How to defend against sets?

So many times recently with a large overpair or top 2 I have been crushed by sets being slow played. What is the best defense?

There is no defense m8!
Just try to lose as little as possible chips

Your big raises and opp call shows it.
If in position - check on river.
Out of position - check or little raise on turn and look for reaction. River - by situation.

PokerNuts01 said:

There is no defense m8!
Just try to lose as little as possible chips

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Yup, you can't fall in love with you top two all the time. You have to bail on hands every once in a while, or constantly lick your wounds when you get beat up at the table.

That's why we love the game ... It gives and takes away.

The only thing I have noticed in the pre flop game is that they usually flat in late position with small pocket pairs or even in the SB. Be aware for those pre flop tendencies! I don't have something else in mind for now.

In the post flop game try to put your opponent in a range.If nothing suits you right and if he is a solid player but bets very strong then probably he set mined! You will get better by practicing.

Little raises not all in's to see if you are being called with you holdin top pair. If the chip leader at the table is callin you he may have the set already with you betting into him, so be very very careful says Playful

Immediately apologize for my English, but here's an example:

You are the big blind. Limit $1/$2. The player from UTG raises to $10. All throw, your turn – do you have pocket deuces. Stacks $300.

Set - the path to the big stacks.
In this situation, we will help the potential pot odds. We find it profitable to call this raise to catch a set on the flop.

Imagine that to win a hand is only possible in the case of capture of the set, because you are out of position, and such a hand that went to showdown just not be reached.

You need to call $8 to win $21. Turns out less than 3 to 1 on a call, if using a conventional pot odds. And if we catch a set one time out of eight, it becomes apparent that the call is clearly negative. But if we take in turn the potential pot odds, things will change.

A raise from early position often means a premium hand and positional advantage of your opponent means that after the flop he is likely to be actively set.

So if you did manage to catch the set, your winnings will obviously be more than $21.

This additional income on the following streets, and is a potential pot odds. And if they are above 8 to 1 (chance to catch a set), call the best for a long distance.

Thus, to effectively call $8 on the flop, you must win, on average, $64. The deeper stacks are, the more likely the obtaining of the necessary potential pot odds.

have a bigger set? seems to work for me kappa

When i got a big pairs in hand, that's no possible to fold before river.
So, that's part of luck, the only lucky for me is "lose as possible as less".

Just need to catch an opponent, it's cheap to watch the flop as much as possible, then if you hit the set, start attacking.

Such situations are called "goodbye stack" for you.

Spotting them?

Before you are betting are you thinking about the possibility of the sets? Has the other player been very tight and then you see them calling your bets? Knowing the other players history does help. Position also saves you some money in these situations.

i agree with dl but also luck has its odds too so ...loose as few you can

You have to run away from top pair or 2 pair every once in while. Depends on the player. Best to know your players

You cant really defend against sets, but what you can do is very your bet size depending on the villan and the stack sizes.

If you have a calling station with 30bbs you could raise to 5bbs and give them bad odds to call. So when they do call you make more money than you should and this will make up for the times they hit.

Or if you have a villan that likes to see lots of flops but is very fit or fold you can cbet smaller like 1/3 of pot to give them bad odds to fold, but if they reraise you then you lose less money when you fold.

elitenuts said:

So many times recently with a large overpair or top 2 I have been crushed by sets being slow played. What is the best defense?

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Looking at this the wrong way IMO, considering a defense, sounds like playing scared and I do not think this is a good choice. With Top pair or 2 pair you just cannot blindly bomb away or you will definitely lose the max on these hands. you received some good advice from some guys ahead of me. be aware of the players at the table, are they usually passive?? aggressive?? Preflop action can sometimes give info on players with small pocket pairs, this is different depending what stakes you are playing, so i won't try to give specific details. sometimes a check-raise on the turn, when it seems like it was a brick or semi-brick?? Just begin to pay attention is the best advice

Thank you all for the helpful advice - Just to clarify I was using top 2 pair and overpairs as examples (A's, K's, Q's...)

hitting a set is monbster, but playing against one is troublesome, many times you put them on 2 pair,
its a hard play and you need the luck side

Sets is the most difficult thing to read in my opinion. I dont know. If I few I'm not nuts I try to control the pot.

To win information and maybe Win the hand. Thats why play in position make so many difference

GRANDPAPA929 said:

Immediately apologize for my English, but here's an example:

You are the big blind. Limit $1/$2. The player from UTG raises to $10. All throw, your turn – do you have pocket deuces. Stacks $300.

Set - the path to the big stacks.
In this situation, we will help the potential pot odds. We find it profitable to call this raise to catch a set on the flop.

Imagine that to win a hand is only possible in the case of capture of the set, because you are out of position, and such a hand that went to showdown just not be reached.

You need to call $8 to win $21. Turns out less than 3 to 1 on a call, if using a conventional pot odds. And if we catch a set one time out of eight, it becomes apparent that the call is clearly negative. But if we take in turn the potential pot odds, things will change.

A raise from early position often means a premium hand and positional advantage of your opponent means that after the flop he is likely to be actively set.

So if you did manage to catch the set, your winnings will obviously be more than $21.

This additional income on the following streets, and is a potential pot odds. And if they are above 8 to 1 (chance to catch a set), call the best for a long distance.

Thus, to effectively call $8 on the flop, you must win, on average, $64. The deeper stacks are, the more likely the obtaining of the necessary potential pot odds.

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I definitely agree with everything said this was a great analysis. I would just add always take into account the pattern of the cards. Also take into account the hands your opponent has was won. As in does he always extract maximum value with his bet sizes. How many pots has he played down to the river, how has he bet from each position.. etc.

pot control, small ball game...dont let him spew u and fold when it looks like a trap. check raises and so on..top2 is a pretty good hand to play controlling the pot... not a really good hand u wanna get allin with

JAAMEZz said:

have a bigger set? seems to work for me kappa

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hahaha, sets over sets are pretty sick to fold, mainly with dry boards

Who is folding set over set and top two play a small pot. Where did u guys learn to play poker if you are that scared come to my table so I can exploit you.

I always said it's hard to see a. Set. Tricky little ppl aren't they. Just hard to put em on a. Set

It is very difficult to escape from a set losing the fewest possible chips, especially if we have a good hand for us. The key is to be able to read the game in the best way and avoid big chip losses. It's how beautiful this game is.