$11 NL HE MTT: Preflop pairs

[Geo90]

Game

Hold'em

Game Format

No Limit

Table Format

MTT

Buy-in

11

Game Options

1. Bounty

Currency

$

888Poker, Hold'em No Limit - T$400/T$800 (T$100 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: T$17,985 (22 bb)
UTG+1: T$14,105 (18 bb)
MP: T$30,058 (38 bb)
MP+1: T$22,969 (29 bb)
CO: T$3,191 (4 bb)
BU (Hero): T$16,841 (21 bb)
SB: T$41,821 (52 bb)
BB: T$22,786 (28 bb)

Pre-Flop: (T$2,000) Hero is BTN with 2♣ 2♠
5 players fold, Hero raises to T$16,741 (all-in), SB calls T$16,341, 1 fold

Flop: (T$35,082) 6♥ 8♠ T♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (T$35,082) K♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (T$35,082) 4♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: T$35,082 (Rake: T$0)

Showdown:
BU (Hero) shows 2♣ 2♠ (a pair of Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 71%, Turn: 86%, River: 0%)

SB shows A♣ 4♣ (a pair of Fours)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 29%, Turn: 14%, River: 100%)

SB wins T$35,082


How do you play with low pairs with 20BB preflop? If I raise preflop 2.5BB and Cbet 2BB on the flop, I still have 15BB left to play with. I rarely improve to a set and win, but I have to fold to a 3bet preflop and to any raise on the flop if I don't hit. What is the best play?

 

[Geo90]

888Poker, Hold'em No Limit - 150/300 (30 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: 5,000 (17 bb)
UTG+1: 4,910 (16 bb)
MP: 7,546 (25 bb)
MP+1: 3,882 (13 bb)
CO: 7,115 (24 bb)
BU: 11,297 (38 bb)
SB: 21,445 (71 bb)
BB (Hero): 5,875 (20 bb)

Pre-Flop: (690) Hero is BB with T♣ T♦
UTG raises to 4,970 (all-in), 5 players fold, SB calls 4,820, BB (Hero) folds

Flop: (10,480) J♠ 3♥ T♥ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (10,480) A♣ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (10,480) 3♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: 10,480

Showdown:
UTG shows 7♥ 7♠ (two pair, Sevens and Threes)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 52%, Flop: 60%, Turn: 5%, River: 0%)

SB shows A♠ K♠ (two pair, Aces and Threes)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 48%, Flop: 40%, Turn: 95%, River: 100%)

SB wins 10,480

Was this too tight?

 

[bremp555]

That’s a really interesting spot. With 22 and a 20BB stack, it’s always tricky because small pairs don’t play well post-flop unless you hit a set. If you open-raise and face a shove, you’re usually forced to fold, which makes the hand tough to play profitably. Many players prefer just folding small pairs in these situations, especially when there are still many players left to act and the blinds are not desperate yet.

Another option is to treat small pairs more like set-mining hands when you have deeper stacks, but with 20BB that’s not really practical. If you want to play them, shoving directly preflop can sometimes make sense, depending on the table dynamics and your image. You either pick up the blinds and antes or go for a flip against overcards, which is often better than raising and putting yourself in tough post-flop spots.

In the end, I think the best play depends a lot on your table. Against aggressive opponents who like to 3-bet, folding is often the safest. Against tighter players, you can consider shoving. Either way, with 20BB, small pairs are not hands you want to overplay—being selective with spots is usually the key.

