Sniffing out the set

One of my poker skills that I lack is putting a person on a set. I always lose some to a good chunk of my chips to a set, depending on stacks, but I was wonder if anyone had any advice on how to sniff out these sneaky sets. And I mean a set with someone holding some kind of pockets.

I think it would be important to look at their bet sizes preflop. Lots of people will not raise 22,33,44,55,66...etc in early position because it acts as a form of pot control and gives them the chance of folding cheap to a big reraise or multiple reraises. Also I have noticed that rather than limp they will overbet a small PP preflop to represent a bigger hand. These are a couple things I look at when deciding whether or not my top 2 pair or over pair is beat. I am not the best with forums and posting but this is the info i can offer.

The key to this is knowing how people play pocket pairs. First of all,
if he or she has a small pockt pair, they are tended to limp in the pot and
try to catch, and likely to fold to moderate raises. If they have a high
pocket pair then they will definitly be raising, so watch out for anybody who fits those descriptions preflop... after the flop well, you can tell by a various of things... If they limped in, and there are low cards that arent connected nor is there a flush and the person is raising, something fishy might be going on. For the high cards, well thats a hard one to tell but
youll just have to rely on your gut there.

observe how they played pocket pairs before preflop and try to find a pattern then observe how they played when they hit their set. you will be suprised

It is very difficult to spot a set that's why it is such a profitable hand when you do hit it.

: limp > check > reraise
:limp > check > call, shove on the turn

Big moves after showing weakness might be clues.

the reason sets are so powerful is because no one really knows when they're running into one.

Well, try not to put people on just one hand, but some things to look for would be a check raise, or moreso a check/call then check raise turn. If there are no real draws on the board it is also more likely they have a set/two pair.

if people dont limp call much, they may be doing it with only small PP, so if they limp call and check raise a dry flop be wary.

It depends a lot on the villians however. I dont think you should start laying down 2 pair hands at the micros making a hero fold because people call and raise with so much worse and you crush the range of hands a typical micro player is representing.

Good luck sniffing out a set when they're holding a pocket pair. It's just one of those things you run into. The best you can do is minimize your losses. For instance, if something seems fishy, like a check/raise or something, don't be afraid to laydown a semi-strong hand. Granted, you may lay down the winning every now and again, but you'll just have to deal with that.

I can tell you, most of the time, you 'll lose your stack because most opponents are donkeys, fishes etc.-so you may not be able to put them on the right hand range and push with your overpair when they show resistance, or represent a strong hand. which in the long run, is fine I think against those opponents.
But if your opponent is a good one, meaning he doesnt get out of line- like a tag, I think it will be easier for you to sniff these out esp. in 3bet pots. Most average tags play 3bet pots in certain ways, and if you observe how they play in these when they hit toppair (do they overplay, or be cautious) then when he/she shows a distinctive/strangely strong move(raise) or aggressive call (timin might help u as well) when you have an overpair, this might be a good time to rethink and muck the hand. This is really all you can do. Trust those observations

What I cannot stand is when people just suddenly go All-in after I 3BB bet, or go all-in immediately after the flop, when I have an overpair like KK or QQ. After, of course, I have 3xBB pre-flop and they called. That is what lead me to just immediately go all in with KK and AA for a while, which is not wise, and is tilt-esque.

It's always a really tough decision, and since I'm not playing with people I've been able to observe for a while, it's usually a coin-flip thing for me.

I've run into sets in the last 3 CC freerolls, against top pair/top kicker twice and in the last case, I had an inferior house against one made through a flopped set...There is almost no way to get out of the way of this kind of luck, unless you are willing to play big hands like that afraid all of the time. When you get hit by people tripping up on you over and over again, it's just not your day...The worst is when you hit trips and are beaten by a higher set, talk about an easy way to lose all the chips you have at the table in an instant.

This is also a big leak in my game. The only advise I have is to pay attention to the persons style and betting patterns. From there you can at least make a good informed decision.

It really is a player by player thing. Limping with small pocket pairs is common but I have book on some players who do it with 10s and jacks as well, no matter what their position is. They are looking to flop that set or at least be an over pair. If that doesnt happen they can get away cheaply.

Look to your own game. How do you play small pockets looking for a set. Do you limp, overbet or 3bet. If you can idenitfy a pattern look for the same or similiar pattern in others. Identifing a pattern will help you eliminate the pattern in your game and then you can use this knowledge to trap others.

Problem is that you have to first pay to learn what they have been betting (or someone has to have paid). so once, you get a read on the first time they had a set.. how long before then get another set that you get to see so that you can see if there is a pattern.