Playing Sets

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AceZWylD

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Hey...I've run into some trouble playing sets lately.
It seems like every time I hit a set, there is nothing on the board justifying a triple pot bet or there is a flush/straight draw on board.

How do you play a set to maximize it's value without running the risk of people betting into you on a draw (keep in mind, this is lower limits and MTT).
 
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Styrofoam

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usually i will bet the pot when i hit a set. Thats a good bet because flush draws are making a bad call when they call you. Most likey you're only behind to an overset now, so you HAVE to bet here. and if you get raised by a flush draw, you push. They'll call against hte odds, and if they hit, well, that sucks. If they miss you get paid off big. You have to protect your hand, and even winning the pot on the flop is better than giving free cards to beat you.
 
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starfall

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One important note is that you're generally hoping that someone has hit top pair, or better still 2 pair. That's more likely if more people see the flop, so you get paid off much better in a multi-way pot when you hit. If you hit your set, but nobody makes anything from the flop, then you'll win a small pot. It's probably better to just accept the small pot than to give someone a chance to make their straight, flush or better trips cheaply, because you'd then tend to lose a big pot.
You can slow-play them sometimes, but do so carefully. If the flop is a rainbow flop with widely separated cards, then you can perhaps slow-play it, but you want to be careful. Your ideal situation if you do slow-play would be if someone hits a flush or the like when the board pairs and makes you a full house, but what you don't want to do is go from winning a small pot to losing a big one, and it can generally be hard to fold trips - someone making a straight will generally win a big pot off you.
 
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Fish

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AceZWylD said:
How do you play a set to maximize it's value without running the risk of people betting into you on a draw (keep in mind, this is lower limits and MTT).
You want them to bet into you on a draw when you hold a set.
If it hits, it hits. On a draw heavy board, 1.25x pot and up is fine.
On a safe board, 1/2-3/4 pot might be better.

Put it this way, even if they are on an open-ended straight and flush draw, you are roughly a 60/40 favourite. That's a Worst case scenario.
You can't wait around for 80/20's all tourney.
 
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AceZWylD

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I know I want them to bet into me if they are on a draw. The problem i'm having is when I recognize that there is a draw, I will make a pot sized bet to protect my hand. Every once in a while, the bet will get my opponent to drop his hand. But about 75% of the calls that are made, they eventually hit their draw.

I think a lot of it has to do with the limit I am playing at. It's nothing for someone to drop $5 or $10 on a draw because they can quickly reload. It's not that easy when it's $50 and $100.
 
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Dingodaddy23

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Learning how to maximize your profit on a set will show up in your overall bankroll. Sets are one of if not your most profitable hand. You have to play the situation and the player though. Most of the time, you'll probably be calling a pre-flop raise with your PP. If you're 2-handed, I think you want to lead right into the raiser. He's represented a strong hand pre-flop. On an all rag flop, he'll probably think his overpair is good. You lead into him, and he'll raise, he has to, at least ot see where he's at, and when this happens you to move in on him in a dominating position, he'll probably feel pot committed and may not be able to get off the overpair. You DONT want to check-raise here, because that gives him a chance to get away from his hand. Check-call isn't a very good option here either, because that immediatly sets of warning signals to a smart player. If you check-call and lead the turn, he'll fold. If you check the turn hoping to get a check-raise, he'll probably just check behind you.

Now if you turn a set in an unraised pot with 3 or 4 other limpers, position dictates your play. If you're first to act and the board IS draw heavy, I'd check at an aggressive table and then raise, hoping to get only 1 caller, or take the pot down right there. If you get 2 callers you have to be VERY careful on the turn. 3 callers you're probably beat.

If the board ISNT scary and nobody showed any real preflop strength, I'd probably check in early position, as giving a card here probably wont be disastrous. If its checked to me and I'm last to act, I'd fire out a 1/2 pot bet. Reason being is to a lot of players it looks like a position bet, and if they caught a piece of the flop you might get a caller. you cant get greedy in this situation, if nobody's got anything you're just NOT gonna get paid off, nothing magical you can do. You DONT just want to check through, giving free cards that might beat you when you can take the pot down. Play your player and your image. If you've been taking a stab at a lot of pots then go ahead and bet it, represent a bluff. If you're lucky someone might be thinking this is a good time to put a play on you.
 
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AceZWylD

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Thanks for all of the help. I tried a couple of these techniques earlier in the day, and I had better success. I still got beat on 2 draws (1 of which caught runner runner to get), but I won more pots with these methods than I had in the past. Thanks again.
 
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