Quote:
Originally Posted by Zeds_Dead70
Relevance being, most weak players can see flushes or straights on a flop but a set catches them off guard. How big of a raise will you call with a pocket pair under 9s in hopes of flopping a set? The implied odds in low limits are huge.
With a big pair like AA, KK, QQ I will raise if I’m the first one in or 3bet if opponent raises upfront. Now if I play deep stack, and have PP under 99, I will call based on stack odds. If the raiser is deep too I will call 5% to 7% of my stack. If for example I have $1,000 and pocket 77, the guy up front open raise for $50 to $75, I will call if I figure I’m not going to be re-raised in the back. I call up to 7% of my stack and see the flop even if I suspect the upfront raiser has AA.
In fact, I want him to have AA and I want him to believe that he should play that pair real fast and hard all the way to the river. That is the ideal scenario for your 77. If the raiser bets about 1/15 of his stack and you cover than I would say CALL. If on the other hand the raiser has $100 stack and he open-raise for $25 and you suspect him for having a big pair or AK I will not call. Why? Because you will be a big dog against any overpair and about even money against AK and the reward when you hit your set will not cover the losses you accumulate when you miss. He doesn’t have enough dough for you to attack after the flop.
When you hit your set on the flop and there is a flush or a straight draw possible, don’t rush to raise and re-raise to knock your opponent out of his draw. Just bet enough for him to call as a mistake but do not raise him too much so he’s making the correct play of folding. Bet about halve of the pot. You want him to call you! You have more outs to make a FH or Quads against him. When you have a set on the flop and his drawing to flush he’s got only 7 clean outs while you’ve got the rest of the deck working for you. Actually, from 47 cards left he’s got 7 clean outs to flush while you don’t have to hit anything to beat him unless he hits his flush, after that point you still have 10 outs to kill his hand.
Never slow play a flopped set! Nobody knows you have a monster anyway, therefore, it is stupid to conceal the strength of your hand. Backing off to a raise and then check-raising on the turn is a valid strategy (although not necessarily best). I do not back off when there is a third suited card on board. I feel that I have enough outs to disregard the possibility of a made flush against me.
Note:
1. If you lose with a set, you'll lose a lot of money. If you don't, you are not playing your sets correctly
2. The reverse it’s also true: If you win with a set, you'll win a lot of money. If you don't, you are not playing your sets correctly
Last edited by Octavian; 03-27-2009 at 11:30 PM.