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14/01/2012 PKR The pay-off: How to make the most of your flopped set

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The pa -off: Ho o make he mo

of o flopped e
It's imperative to get maximum value if you flop a set. Find out the best way to
go about doing so...

By Alex Martin on Sunday 26 Jul 2009 09:00

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Flopping a e i g ea , b hen o hi o hand o need o gi e

o elf he be po ible chance of ge ing ma im m al e

It s a rare enough occurrence, and one you may have invested significant
chips trying to achieve. So when you flop a set with small or medium pocket
pairs, it s important to get full value. The way you go about getting full value will
vary depending on a number of factors, including your position, the preflop
action and the nature of your opponents.

If you have generally been the preflop aggressor and have now flopped a set
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14/01/2012 PKR The pay-off: How to make the most of your flopped set

you should start by betting as you want to play your big hands exactly how
you d play the bulk of your range. By putting chips out there you start to build
the pot and as you want to stack your opponents, that can only be a good
thing.

Once you flop a set after three-betting preflop, betting is a 100% must. In
three-bet pots people are more inclined to make moves (as there is more in
the pot to steal) and also are more likely to have slow-played a big pair that
they re now looking to check-raise. The turn and river are more player-
dependant, but as the preflop aggressor make sure you bet your sets and
make sure your bet-sizing is standard in comparison with the bulk of your c-
betting range.

If you flop a set out of position in a heads-up pot against decent TAG/LAG
opponents your starting point should be to check-call dry boards and, in
contrast, check-raise wet boards. The reasoning here is that on a dry board
you are almost certainly way ahead, your opponent s hand is unlikely to
improve and you must give aggressive opponents the opportunity to make a
pair on the turn and/or bluff. As time goes on (and you develop history with an
opponent) you can adjust and become tricky by check-raising sets on dry
boards against specific villains, hoping to induce big bluffs as well as make
yourself a tougher foe.

On wet boards check-raising your set on the flop should be your usual
approach. You don t want to see scare cards on the turn that kill any possible
action from over pairs and top pair-type hands. It will also be more difficult to
narrow your range of hands, as on a wet board there will be a tonne of
draws/combo, draws/bluffs that you could conceivably have. And because
there are more draws that your opponent can have they will generally be happy
to play fast on the flop and will often be in terrible shape.

E periment ith tactics

In multi-way pots, the active players and their tendencies will generally
determine the best line to take. Experiment until you find out what works for
you. Personally I find players that don t balance their check-raising range with
enough bluffs are burning money when they check-raise the flop with a set
(why would you want to tell the table you have a monster?), when slow-playing
is a fine alternative. Don t focus on protecting your hand when you flop a set
with a deep stack – focus on getting maximum value.

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