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Playing big pocket pairs
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big pair poker strategy
It is very important to play big pocket pairs well because you will often find yourself putting in a good deal of money both before and after the flop; while this can be extremely profitable, it can also be extremely dangerous. Many players find themselves cursing AA or KK when they lose money with it but these hands if played correctly are very profitable. This is an important Texas Hold'em strategy. In most games, the strategy with QQ, KK and AA is very similar. Raise / reraise before the flop and then bet / raise the flop, still it is a little simplistic to state that this should be stuck to in all situations. It is important not to allow your actions when you have a big pair to show the strength of your hand. You should stick to the standardized raise amount of the table, this often varies from table to table but a typical raise would be between 1/3 and ½ of the pot. Poor players will be easily readable and with a large raise pre-flop with a strong pair, AA, KK, QQ will continue to bet large amounts after the flop. Poor players will also find it hard to put down these hands when they are re-raised as they fail to see how there hand could lose, when unless you hit three of a kind it is likely your hand is beaten if you are re-raised.
As is mentioned in the preflop general discussion, in a very aggressive game it is often profitable to limp in first to act with a big pair; this must come with a warning, which is if you limp in early and there is no raise, you must proceed very cautiously. This is because of the concept of implied odds. If you are going to allow anyone to have a shot at your entire 100xBB(100 Big Blinds, standard buy-in for a cash table) stack simply by limping in after you for 1BB you are effectively paying 100-1 odds on someone beating your hand, and the odds of someone out flopping a pair of aces (especially when there are a number of players in the hand) is quite high.
It is for this reason that you generally want to raise and even more importantly reraise before the flop. The more money that goes in before the flop, the more willing you should be to back your hand with large portions of your stack after the flop. On most hands where it goes raise - reraise before the flop and I have AA or KK I am willing to get all of the money in on the flop.
The texture of the flop plays a crucial role in how far you should be willing to go with your hand as well. The flop of 222 is perhaps the ideal non ace flop for AA and the flop 8s9s10s is probably the worst flop for red aces. KKx and QQx are also dangerous boards for overpairs. It is absolutely mandatory, if you hope to become a winning poker player, to learn to fold over pairs on the flop when necessary. The most obvious case for folding an overpair is when you face substantial "heat" from a very conservative player.
If someone who does not raise when they have one pair is raising you, it is time to throw that pair in the muck. You should have a good idea of what players raise what hands after being sat a table for a while. If a maniac raises you, it's usually best to just reraise him back. If you bet the flop, and two players go all in, generally they will have you beat (but not always!).
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