Building a Small/Big Pot

teh_colonel_saigon

teh_colonel_saigon

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hai guiz. Just a general qustion, but I suppose it does have some nuance.

When would you want a small pot versus a big pot?

I think the most basic level is that you'd want small pots for mediocre/speculative hands, and large pots for TPTK sorts of hands. Right?

But are there situations where it reverses? For example, in a poker book I have (NLHE Theory and Practice), there is the example of

Ac Ks

on a

Kd Jd 6s

board.

The book asks if youd prefer a small or big pot here, and then says that its a trick question. Since it doesnt include stack size, pot size, position, and players remaining, I'd guess that these things come into play as well when considering ideal pot size.

So with many people in this pot, youd be a bit scared, and check it off, hoping for a small bet (or try to make a small blocking bet yourself? ... this doesnt seem ideal).

But against one opponent, youd try to grow the pot generally.

So.... any advice either generally, or specifically with this problem? I think I have a general idea of the pots id like to see preflop, but when more people fold/call than expected, I get into some trouble :)

Just curious what y'all think

-teh colonel
 
T

twohaha

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Ah yes, love Sklansky's books, teaches you so much about the WHY of the game...

Bascially, what Sklansky means is that TPTK is not a hand strong enough to get all-in. Think about what hands will call you 3rd barrel, and what kind of hands will the opponent have if he raises or re-raises you all-in on a dry board. Generally, their hands will beat you TPTK (two pair, set, etc.). Winning a small pot means that you want to get value from weaker hands, which can call only call one or two bets.

Of course, if you are playing against an aggro donk who is shoving all-in every hand, or a calling station who can call 3 massive bets with A high, then you can consider TPTK to be a "big pot hand". But against good players, TPTK will win you a small pot or lose you a big pot if you are not careful
 
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cotta777

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theirs a few things that are important in determining how you want to play the pot.
hand equity, how many players are in the hand. the pre flop action.
and the board texture.

if its connected / high cards alot of your opponents range is going to connect, so if you dont want the re raise checking to control the pot is a good option. if they are weak floating the flop will put them off and this helps you avoid an inflated pot for alot of your stack if you fear they have you beat or you have missed everything.

however,
If the board is like 7-Qs-Js 2 spades and you hold A8 of spades. Then a raise is good on the flop since alot of hands will connect and you want to inflate the pot.
your getting +EV equity for combined fold equity/draw equity and value when you hit the big draw and they hold a hand.
 
teh_colonel_saigon

teh_colonel_saigon

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But with a draw like that (nut flush draw) you still wouldnt want a huge pot, would you? Like a medium sized one? (lol) one aligned with your hand equity

I guess there it matters how many opponents you're up against too
 
steveiam

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Small hand small pot, big hand big pot..but with a big pot you only want to be heads up.
 
Arjonius

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In general, the more likely you are to win the hand, the larger you want the pot to be. It's basically about the relative strength of your hand considering various factors like stack sizes, the opponent's or opponents' range(s), the nature of the board and how well it connects with everyone's ranges, the nature(s) of the opponent(s), your image and theirs, etc.

Also, you might want to consider that poker today isn't the same as it was when Sklansky wrote that book. One of the changes that has filtered all the way down to the lowest stakes is that you have to be willing to stack off lighter than you would have a number of years ago.
 
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