Last time I briefly introduced the next group of hands that are frequently misplayed- the small pairs. Just like the trouble hands and Ace rag holdings, the small pairs do not do well in early position. Your primary objective is to see the flop cheap and to try to hit a set. Despite this I often see players who are willing to come in for a raise in early position with any pocket pair. At best these pairs are only slight favorites against two over cards. These aggressive players frequently ignore that they are at least a 4 to 1 underdog to a bigger pair.

Even when they do flop a set they end up winning a pot that is usually only a fraction of what it could have been if more players had seen the flop as well. Playing small pairs out of position is another one of those hands where the post flop decisions often become total guesswork too. More often than not playing a small pair is no different than a flip of a coin.

Another interesting finding I have noted (especially in online play) are the number of players who are not only willing to play the small pairs in early position either with a raise or by limping in but are willing to reraise an early position player to try to isolate an opponent. I just don't see much logic with this play especially if the initial raiser is in earlyposition. Pushing small edges is definitely an important concept in limit hold em but you never know when you do have a decided small edge. Position improves your ability to play the small pairs but personally risking three bets when you can be a 4 to 1 dog, can be out flopped, or where you cannot make a bet on the later rounds due to the board texture often make a value bet impossible on the later rounds. The reverse implied odds of these situations lower the profitability too often which means that your opponent actually gains the edge as he is more likely to gain extra bets when he is ahead and gain free cards when he isn't.

Isolating a loose aggressive player makes even less sense to me as they can hold any number of holdings and you will never know for sure that you have the best of it except in those situations when you flop a set. About the only time where reraising preflop with a small pair makes sense is when the initial raise comes from late position, and/or you have good control over a particular opponent who will often check fold when they miss the flop. These situations are not that common compared to the frequency of times I see the reraise strategy utilized.

Another common leak is when players call preflop correctly either by limping in cheaply in a multi handed pot or even calling a raise in a multi way pot but then they chase after the flop to try to catch a set on the turn or river. I find this mistake more often in the online setting but I have seen players who chase even in a live100-200 limit hold em ring game. It goes beyond reason why so many players are willing to chase despite the fact that the pot might only have 8 small bets or so in it after the flop action. Trying to hit a two outer is one of the most costly mistakes as even when the player does get lucky and hit that 22 to 1 shot on the turn (11 to1 if he chases from the flop to the river) he still cannot make up the number of bets necessary to profit from his play. Next time I will continue with small pair playing mistakes.