Avoiding Traps In Ring Games

Hi all,

I generally play in the 25NL on FT, and I've been doing alright when I sort of grind away with small pots and stealing more than my share of blinds. But all this work seems to go down the drain when I fall for some horrible trap (either running into aces or making second best hand).

Any tips on how to avoid the nasties?

Cheerio

in general, try to play to control the pot size (keep it kind of small) when you have top pair or less. sort of player dependent, and sometimes you just have to "play poker" and exploit players who are bad or overly loose, but as a general rule, this is good.

when you have a big hand, don't get cute and slowplay to effing death like so many do, because you're burning money. build big pots with big hands, and if they have anything at all, you'll get paid off. at this level if you're losing big pots with two pair or better, you can usually just chalk it up to a cooler, unless the board is really bad. many players at 25NL will take top pair to the grave. don't make the same mistake, and you're already in good shape

Thanks combuboom

What I find happens to me a lot is that with LAGs, I can't exactly find the right places to put in a nice scary reraise. I can't say I've been picking the right spots (hence the running into aces...) a lot of the time.

I would love to hear your opinion on how you deal with them.

Ring games always set me up for some nasty bad-beats. You never know what someone is holding, so tossing out a feeler bet, especially if in early position, can be useful in seeing how quickly/slowly the opponent(s) call. If theyre in early position and they check to you, check right back and see the card for free, then see what their action is. If they have a hand they'll bet quickly as a reaction to your check, trying to raise the pot, and you have the luxury of seeing a free card, potentially killing/making your hand. If you think he's got you after seeing the turn, don't follow him to the river on a bet, cuz he probably does have you beat. If you have any book on the opponent as a tight player, dont be afraid to toss out a nice sized feeler bet on the flop if you have the stack to back it up.

Thanks Shammalamma, that is some really good advice!

there really is no way to avoid a bad beat. theres just instincts of urself.. if u know the player ur going against pretty good then u might be able to detect it. otherwise its hard to tell. cant always tell what cards are gonna fall! gl at the tables~