Keeping the pot Small

I play SNG's because i am just terrible at ring games and i can profit from playing SNGs. I find myself in pots that i know the villan will bet and the pot will get very big and i will have to put in all my chips to 1/2 of my chips. It is easy when you have a good hand you call/raise, bad hand you fold. but what i cant seem to do is when i have top pair with a weak kicker and rainbow board how do i keep the pot small incase villian has overpair or 2 pair or somthing like that. you can do deffensive bets but i usually just get re raised and the pot gets even bigger.

All help is appreciated. Bulldog

I play SNG's because i am just terrible at ring games and i can profit from playing SNGs.

Fair enough

I find myself in pots that i know the villan will bet and the pot will get very big and i will have to put in all my chips to 1/2 of my chips.

This is pretty easy, big hands = big pots. If you dont have a hand good enough to take the heat stop calling, try raise or fold instead, you wont find yourself in as many marginal situations.

It is easy when you have a good hand you call/raise, bad hand you fold.

There ya go.

but what i cant seem to do is when i have top pair with a weak kicker and rainbow board how do i keep the pot small incase villian has overpair or 2 pair or somthing like that.

~Theere is different lines you can take, bet/fold, bet/call, check/fold etc. You DO NOT need to play a big pot if you dont want to


you can do deffensive bets but i usually just get re raised and the pot gets even bigger.

Then fold.

All help is appreciated. Bulldog

Out of position, stop playing weak hands that make weak top pairs with which you want to keep the pot small.

In position, check back some streets.

In short, position is everything.

Just a thought but you may simply be putting too much money into ALL pots you play.

Its just something Im beginning to realise about my own play too.

It makes your table image that of a big payoff.

It works in your favor for a short while in the game. I tend to raise post flop alot to make others fold. It works great. Ill also fire a second barell if I dont think the other person has hit.

Problem is that in the small SNG's I play the bet size has to be relitively large in comparison with chip stack as people dont respect smaller raises.

So for a while this works great. But then observant players seem to tighten up with me and me only.

They let me do the firing post flop and by the time I know im behind.. I have lost quite a few chips in figuring that out.

How to fix this??? I dont know yet.

but im thinking along the lines of reversing the situation. Keep pots small if my hand dosnt hit and be more prepared to fold.

My thinking here is that others will fire into me with the expectation of me folding.. and when i hit, thats when ill make my profit.

Then later in the game ill exploit this table image and steal via a reraise or two when the blinds are much bigger

The way I approach the majority of pots I'm in is in a very aggressive manner. If I have a hand made, I play it strong, its the only way I can figure out where I'm at. I have alot of experience and most of the time I am able to get paid one through one way or another. My suggestion to you is once you understand the concept of whether a hand is good or not and pot strategies, do whatever you feel. Until then, you should stick to playing premium hands that won't get you so puzzled.

Bulldog, my advice is you shouldn't be playing hands that give you top pair with a week kicker out of position. Otherwise you will allways be in the same situation. Early in position you should be laying down hands like A rag, K rag ect. If they are suited and you feel the need to play them for some reason, I reccomend doing a small raise when you are out of position just to get an Idea of where you are at and go from there. If you get reraised you need to considder the players position, his table image and make an informed decision from there.