Win Poker Strategy

While most players look at this as a perfect slow play opportunity, the board and amount of players left is going to dictate exactly how you proceed when you flop a set. Now before we go any further, you need to realize the difference between a set and trips and yes there is one. Trips is when there are two cards matching one of your cards on the board. If you have a set, the board has a card that matches the pocket pair you are holding. You would be surprised at how many people confuse the two and what the different betting strategies are for both of these hands.

The first thing that you need to look at is the board. Is there a flush draw or straight draw on the board? Is the board loaded with over cards that you may have t deal with? The second issue is how many players are left? Are you head to head or are you dealing with 2 or players? All of these factors combines are going to dictate exactly how you play out your set.

Let’s assume you are holding 77 and the board hits 7KQ rainbow. You are looking at 2 over cards and a possible straight. This is a dangerous hand in poker and regardless of where you are and how many people are in the pot, you are going to hammer away. If you are first, lead out with a pot sized bet and try and get isolation with someone. If they come back over top of you, come right back at them. If they are sitting on their own set, it is just bad luck and you are going to have to deal with it, but you are not getting away from this hand.

Now if you have the same flop but 2 cards are suited, you need to take away the odds of the flush draw and actually want to bet more than the pot. It is important that you observed where the action originated if there was any pre-flop raising. I say this because you are going to assume that person is going to call you and you need to make a bet that is going to be enough to take the flush draw that is out there behind that player. Put them on a decision for all their chips if you have to, but do not allow a draw to get in cheap and take this pot away from you.

While both of these scenario’s have you at risk, the ideal situation would be a flop like 2-7-Q. There is not straight draw and no flush draw here and you would only have one over set to deal with and that is unlikely. If there are multiple players in the hand, you will either lead out if you are first to act or raise your opponents bet to get isolation. Bad things happen when you go into a turn with more than one person and you want to avoid that.

If you are head to head, you are in the perfect check raise position if they made an original raise. You can even get away with a smooth call if you in position as you can lure them to bet on the turn and then come over the top at this point. Once you have them head to head, you want to milk every penny that you can out of them. This is the ONLY time that you can risk slow playing your hand.

Remember, the board and players are going to dictate how you play out your hand. Do not get caught up in all the glory and excitement of hitting your set or get greedy. There is never a bad time to take down a pot. Slow play too much and you are just asking to get beat.

Suited connectors are a hand that comes under much scrutiny in the poker world, but it often from those that do not understand the value of how to play the hand. These are cards that can be played from virtually any position at anytime and can bring a huge bounty. You will often hear the player that loses to them scream that they could not believe the winner went in with those two cards. Blah, blah, blah! If you know how to use them, they are serious weapons.

The first reason suited connectors are so valuable is that they have a ton of flexibility. Right off the bat, you can make a flush or a straight with them. Furthermore, if you do make a straight by using both of them, it is often the nuts and a windfall of cash will come your way.

To be honest, the only time you are going to fold these cards is when there is a monster raise right in front of you. You will have no idea who is going to call behind you and therefore the odds may not be there to make the call. However, if there was a big raise and you are in late position and there are two or more callers already, get those chips in and here is why.

When someone raises out in early position, there are usually 2 scenarios. The first is that they have a pocket pair and are trying to whittle down the field or they have big cards like AK or AQ and want to eliminate the chasers. When there are multiple callers, they are more than likely also holding similar cards. The more people that call, the better your chances of hitting are as the bulk of the big cards should be in your opponent’s hands. You are sitting there with two live cards and endless possibilities, especially if you are holding onto a hand like 67, 78 or 89.

These cards are also great to have when you have a bunch of limpers in the pot ahead of you. You can make an aggressive raise and hope to either steal the pot right there or hit it on a continuation bet after the flop. You are pretty much committed to betting again unless the board comes out that you have no shot of improving on. You are also going to know where you stand if anyone calls you.

Now the beauty of these cards is that after the flop, you can get away from them relatively easy if you don’t hit, especially if you only called going in. You get out painlessly and wait for the next hand. However, when you hit, that over pair or AK/AQ will often have a hard time letting their hand go. AA and KK get tunnel vision and don’t even realize there is a low straight on board. After all, you could not have possibly called their 4x raise with 67! The next thing you know, you are scooping the pot and they are letting out a barrage that warrants and exorcism.

Do yourself a favor and start playing those suited connectors. Keep track of the results and you will find that you make more money with them than just about every other hand you are dealt.

We have gone over how to play this very tricky hand in the two most dangerous positions, early and middle, and now it is time to go over how to play them from the catbird seat. Regardless of their size, small pocket pairs in late position can be very effective if you vary your play and take advantage of weak players at the table.

Late Position

When you are in the cutoff or button position and you look down at two matching cards, you have a huge advantage. Unlike early position, you don’t stand to throw money in the put on a lot of occasions and have someone else come right over you. If they do, it is probably because they were slow playing a big pocket pair and were waiting for someone else to make a raise. In most cases, it will be a sizeable raise and tossing your hand to the muck is a no brainer.

However, that is usually the exception to the poker rule and if player are only showing moderate strength in front of you or limping in, you can steal a ton of pots by playing this hand properly. Once again, let’s assume that we are looking down at 99, except this time we are sitting on the button.

