Building pots

Scenario:
I limp into a unraised family pot with 5 5. I make my set on a the flop what now?

1. The flop is rainbow with no obvius straight draws or high cards A/K. I usually minraise here hoping to get reraised.
2. The flop has two suited cards or J 10. I usually bet ½pot here hoping to take it right there or even better be reraised.

I think I suffer from my tight image when I make my sets I got far more action when I was new to poker playing like a donk. The pros is that my C-bets with AK unimproved works at a very high frequency.

How do u guys play to build pots?

[theweatherman]

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How do u guys play to build pots?

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I start by not minraising. Thats the worst way to bulid a pot ever. If the board is safe and i dont think i will be get callers I will slow play a street with my set. Not often though as it gives up a lot of value from the loss of the flop bet.

A lot of times you just bet the flop and everyone folds, too bad. Over 30k hands or so you'll get some callers, trust me.

On a scary board you got to bet out, first to charge any draws and second to bulid the pot.

Please dont min raise.

[wyrd]

The trick is making the opponent think he has the best hand. To do this you at the very least need to check the flop. This way your opponent can catch up. I'd do something like this on a non-straight non-flush possible board;

Check flop. If opponent bets, call. Hope he makes two pair or trips (giving us a boat) on the turn.

Check turn. If opponenet bets, call. If I believe he's got a strong hand (he's bet the pot twice) I'd double raise (pricing him in to at least call) hoping he's willing to go the distance. If you're in position then calling is another option hoping he'll bet the river, which will definitely have him pot committed.

Value bet the river (or raise if you're second to act).

[4_2_it]

So you want to wait for someone to have a better hand than you so they will give you some action? See how dumb that sounds. Lead out when you flop a set. Most of the time no one believes and you will get action. The best way to disguise a monster is to play it like a scared AK or something similar.

Giving a free card is rarely ever correct unless you hold 55 on a 445 flop. Giving someone infinite odds to hit a backdoor straight or flush is not +EV.

Sounds to be like your bigger problem is that you are predictable. You bet when you have a hand and fold when you don't. So if you flop a set and bet, of course everyone is going to fold.

Do you give action? By that, I mean do you raise with SCs on the button? Will you open the betting on the flop with an OESD? When villains see you starting to get aggressive with what they perceive as trash hands then your monsters will get plenty of action.

How often do you raise pre-flop? Is your raise amount the same with AA vs AQ UTG? How often do you CB? Is it the same amount whether you hit the flop or not?

I'm sure not every one of my questions applies to you, but I'm guessing more than one does (and if not you, then others here).

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So you want to wait for someone to have a better hand than you so they will give you some action? See how dumb that sounds. Lead out when you flop a set. Most of the time no one believes and you will get action. The best way to disguise a monster is to play it like a scared AK or something similar.

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Its a litte late to represent AK when limped preflop, raising preflop with 55 is not a bad idea. The I can represent AK with full credability. And as mentioned the C-bet will probably work often enough to make it a profitable play. As I said my problem is that I dont get enough action but that is an advantage to exploit aswell. i don´t think I wrote outright that I want to give free cards until I´m beat I use to put in a smallish bet on a "safe" flop to induce a reraise or at least get a few callers and a little sweeter pot to fight about on turn. On a scary flop I bet >½ pot and are happy to take it down right there if reraised I push.

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Giving a free card is rarely ever correct unless you hold 55 on a 445 flop. Giving someone infinite odds to hit a backdoor straight or flush is not +EV.

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Sounds to be like your bigger problem is that you are predictable. You bet when you have a hand and fold when you don't. So if you flop a set and bet, of course everyone is going to fold.

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Maybe to predictable or at least very tight 16-20% saw flop & 6% PFR on 6 handed NL25$. The stats usually mean that i am by far the tightest at the table and I guess that it gives my bets some respect, most of the time its good to take down AK or one pair hands before the river but I want to stack the donks with my bigger hands.

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Do you give action? By that, I mean do you raise with SCs on the button? Will you open the betting on the flop with an OESD? When villains see you starting to get aggressive with what they perceive as trash hands then your monsters will get plenty of action.

How often do you raise pre-flop? Is your raise amount the same with AA vs AQ UTG? How often do you CB? Is it the same amount whether you hit the flop or not?

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Do u mean open for a raise or raise limpers with SCs. Open for a raise YES raise limpers NO.
I raise about 6% preflop according to preflop formula 1a 4BB + 1BB/limper. Try to vary my play somewhat and raise maybe a little lesswith AA and a little more with QQ-10 10.
Raise pairs <9 9. AK-A10s depending on position. Reraise with AA KK QQ AK, fold QQ if reraised push AA&KK call AK. Fold AQ if raised before me.
Always C-bet about ½ pot against one caller if checked or first to act. Against two callers a little dependent on the flop C bet about ½ pot more than ½ the time. In family pots check fold most of the time unimproved. When my C-bet is reraised I fold without reads, if this is exploited I rather change table than make a stand (easier and V-).
I try to bet the same when I hit as my C-Bet leaning on smaller bet with KKK for example.

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I'm sure not every one of my questions applies to you, but I'm guessing more than one does (and if not you, then others here).

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Good questions vould appreciate feedback on my answears but my original question was mainly about when I limp and hit big. That is a spot when it would be nice to have some tricks for stacking!

[subzero]

I don't normally slowplay a set of 5s even on a drawless board. Anyone with a pocket pair (probably higher than yours) would get a free look at improving to a higher set. If your cbets are frequent/successful, then they will eventually start playing back at you and they won't know if you have a set or AK unimproved.

Yes, it's disappointing to finally flop a set, bet the flop, and get no action. But it's devastating to slowplay and get stacked by a hand that would've folded to a flop bet.

[4_2_it]

Your pre-flop game plan sounds fine. VPiP of under 20 for 6-max is low. I think 22-25 is probably optimal. My PFR % is 7-8, but I think that I am probably a little weak-tight. Post some more hands where you think you lost value or missed an opportunity.

If I had a magic trick to stack an opponent every time I hit a set do you think I'd be playing SSNL? [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img] When you have a hand you need a good 2nd best hand(or a complete idiot as an opponent) to get paid. Sometimes that just doesn't happen.

Don't bet small to induce a raise. It screams monster. Make a normal bet. If the board is 333 and you have A3 go ahead and make a reasonable bet. No one will put you on 3 and anyone with a pocket pair higher than 66 probably calls you down. Over cards might also pay to see the turn and if they hit they may even give you more action. Waiting until the turn or river to wake up and start betting isn't fooling anyone and the guys it does fool will also call your flop bets.

The key to getting paid is to not be predictable. If I have an opponent with PT stats of 15/5, I am not calling any raises unless I've got a made hand. Don't be that guy.

[cardsharkk04]

Whether the board is drawless of full of draws I like to bet atleast 3/4 of the pot, I actually like to bet the full pot(My standard continuation bet). At 25NL players just don't seem to give you credit for a hand and will continue to call with top pair or a good draw. Also miniraises are bad because you want to build a big pot, and usually if the villain will call a min raise he will also call a raise of 3 or 4x his bet.
If you are looking to be less predictable I would recommend playing your draws more aggressively so your opponents will not know if your bets mean you have a real hand or a draw.

sometimes if i'm in late position with a couple limpers, and feel my table image is getting too tight, rather than limping with a small/mid PP i like to donk raise 1 or 2x.

this way if i do hit my set, normally if it's checked to me and I bet pot, I will get more action from people assuming i missed my over cards.