 

[eetenor]

888Poker, Hold'em No Limit - T$400/T$800 (T$100 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat

UTG: T$17,985 (22 bb)
UTG+1: T$14,105 (18 bb)
MP: T$30,058 (38 bb)
MP+1: T$22,969 (29 bb)
CO: T$3,191 (4 bb)
BU (Hero): T$16,841 (21 bb)
SB: T$41,821 (52 bb)
BB: T$22,786 (28 bb)

Pre-Flop: (T$2,000) Hero is BTN with 2♣ 2♠
5 players fold, Hero raises to T$16,741 (all-in), SB calls T$16,341, 1 fold

Flop: (T$35,082) 6♥ 8♠ T♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (T$35,082) K♦ (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (T$35,082) 4♠ (2 players, 1 all-in)

Total pot: T$35,082 (Rake: T$0)

Showdown:
BU (Hero) shows 2♣ 2♠ (a pair of Twos)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 71%, Turn: 86%, River: 0%)

SB shows A♣ 4♣ (a pair of Fours)
(Equity - Pre-Flop: 50%, Flop: 29%, Turn: 14%, River: 100%)

SB wins T$35,082


How do you play with low pairs with 20BB preflop? If I raise preflop 2.5BB and Cbet 2BB on the flop, I still have 15BB left to play with. I rarely improve to a set and win, but I have to fold to a 3bet preflop and to any raise on the flop if I don't hit. What is the best play?

When we study, we study not to win hands but to make the best plays in each spot---which means we make the best decisions. The more decisions we get to make the more advantage we have over our V as they make more mistakes with each decision. which results in our winning more chips not hands -chips.

With that as a guide we know shoving 22 here is one decision. Raising it means we have multiple decisions that we can apply our skill to. Which is our goal. We want to be able to fold preflop or bluff post flop or pot control etc etc etc.. We want to use our skills.

As we see in this hand had we raised not shoved our V would fold this flop most often. Of course there are other factors like BB over call etc but again now we get to use our skills post flop.

Our focus is not to play flip poker as it negates our skill. 50/50 is a no skill game which helps the weaker players to play perfectly.

 

[Geo90]

That’s a really interesting spot. With 22 and a 20BB stack, it’s always tricky because small pairs don’t play well post-flop unless you hit a set. If you open-raise and face a shove, you’re usually forced to fold, which makes the hand tough to play profitably. Many players prefer just folding small pairs in these situations, especially when there are still many players left to act and the blinds are not desperate yet.

Another option is to treat small pairs more like set-mining hands when you have deeper stacks, but with 20BB that’s not really practical. If you want to play them, shoving directly preflop can sometimes make sense, depending on the table dynamics and your image. You either pick up the blinds and antes or go for a flip against overcards, which is often better than raising and putting yourself in tough post-flop spots.

In the end, I think the best play depends a lot on your table. Against aggressive opponents who like to 3-bet, folding is often the safest. Against tighter players, you can consider shoving. Either way, with 20BB, small pairs are not hands you want to overplay—being selective with spots is usually the key.

Yes, I always have to fold to a 3-bet, folding may be the best solution, but I feel like it's weak play

With 20BB, I think you can take a flip, but if you had 30-40BB, of course I wouldn't risk it for a flip.

This is the best idea, you have to take this into mind. 888 has built-in stats anyway, and I can see how much they 3-bet, and based on that, if they're aggressive, I fold, but if I see that someone has a 16/10 stat, I go all-in with almost everything.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

 

[Geo90]

When we study, we study not to win hands but to make the best plays in each spot---which means we make the best decisions. The more decisions we get to make the more advantage we have over our V as they make more mistakes with each decision. which results in our winning more chips not hands -chips.

With that as a guide we know shoving 22 here is one decision. Raising it means we have multiple decisions that we can apply our skill to. Which is our goal. We want to be able to fold preflop or bluff post flop or pot control etc etc etc.. We want to use our skills.

As we see in this hand had we raised not shoved our V would fold this flop most often. Of course there are other factors like BB over call etc but again now we get to use our skills post flop.

Our focus is not to play flip poker as it negates our skill. 50/50 is a no skill game which helps the weaker players to play perfectly.

Very good points, this puts these situations into perspective again, thank you for your answers.

In this situation, the SB might go all-in on a raise, and I would fold. I think you can easily go all-in with A4S from the SB.

That's very true, I'll make a note of that.

