Folding Big Pairs After the Flop

Knowing how to play big pairs in full ring cash games is something that few players know, especially when they have a stack of 100 or more big blinds. More experienced players know when and in what situations they will fold their over pairs (pairs bigger than the board) after the flop. This article will outline the general post-flop plan for when we have this type of hand in certain situations.

This article will focus on three types of opponents: regular (tight), fish (loose), and unknown opponents. Regulars and fish will be divided into two categories: aggressive and passive.

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Aggressive players tend to raise for bluffs and for value. Passive players, on the other hand, will rarely bluff, and when they do, they are afraid of losing their stacks. We can use these two classifications to our advantage, knowing that when we receive aggression from an aggressive player, we are less likely to fold, while when a passive player raises us, it is better to give up the over pair.

Rule 1: When a passive player raises you on any street, you should slow down. If a passive player raises on the turn, you should probably fold your hand, especially if the raise comes on the river. Passive players do not value bet for thin value and rarely raise with anything lower than top pair.

Rule 1a: When you are playing against solid regulars and are representing a strong hand, but they insist on raising, know why they are raising. Regulars will not be trying to make you fold the top of your range most of the time (which is where we put over pairs), so when they are putting their stacks in play, know that most of them are not bluffing with full air. Realize that your opponent is raising with a mix of draws and strong hands and that overall their equity against you will be higher than that of the fishes.

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Rule 2: In a pot with a raise, you should not put your entire stack postflop with just an overpair. The exception is when you are against an aggressive (maniacal) fish, an opponent to whom you should not fold a top pair, much less an over pair.

Rule 3: In a raised and reraised pot, you should think less about folding your overpair. It takes fewer combos, bluffs, or value hands to make it correct to put your full stack on the table after the flop, considering the money already invested, especially if the stacks are 100bb or less.

Rule 4: Many opponents' calling range will be wider than their betting range. Despite this, you should bet more often for value than check/call with your super strong hands. An exception would be against an opponent who bets big when he sees a player check, and possibly also on the river when the draws don't hit and you are out of position. In this case you can try to induce a bluff from a passive player to try to win a bigger pot against him.

Unknown opponents: This is the hardest situation to discuss because we are not familiar with their ranges. If you have little or no status to get reads on your opponent, then you should generally give them the benefit of the doubt and fold to aggression. This is the problem with playing without reads and it is why you should get information from your opponents as quickly as possible. Keep in mind that if you have no information from them, they probably don't have any information from you either, so there is little reason to bluff them. If you encounter a strong raise from an unknown, it is best to respect it.

Article translated and adapted from: Folding Big Pairs Postflop