Playing small pairs in early position offers big rewards.
There are many different opinions regarding the best way to play small pairs from early position. In my opinion, though, there's one option that's clearly the best when playing these hands in no-limit hold'em tournaments.
The value of small pocket pairs comes from the possibility of flopping three of kind and winning a sizable pot. To that extent, playing this type of hand is a low risk/high reward proposition.
If you get lucky and hit a set on the flop, you'll have a great chance to win big, especially if one of your opponents hits the top pair on the board. If you don't get lucky, well, it's usually easy to fold your hand.
So, here's how you can play small pairs from up front:
Move All-In
This play immediately turns your small pair into a high risk/low reward proposition. If an opponent calls your bet, he'll either have two overcards, such as A-K, or worse, he'll have a pair higher than yours.
The benefit to moving all-in is you'll win the blinds a high percentage of the time, since your bet probably will be very large in comparison to the blinds. An all-in bet likely would force out any opponent who was thinking about playing a marginal hand.
Moving all-in with a small pair from early position only makes sense when you are severely short-stacked and desperately need to pick up the blinds.
Fold
This, by far, is the safest play. Small pairs simply aren't hands that have to be played from early position, particularly if you're in an aggressive game with plenty of raising and re-raising before the flop.
If you feel outclassed at the table, fold your hand. If your chip stack isn't quite short but isn't healthy either, folding is a reasonable option.
Limp In
This is how most players play this type of hand. But there's a problem with this approach.
Limping in easily can turn your bet into bait for an aggressive player who's waiting to attack from a position of strength. He'll see your limp as a sign of weakness and might opt to raise you back.
Also, because it's so common for players to limp in with small pairs, your hand can become transparent; a skilled opponent will have you pegged for holding a small pair.
It's never a good thing when an opponent has a solid read on you pre-flop. And limping in just screams "small pair."
On the other hand, limping in often induces a multi-way pot that produces better value for your hand. It also reduces your investment, since you're putting in the absolute minimum.
Make A Small Raise
This is the best option. First, you'll have a chance at picking up the blinds, because your opponents might fear you have a strong hand since you raised from early position.
Second, other players probably won't look to attack a small raise. They're more likely to call with a hand they would have raised with had you limped in instead.
As with most poker-related concepts, it's always best to mix up your play and use all of your available options from time to time. But when dealt a small pocket pair in early position, making a small raise should be your go-to play.
(Source)