what if they called your raise pre-flop (not saying i would raise that, lol) and you dont have a read on them and your betting to them?
Then you should protect your hand, but keep the pot small...
How?
Bet on the flop half the pot (or a bit more) but only if the board is rainbow and the numbers are not conected with each other.
He is supposed to fold if he didnt paired or got his set, and doesnt have any draw.
Then there are 3 different situations:
*1.-He folds and you win your pot with out any trouble.
*2.-He raises, maybe you are facing a set or two pairs... but you cant fold here, so... you call his raise (if its more than 3 times bigger than your original bet, you should fold right there).
If he bets strong on the turn and you have not improved your hand maybe you should fold (its up to you.. if it wasnt the first hand of the tournament, at least u have seen him playing one hand before, how he plays? bluffed? conservative?... be aware of this and make your own choice).
What happens if he checks on the turn?
You should check 2...(keep the pot small and the bets you accept wont hurt your stack)
And then on the river check again or call his bet if it isnt 2 big.
If he was holding KQ or KJ, K10, or K9 he is trying to get more value of his hand in case you were
bluffing on the flop.
Or if he was holding a big pocket pair like QQ, JJ, 99 he wont fold until see all the cards if the price is low, but you cant risk much to make him fold, because you dont know if he already has his set done.
Some players never know when to fold QQ, JJ or worst, even with a flop with an Ace and a K on it and they will go all-in even with this trash hand.
So dont bother trying to get them out...
Why???
Because if they complete the set on the turn or river, they will get you pot commited and knowing you have a big hand and you are maybe ready to go all-in, so if you look like you aren´t strong enough, they wont overbet the pot, because they dont want their set gets with no pay.
*3.-He just calls, you can check on the turn and on the river 2, to keep the pot small, then let him make a bet on the turn or rive and you to accept it, it wont be to big and wont hurt your stack in case you lose.
Why you should not keep betting on the turn or river?
Thats because he might be holding the same pair you do and won´t fold so you might be against an Ace kicker (you loose if your hand doesnt match a second pair) or a smaller kicker than yours (you win if he doesnt improves)...
So if he isn´t going to fold why making the pot bigger and making you pot comitted and on risk to go an all-in and finish your tournament early???
It´s like an agreement that neither of you lose the tournament just for the kicker.
If he´s a good player he shouldn´t overbet the pot with marginal hands.
PS: there are lot of styles, but this is mine... and it works for me, just take the part that matches for you...
Note... this is the best strategy I have found but... just for the early stages... you have lots of chips to see lots of flops and the pots are small compared to your stack.
Kind regards
Pach