"The more decisions we get to make the more advantage we have over our V as they make more mistakes with each decision"

 

[Geo90]

I'm not opening a new topic.
This is a $5 Mystery Bonuty where the bounties were active, and I had 20BB here. With 3 limpers, I should have gone preflop all-in here, right?


888Poker, Hold'em No Limit - 1,250/2,500 (300 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat - https://www.cardschat.com/replayer?hand=2a10XcpR

UTG: 13,350 (5 bb)
UTG+1: 88,876 (36 bb)
MP: 149,491 (60 bb)
MP+1: 73,830 (30 bb)
CO: 43,308 (17 bb)
BU: 102,718 (41 bb)
SB: 61,508 (25 bb)
BB (Hero): 53,952 (22 bb)

Pre-Flop: (6,150) Hero is BB with K♣ J♥
4 players fold, CO calls 2,500, BTN calls 2,500, SB calls 1,250, Hero checks

Flop: (12,400) K♠ 4♠ A♣ (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets 40,508 (all-in), 2 players fold, BB (Hero) folds

 

[fundiver199]

Hand 1 22
I dont like open jamming for 21BB. If we plug it into ICMizer, its probably close to breakeven, and when its close to breakeven, I would rather fold and wait for the next hand. You can also min-raise or even limp, and the profitability of that depends on the players in the blinds. If they are passive, then both of that can be fine. If BB just call and then fold to a lot of C-bets on the flop, your cards almost dont matter. If you were in earlier position, then 22 is always just a fold with this stack size, but from BTN you will at least have position, if someone just call.

Hand 2 TT
If this was a regular MTT, then I like folding, when SB has called, but if it was a PKO, then its to tight. In a PKO SB will be on a much wider range, because he is bounty hunting, and you are also getting better pot odds, because you can win UTGs bounty yourself.

Hand 3 KJo
Yes with 3 limps there is enough dead money to justify jamming preflop for 22BB and I prefer that over taking a free 4-way flop.

 

[Rldetheflop]

Just a side note what a terrible call from SB for nearly half his stack. He is crushed by nearly your entire range and is lucky you were at the very bottom of your range

 

[Geo90]

1. kéz 22
Nem szeretem a 21BB-s allinelést. Ha bekötjük az ICMizerbe, valószínűleg közel van a nullszaldóhoz, és amikor közel van, akkor inkább dobok és várok a következő leosztásra. Minimum emelhetsz, vagy akár limpelhetsz is, és ennek jövedelmezősége a vaktétekben lévő játékosoktól függ. Ha passzívak, akkor mindkettő rendben lehet. Ha BB csak megadja, majd a flopnál sok C-betre dob, a lapjaid szinte nem számítanak. Ha korábbi pozícióban voltál, akkor 22 mindig csak dobás ekkora stackmérettel, de BTN-ből legalább lesz pozíciód, ha valaki csak megadja.

2. kéz TT
Ha ez egy sima MTT lenne, akkor szeretek dobni, amikor SB megadja, de ha PKO lenne, akkor túl feszes lenne. Egy PKO-ban SB sokkal szélesebb range-en fog játszani, mert fejvadászatra indul, és jobb pot odds-ot is kapsz, mert magad is megnyerheted az UTG fejvadját.

3. kéz KJo
Igen, 3 limpeléssel elég holt pénz van ahhoz, hogy igazolja a preflop all-in-t 22BB-ért, és én ezt jobban szeretem, mint egy ingyenes 4-way flop elfogadását.

22: Yes, you can still play with 21BB, I'm leaning towards folding, but you're right, it depends on the table.

