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Calling a prepre-flop raise with pocket 6.
I like to limp from early and middle position with small and lower middle pairs but it often means facing a Raise from a later player. Is there any Rule of thumb with respect to how many other players call the raise before I should call the raise myself with this kind of holdings?
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I am sorry. I don't remember who said it on here. But I have been trying to adhere to something that someone recently pointed out to me. Where multi-way pots are concerned, it is true that the pot odds improve as more people call. However, my equity goes down as more people get involved. For example, 66 against one random hand is 63%. But adding just one more random hand drops my equity to 43% And obviously, the hands I am against are better than random. So I am starting to think a bit more before I just call because the pot is bloated.
I'd probably fold the sixes if the raise was much more than a min-raise and/or if there were additional callers. And I am ready to fold on the flop if I don't make my set.
In a specific instance the raise was $15. I was in late position and I thought: if I get two callers, I'll call too. But there was only one caller so I folded. Being in LP may have prompted a different decision. Should you call often when you're in LP and not as often in MP? Not sure what the general sentiment is...
The positional thing is going to depend on where you will be after the flop. In other words, if you are in middle position pre-flop, but you will be last to act after the flop, that is better than having players in the hand who will be acting after you post-flop.
How about stack size? Is there a relationship between how much a raise to call, even if everything is right, and the player(s) stack size to look at?
I think a general rule of thumb I have heard is that you need the effective stack, the smallest one in the hand, to be ten times the bet size if you are "set mining." In order for it to be profitable, you have to be able to get paid off when you do make your set.
I had heard something like 20 times the raise size, which seemed a bit much. Not sure if there is any other way to look at this
I would say the most relevant sense you need when determining whether or not to call a raise and continue to the flop with a small pocket pair is:
How likely is it that the players (or player) who I'm going to flop with will pay me off in a big way if I flop my set and they flop top pair or hold a pocket overpair to the board?
To pay you off in a big way (like 10+ times the amount of the raise you are thinking about calling), first they have to have a big enough stack to do so with. Second, they have to be willing to probably bet/call at least two streets with that top pair or overpair. Third, in order to get them to do that, it helps if you have position on them with which to manipulate the post-flop action.
So stack sizes are of significant importance, but of equal importance is understanding your opponent and the "effective stack size" they will give you with a second best hand. Position, in this case, is somewhat below either of those in importance.
In most low limit games, a lot of players will pay you off in a big way with top pair or an overpair to the board if they have the stack to do so.