First scenario has everyone folding to you. You have only the blinds to beat and if you are playing aggressively all day, this move may get you a hit back from the BB. If not, unless he is sitting on a hand, he will more than likely fold. Made it a big enough raise that he has to really think about protecting his blind. Usually a 4 or 5x blind will get it. However, if you have been stealing, expect him to fight back and possibly come back over the top. In most cases, you can come right back at him and take down the hand. This is where your knowledge of the players comes in and will dictate to raise or fold. Just calling is not an option here.

The next scenario is when you have several limpers and the betting gets back to you. I am a strong believer in that if you are playing any cards other than small suited connectors, this situation warrants a decent raise. This way, the blinds are not getting odds to call and if it gets back around to the limpers, they are going to have to think twice about throwing more money in with their KJo. A big raise here is a cause for concern and calling will be dictated by odds. You are not really worried about callers, be more worried about how that board comes out.

If you get a board that is stacked with over cards and you have multiple callers, you are dead in the water. Your best bet is to hope it gets checked to you and then possibly hit the turn. Throwing a bet to three over cards is asking for trouble and a loss. Now if the board only shows one over and you have limited callers, meaning two or less, you can put out a continuation bet of at least half the pot to see where you stand. You may be able to take it down right there. If you get a caller and there is no draw, be very careful on the turn as you may have someone who hit with a weak kicker. This is a dangerous spot to be in. All under cards is a no brainer pot sized or better wager.

Best case scenario is that the board hits and the set hits the board. You are going to be in great shape to make a huge hit here, especially if you have multiple callers. With an aggressive raise, the table will probably check around to you. Even if they don’t, your philosophy on betting is going to be the same. Your bet should be about ¾ of the pot. It is slightly more than a normal continuation bet and just enough that if you manage to get one caller, you may just get others to follow.

The dream situation is that there is one over card and someone has managed to hit it. You see a board of 29J and after you make your bet, your doomed opponent that is looking down at his AJ thinks he is about to crush you and comes right back over the top. Depending upon your stack, you have a couple of options here. If he has a lot of money and you are similarly armed, you may just want to smooth call and let him fire on the turn. This will allow him to think he is the best and then when he makes a bet on the turn, you can push. Odds may dictate that he has to call and you get to felt him and take down a huge hand.

If either you or your opponent is looking at a stack that is right around the pot, the flop bet is the time to get the money in the pot. Say the pot is about $500 and you have $350 left and your opponent is sitting close to that. He fires a $225 bet at the pot, there is no need to waste anymore time here. Push your stack in and he has not choice to call. With there being $1050 in the middle at this point, his last $125 gives him better than 8:1 and he would have to be a moron to let the hand go.

Small pairs in late position are absolute dreams. They have a nice chance to create a big pot, scoop a lot of blinds and allow you to get out cheap when the hand goes bad. You may take a hit every now and again with them, but if you play this way, you will come out way ahead of the game at the end of the year.

In part one of the series, we talked about the unenviable position of looking down at small pocket pair in early position. You want to play the hand, but there are a lot of ugly scenarios that an inexperienced player will end up doing nothing more than donating their stack. In poker middle position is not as good as late position, but it gives you a few more options to safely save your stack or steal a pot.

Middle Position

Unlike early position, you may find that you can steal a fair amount of pots and some limper money in middle position. The further along you are the better, but there is plenty of money to be made from weak early position players.

You get your cards and you are looking down at 99. This is not a bad situation, nor is it a good one. You face a lot of possible action in front of you and have to be wary of possible traps that are getting set. Remember, a standard move under the gun with AA or KK is to limp in and wait for the raise. When someone does this, they come right back over the top and try to get you to commit your stack. This is something you want to watch out for as you get aggressive with your 99. Stop and realize what is happening before you fall for the usual impulse of shoving and giving them exactly what they want.

First scenario has a couple of players limping in and the betting getting to you. This is a great position to be in as you can make an aggressive play and try and take the pot down right away. Make a 6 or 7x blind raise and see what happens. If someone comes over the top, you are probably dead and may want to let the hand go right there. If they are only doubling your bet, you can call them and see what happens on the flop. Realize you are begging for a 2 outer here and pretty much kissing that money goodbye.

Now if you get callers, watch the board. You are going to be committed to a continuation bet as long as you don’t see 2 or 3 face cards out there. If they bet out, they have probably hit and you may have to let the hand go. If they call you and there is no draw, you are probably dead and will hope they check the turn to you and you can check down and hope to improve on the river. If there is a draw on the table, you are going to have to proceed aggressively and risk losing some serious cash. People on flush draws will donate a ton of cash on that chase so make them pay and hope that they don’t suck out on you.

Your second scenario is a small raise in front of you. This is a perfect time to call and disguise your hand and see what hits the board. If you get a low board, you can come right over top of them after their continuation bet. If it is a high board and they bet out, you can let it go and keep your losses to a minimum.

The final scenario is when the betting folds around to you and you are first man in. Now it is time to represent and make a play at the blinds. You can throw out a 5 or 6x the blinds bet and represent a much larger hand than you actually have. You are not necessarily looking for callers here as the board can lead to trouble. Once again though, you are all but committed to a continuation bet unless a seriously dangerous board hits you.

Always keep in mind that money you are investing in small pocket pairs is money that you need to be prepared to let go of at any moment. Standing your ground in a bad position is what will cause you to go broke. You are looking to scoop blinds and hit sets with small pocket pairs. If you play them properly from middle position, they can be great money makers. Just don’t get married to them and refuse to dump. There are no bad folds, just bad calls!