Playing big pairs before the flop (for this article, we’ll say a “big pair” is QQ or better) is a tricky thing. Obviously, these are high-value hands to be dealt. How you play them before the flop greatly determines their ultimate value. Of course, you should pretty much always raise with these hands into an unraised pot. There’s really nothing more to say on this matter. No need to overthink it. Raise almost every time.
The tricky part is when someone else has already raised. Do you re-raise? Flat-call? Well, as with all things pertaining to poker strategy, the answer is: it depends.
When to flat-call
There are a few situations where flat-calling someone’s preflop raise with a big pair is smart. The main scenario is when the stacks are relatively short (20-60 big blinds… so usually in a tournament) and our image is tight. If you were to re-raise in this case, you might as well turn your hand over after doing so. We surrender all value for our hands as our opponent knows we’ll only be re-raising here with premium hands. (Note: so one way to make money in this situation is to re-raise with garbage sometimes since they give you so much credit).
Flat-calling hides your hand better and allows you to extract maximum value for your hand in subsequent betting rounds.
Another spot in which flat-calling can be very smart is when one of the players yet to act has been very aggressive. A re-raise could dissuade them from their aggressive ways and encourage them to relax for a hand. Flat-calling allows them to think “hmm… yum yum,” and possibly come over the top therein trapping themselves.
When to re-raise
Generally speaking, re-raising with big pairs is smart if:
- The stacks are very deep
- You’ve been very aggressive
In each case, flat-calling surrenders value on your hand. One common mistake players new to the ways of playing very aggressively make is to suddenly change pace when they finally have a big hand. Sure, they’ll raise their Ten-Sevens and Nine-Eights all day, but as soon as they get pocket Kings, they just smooth call. Hellllooooo!!! The whole point of raising the Nine-Eights in the first place is so opponents give you zero respect when you finally make a raise with a big pair!