Snowmen, in poker parlance, is the name given to a hold'em staring hand of a pair of eights. They are the low end of middle pocket pairs (88 thru JJ) that sometimes give players headaches in trying to figure out what to do. Small pairs, 22 thru 77 are great to play. I'm almost always committed to seeing a flop in the hopes of hitting a set. A dream flop in a situation like this would be something like K-8-4 holding 4-4 against a raise pre-flop and really punish a player with AK. Conversely, a hand like 4-4 isn't good for much else except hitting a set, so when failing to connect on the flop it's easy to know what to do (see Pot Equity vs. Post Flop Strategic Advantage).
But, "Snowmen" are a little more difficult to know how to handle. Say you are on the button with 88 in a limped pot with four players and the flop comes Q-5-2 and it checks around to you. Do you bet? If so, what is the purpose of the bet? It may be for value; you probably have the best hand, but maybe not. Loose-passive players love to play naked paint cards like Q-6 hoping to hit trips or two pair. They have top pair but know enough not to bet out, fearing domination and a raise behind. If the board continues to look harmless (and even if it doesn't!), these calling stations will show down with you every time. Also, your hand is very vulnerable. Any 9 or better could come to beat you with so many players in the hand.
Your bet could be to charge others to draw, but the pot isn't all that small. Hands like K-10, J-9 or any A might have odds to call against you (see Reversed Implied Odds). Your bet might be a semi-bluff but you are only drawing to two outs and there is almost no chance of getting a better hand to fold for reasons stated above.
Most players will check hoping the board comes very harmless, call a turn bet and hope the river goes check-check wanting to see their opponent turn over a hand like A-5. In order to capitalize on a hand like Snowmen you really need to have good hand reading skills and have a good understanding of the relative strength of your holdings given the flop texture and your opponent's tendencies.
The other night I woke up with pocket A's in late position. I raised pre-flop, several players called but only one player called me down to the river. The board was fairly harmless and paired a 9 on the river. My opponent turned over Snowmen. After I raked in the pot I heard her complain that the nine gave me two pair that she would have won with two pair had the nine not come. Another player tried to correct her, saying I had pocket A's but she was still too inured in her hand. She appreciated the fact that the absolute strength of 88 is very good. In a no-limit hand, heads up, Snowmen is a favorite against even powerhouse hands like AK. But, in our fixed limit game with multiple players, in a raised pot, her 88 was fairly weak against the possible range of hands she was up against.
Earlier in the evening I had Snowmen on the button. The flop came with one paint card and it checked around to me. I checked. The turn was a harmless card and a very loose-agressive player to my right bet. I called. The river was another blank and the player checked. I bet. He called and turned over 66. Given his tendencies, I thought he was taking a stab and felt my holdings were pretty strong against his very large range. I guessed right and won the pot.
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