1010: I didn't write that it was a Satellite, if it were PKO or Mystery Bounty, then I would definitely give it up, there are crazy things there , so it wasn't such a bad decision, but then came the 10 flop

KJ: Yes, that's what I thought too, a lot of dead money, it was a mistake, thanks for the confirmation and help.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)

 

[fundiver199]

so it wasn't such a bad decision, but then came the 10 flop

This is very results oriented. Even the fact, you would have been in decent shape against their actual holdings, would not make it a good call. SB turned up with AKs, which is a premium hand. And even though its not the worst thing to be up against AKs with TT, that does not mean, you are in good shape against his range. His range could be as narrow as JJ+, AK, and then you are crushed by his range. If he had showed up with something very light like A9o or A6s, thats the time, you want to consider, if maybe folding was to tight.

 

[eetenor]

I'm not opening a new topic.
This is a $5 Mystery Bonuty where the bounties were active, and I had 20BB here. With 3 limpers, I should have gone preflop all-in here, right?


888Poker, Hold'em No Limit - 1,250/2,500 (300 ante) - 8 players
Replay this hand on CardsChat - https://www.cardschat.com/replayer?hand=2a10XcpR

UTG: 13,350 (5 bb)
UTG+1: 88,876 (36 bb)
MP: 149,491 (60 bb)
MP+1: 73,830 (30 bb)
CO: 43,308 (17 bb)
BU: 102,718 (41 bb)
SB: 61,508 (25 bb)
BB (Hero): 53,952 (22 bb)

Pre-Flop: (6,150) Hero is BB with K♣ J♥
4 players fold, CO calls 2,500, BTN calls 2,500, SB calls 1,250, Hero checks

Flop: (12,400) K♠ 4♠ A♣ (4 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO bets 40,508 (all-in), 2 players fold, BB (Hero) folds

When we play mystery bounties we do not play them like normal MTT. We should not expect our V to fold AX hands especially in $5 games and if our V play MB MTT well we should expect to be trapped often. If the table is weak tight foldy-- not weak tight ohh well I have to call this ATs -then yes go all-in but if anyone on the table is willing to gamble or knows to trap then shoving KJo might be a mistake. Why? If I were on the table and expected to be raised or shoved on by an agg table I am over limping AA in that spot. Especially when you have a perfect 20bb shove only stack in the blinds.

Table dynamics is far more important in bounty MTT than in MTT as the ranges adjust significantly as to traps and call offs.

 

[Geo90]

This is very results oriented. Even the fact, you would have been in decent shape against their actual holdings, would not make it a good call. SB turned up with AKs, which is a premium hand. And even though its not the worst thing to be up against AKs with TT, that does not mean, you are in good shape against his range. His range could be as narrow as JJ+, AK, and then you are crushed by his range. If he had showed up with something very light like A9o or A6s, thats the time, you want to consider, if maybe folding was to tight.

You have to accept that in poker, just because a decision paid off, it doesn't necessarily mean it was the right decision , because with weaker hands, you won't call with a pair of 99 or lower, but if you do call with such hands, you have to note that you are capable of such moves.

 

[Geo90]

When we play mystery bounties we do not play them like normal MTT. We should not expect our V to fold AX hands especially in $5 games and if our V play MB MTT well we should expect to be trapped often. If the table is weak tight foldy-- not weak tight ohh well I have to call this ATs -then yes go all-in but if anyone on the table is willing to gamble or knows to trap then shoving KJo might be a mistake. Why? If I were on the table and expected to be raised or shoved on by an agg table I am over limping AA in that spot. Especially when you have a perfect 20bb shove only stack in the blinds.

Table dynamics is far more important in bounty MTT than in MTT as the ranges adjust significantly as to traps and call offs.

I've fallen into this trap many times. They play QQ+ AK completely differently with premium hands, They often limp because the goal here is not to fold but to get the opponent to put in all their chips. Last time, an article said that you don't need to C-bet as much as in a normal MTT because, again, the goal is not to fold but to get the opponent to bluff.

You really have to watch the table, because there are those who fold with any hand, while others play tight. I also fold more easily because the payout structure is so bad that you have to go for the bounties. I call much more often with single-suited Ax Kx Qx hands if I have more chips than my opponent. It's very difficult to find good hand ranges here.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)