am i getting too push-happy?

[Sam T.]

Let's take it from the flop:

There's t315 in the pot, and you've got t655. You bet t160, and get one caller.

On the turn there's now t635 in the pot, and you've got t495 left. Now a 1/2 pot bet is well over half your stack, so pushing is the right play.

Where the 1/2 pot bet also pays off is if there is a lot of action, you can still get away from the hand. Granted that's unlikely in this situation, but the following scenario is not uncommon:

You flop TPTK and a scary board (In this case, say it was KQT, or K-high monotone). You bet 1/2 the pot, the first caller pushes, and the second calls his push. (Or, you bet 1/2 the pot, the first caller raises, and the second pushes.) Still like your pair?

I guess the larger point is that as Sklansky has pointed out, you make money only when your opponents make a mistake. When you make a pot-sized bet, and the villain folds his draw he is making the right play. (And as another poster pointed out, above the 11s, they will fold every time.)

If you offer him more attractive (yet still incorrect) odds, and he calls, he is making the wrong play, and you are making money. Will they sometimes hit their four-outer? Sure, every ten hands or so, and he may bust you when this happens, but that's poker.

Sam