Trapping w/ Middle Set (Good or Bad?)

[Bob T.]

Well, I think that I would have played it differently.

When an early position player bets into a preflop raiser on a coordinated board, that player frequently has a draw. So, I would have bet the flop, and then thought after I got raised, and called, I would probably smoothcall the flop, then checkraise the turn, unless a spade came, in which case I would bet out on the turn, and call a raise back at me.

[thejameser]

i agree with your analysis, but i also failed to read the observations on the opponents tendencies. against such a loose/aggressive and a calling station i would probably try to stimulate more action on the flop. i think it was Mason's Poker Essays III that gave me the lay low in the weeds and let them peel one off for cheap line(and saving yourself money if you know it is likely someone is drawing to the flush). it sounds weak/tight but in the right situation it can save bets. that probably applied to a more multiway pot, though. no, now that i have the reads i would definitely c/r, i would be afraid if i lead out into to pfr LAG hoping he raises me i will lose the calling station when it is reraised; lets get him tied to the pot if we can and let it unfold from there.

[mdeck]

In this situation the strategy I've adopted recently is a SNG. I'd lead the flop and call a raise, especially as MP1 raised preflop I've found that more often than not unless he's a complete passive he'll raise TPTK.

Then I'll bet/3bet a turn blank. A checkraise kills the action, but I cant recall running into a situation where someone folded to a turn 3bet in a non-steal/SH situation. I think you got lucky that MP1 was that aggressive with his hand on the turn, turn check-raises almost always indicate a hand that can beat TPTK and if he was smart he would have either called down or folded.

[Crispy]

Agreed. Bet the flop. You know that the MP1 is going to raise you anyway, so why not try to protect your hand against flush draws. I would probably then bet the turn, or C/R. But you want to get the spade draws out in my opinion. Better to win a little less then you did, and not have to face loosing 50 IMHO.

[mdeck]

My line isn't aimed to get the flush draws out. If MP2 has a 4 flush, he will stick around no matter what, as he should. He's getting odds to draw.

The goal of my line is to get the most bets in the pot most reliably, while you are a favorite. Checking the flop is horrible as it might get checked through, where you lose bets. Check/raising the turn I also think is a mistake as you might kill the action. The aim of my line is to take advantage of villain's aggressive tendencies and trap MP2 for more bets overall. Unless Villain is a huge LAG and you've been LAGing it up at the table odds are against him 3betting a turn c/r with TPTK.

[DocMartin]

I lead the flop and hope for a raise to call.
I c/r the turn and plow in as many bets as possible from there.

I do however like the idea of leading the turn since they may raise and it takes away that free card play.