guarantee you there is not as much bluffing during the "regular" part of the tourney...that being said, I do tend to semi-bluff ( like with 4 to a flush or 4 to a straight) alot but that is much different than flat out bluffing.

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Napoleon, don't be jealous that I've been chatting online with babes all day. Besides, we both know that I'm training to be a cage fighter.

i think lower pocket pairs in late position are good for(calling) 1 bet. depending on your stack and depending on the amount to call. i've seen alot of bad players (freerolls) goign all in with pairs like 55 and 88 . but in real games unless u flop a set or it doesnt flop any overs checking is the onli way. Calling to raises most of the time will cost you chips. unless your playing with a super loose player lay those hands down after flop. or before flop in an early position.

Bluffing is probably done alot by the pro players because most of the time their have a stack to bluff with. PLayers like gus hanson calls all ins with 10 3 when their probably have a 3 to 1 chip lead and his reading the opponent. i my self is not a very big fan of his. he plays very reckless. Although if i was a betting man if gus starts the final table with a substantial chip lead i'll put him in the top 3 for sure. that guy plays on confidence, the more u fold the better he plays.

fav player..who could bluff, play aggressive and lay great hands just at the right monment will have to be johnny chan. the way he picks off players on final tables is legendary.

Fo_o

ps:great site