Monster starting hands like AA and KK are the absolute easiest to play when the SPR is small. But what if hitting that small target SPR isn’t happening? Are there strategic changes we can make preflop or postflop that will make these pots easier?
SplitSuit answers a question from Ron related to handling big pocket pairs when it’s just not likely that the SPR will shrink fast enough. This is especially common in single-raised pots in cash games with 100bb+ depth. The simple target SPR for a monster starting pair is 3 or less, and even with large open-raise sizing preflop, with 100bb you *might* get a 7 SPR HU pot. And picking up another caller doesn’t push your overpair into an automatic SPR either!
The simple answer is this: you likely CAN’T hit your target SPR if you are playing in single-raised pots in non-shallow games. Sure, you can hit the target SPR in 3bet, 4bet, and 5bet pots more easily – but those spots are simple. For every other spot, you need to continue working on your postflop game so that you can navigate larger SPR pots.
