How to Make More out of Top Set

[Poker Jon]

Hey All,

0.5/1 NLHE at Stars.

I pick up 88 in MP, 2 limpers to me and I limp as well. SB and BB complete so 5 for the flop.

Flop:
842 rainbow.

SB bets $2, and all call to me.

What to do?

I raised to $8 and all folded.

Did I get trigger happy to early?

Cheers

Jon

[mistrpug]

They aren't many cards here that hurt you on the turn, and there's a good chance that no card on the turn could even put you behind. I think a call is better here, hope someone bets the turn and raise it there.

[Leo Bello]

What about a min raise?

[SkippingGoat]

I normally hate minraises but I think a min-raise is great here. If the guys in front of you called $2 then I'll be damned if many of them fold to $2 more. By raising to $8, I think only the initial bettor has a chance at giving you action and with a board like this you can bet that it won't be much (I think A8 or two pair is pretty much all you can expect to earn anything off of). The SB bettor more likely than not has middle pair (or was just trying to steal on a board that appears favorable to a blind) and was hoping to take the pot there. The guys you want to keep in are the ones that called behind with overcards. Minraising keeps them in and by giving them a cheap card they'll think they're money when they hit their A/K/Q/J and that's when you can relieve them of a good portion of their stack.

Normally with that many players a good size raise is in order but on that board you really can't expect much action. Let guys with overcards improve.

[Leo Bello]

A little bit more, you are in a multiway pot, with more people to pay you, and also, with more people to outdraw you.
You shouldn´t scare everyone with a bet like this, cause it is screaming, I have a set. If you min-raised here, you could get one or two caller, and at the same time, you could take one or two out. The guy that betted 2 or one of the callers might have an overpair, but that is no big deal for you to mind, cause the guy has 2 outs. And a min raise will give him incorrect odds to call you. So, if you get one caller with the min raise you already have something.
another approach is give a call, and let people draw. Maybe an overcard falling (A, K, Q, J, T) will make people thing that they have your hand beaten and you can get more action. Anyway, you must be happy already cause you got four 2 dollars bets initiated by someone else, that u won.
But I guess it was overly aggressive, betting pot in a flop like that. think if you were in their positions, with which hand would you call a raise like that with a ragged flop?

[gergery]

Call is best here I think.

You have the pure nuts right now and with this flop very little chance of losing the pot. So your objective is to get the most money into the pot. Call to give others an easy decision to stay in and see a turn card, and maybe improve alittle. You want overcards to stick around, not go away.