I was just wondering if someone could give me some general rules on how big of raises I should call with pocket pairs. I know it depends on a lot of factors, but i'm just looking for generalities. I play 400nl 10 players on party

A good start would be an example in a heads up situation and I can expand from there

15 or 20 I would say off-hand

You want the smaller of yours or your opponents stack to be at least 10 times the raise. Against a good playerwho might be able to getaway fom an overpair, you might want bigger odds.

If there is another caller or 2, then you can readjust and call even if the raiser has a slightly smaller stack (than 10x)

so if I have $500 and my opponent has $500, and I have a small pair and he raises it to $50 and i dont think he'll be able to get away from an over pair, I should call the raise? generally speaking of course.

As a general rule, yes, but there exceptions of course depending on the player.
A $50 preflop raise in a $2/$4 game would be rather strange.

If there was a raise to $16 and then a reraise to $50, I would fold every time with just about any pair because its liable to get reraised all in when it gets back to the 1st guy.

When I said 10% of his stack, I was think more like he raised $16 and had $200. I personally dont like calling off $50 at a time (in a $2/$4 game) hoping to hit a set and then hoping I can bust him. You can miss alot of sets in a row, andyou might hit a set when he has AK and not get much out of him which kills your implied odds.

Great advice thank you. You are really providing a service here.

it has a lot to do with your stack size as well as your opponents stack. a good rule of thumb is that if it is 5 percent or less of your stack it is and easy call and if it is more than 10 percent then it is generally a fold. in between those figures you have to weigh other factors.
matty

Do people really raise to $30 without having AA, AK, or KK??? I can't see someone raising $30 with 10s. What would someone like that do when the flop is AK2? Does he bet out again and pray? Also, if you would call 4x BB w/ small pairs, would you also call w/ small suited connectors? Lastly, what do you do if you have a small pair and don't trip? Do you just check/fold, or bluff/fold? Thanks...

Figure you hit 1 of 9 flops for the set.....~11% chance you want implied odds of 10 to 1 for what you bet...I'll usually limp or call maybe a min raise if i have a read on a guy....I try to stay very cheap w/ low to mid PP's......

If its a raise by a guy you know likes to fire at the flop, then i stay out of the way....

I think I would agree w/ Gregor... I don't think I'd call mid pairs w/ a 4x bb bet. If you don't hit your trips and he does, you're screwed... I would imagine he has a higher pair, so if none of you hit, youre screwed... if you hit 1 out of 9 times, that doesn't seem like a good bet to me... I would say 1 out of 3 or 4 times I flop a set, I can't get anybody to bet w/ me anyway.... So, if you take those times out, your odds decrease even more... I play UBER tight I think... but I would lay down until I get a cheap flop...

"Do people really raise to $30 without having AA, AK, or KK???"

They do this with middle Pocket Pairs like JJ, TT, and Maybe QQ to shut out hands like AQ KT and the other mid Pocket Pairs. They want to take it down there or limit the field to heads up, and yes they will fire on the flop regardless, especially when AXX hits to represent AK or AA. It works almost every time and when they get action back they check fold knowing they are beat.

BK

But does that pay off enough... you'd have to think that at least some of the time, everyone will fold, leaving you the blinds... If someone calls and folds, you win $30. If you bet and are raised, you lose the $30 plus the bet... which I would assume is at least another $30... Plus, wouldn't you occasionally walk into somebody thats happy calling w/ AA, KK, trips or 2 pair...? It just seems like theres a good chance it'll chase everyone but people that will beat you...

Sorry I wanted to type an example...

You bet $30 w/10s, get 1 call... flop is KJ2 missing the flop... come out firing for $40 and get called... turn is a 7, what do you do? Fire out again? check and hope he checks... and if so, what on the river... if you check again, doesn't that show you're weak? Sorry for being longwinded...