Playing middle sets

[Josh Wills]

I am a relatively new poker player trying to decide what is the best way to play flopped middle sets in NL tourneys. Is it better to make a large bet (halfway hoping to win it right there) or make a bet that you think the opponent will call but will be giving them bad drawing odds? I am specifically concerned with two-suited flops as I have had quite a few sets beat by flushes recently.
-Josh

[fsuplayer]

Josh-
You might do better posting this in the tourney forum, but...
You already hit the nail on the head concerning NL poker
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or make a bet that you think the opponent will call but will be giving them bad drawing odds?

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That is a perfect strategy in cash games.

In tourneys however sometimes it is better to win the hand right away, than to bet an amount you want to get called. There is a fine line when it comes to that. I would say to play it fast on a flush board, esp. with more than one opponent. The old motto is still very true, esp. in tourneys "Better to win a small pot, than to lose a large one".

An extreme example of this was when some World Champ player ( icant remember now who) was vying for the Player of the Year award at the final tourney of the year. In those days, a substantial $$ award was given to the winner...
Final table of the event, the above player was medium stack. Before the action got to him, there was a raise and a large reraise by the chip leader. He looked down at AA and pushed all of his chips in while flipping over his cards!!
Both opponents folded and later he said that there was enough money in the pot already, and getting unlucky would not only bump him out of the tourney, but might allow someone else to win the player of the year honors. so he pushed and flipped!

Hope this rambling helps, play them fast unless the board is very benign.

FsuPlayer