Trapping

Does anyone know any good rules to live by when setting traps for other players?

It all depends on the type you're trying to trap, how's his stack, does he try to buy it or does he check-raise people, do they like to put out feelers to see where people are at, and of course most importantly your position...

so there are really no set rules, the same as anything poker changes every hand

As Sketchpad said there are lots of different variables to consider for example the nature of your opponent, your position, and importantly the flop, turn and river. The basic principle is to try to get your opponent to take a bluff/bet at a pot when you know your ahead. Its all down to how you perceive your opponent and how you think he perceives you.
If you know your opponent is very aggressive it might be as simple as "checking" it over to him whilst holding the nuts. If you think your opponent perceives you as very aggressive try massively overbetting the pot just like a big bluff, this often causes your opponent to call with semmingly mediocre hands. Another situation may be that say you hit a Flush on the Flop, so you bet the pot all the way down to the river hoping that a another of the same suite dosent appear, when on the river you check over to the opponent representing you missed the flush, this often will often cause a large bet with agressive opponents.
Realistical there are far too many ways to set a trap and I feel I have already waffled on enough. Hope this helped. Joe.

Its pretty simple, you trap aggressive players. Only becuz slowplaying a solid player can lead to a bad beat

Trap super aggressive players as all have said and you better have a huge hand that giving cheap cards away to your opponent is unlikely to counterfeit. Top Pair hands are not trapping hands.

Also, another thing to consider is how you play. You can adapt your trapping style based on how you play. Take for instance Gus Hanson. He plays a wide range of hands, which makes it difficult to get a read on what he's holding. Hanson's style can nicely mask the strength of his hands at times, and people may fall into playing against when he's very strong. This isn't your "traditional" trap but I still think it's a form of trap that can be effective.

I Only try to trap with the absolute best or else It's to easy to have it backfire on you.Your the one That gets caught in the trap! Big Blind traps are good if you hit the straight or two pair with your cards.

You need a specific reason to trap.
IE, limping under the gun with A/A early in a tournament is begging for trouble. But if you're up against a short stack and you're looking to knock him out, then slow playing is OK. Shorties are desperate and will shove with stuff like middle pairs, so you want to give them the opportunity to hit something like that.

Basically, against one player you slow play someone who will make big moves with substantially worse cards.

Against multiple players, you only slow play extremely powerful hands when they are very unlikely to outdraw you (no straight or flush draws on the board that can beat you). In the latter case, basically you're hoping that someone will turn or river TPTK or two pair so can stack them.

But you have to realize, that getting outdrawn isn't the only way to get burned. Lets say you flop the nut flush, or the nut straight. Betting out might get called by hands you have beat. But turn/river might put a 4-to-a-straight or a 4-flush on the board, scaring off hands that might have called bets on earlier streets.

It seems obvious, but the best move is what gets them to put in the most chips while they have the worst hand.

only trap with the nuts or 1 under the nuts, you will get in trouble if you do it with just top pair or even two pair

its hard to trap a tight player, but for an agressive player, just check or do small bets...they will most likely raise you especally on the river

SusieP said:

only trap with the nuts or 1 under the nuts, you will get in trouble if you do it with just top pair or even two pair

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Early in a tournament, yeah, don't slow play without a massive hand. But when the blinds are big enough to justify a check/shove, slow playing is a powerful move.

Heads up against an over-aggressive or desperate player, they're going to bet with a wide range of hands that you crush. So you want them to commit themselves to the pot.

Traps only work when u have the nutz and are trying to get max value out of the hand. Slow playing or trying to trap with hands other than the nutz, u ending up trapping yourself, and learning the hard way I should not have done that. LOL

two pair is suicidal...love to flop the nuts, or a boat, then try to let others catch up. you'll figure it out when the time comes

I think an important thing is not to do it too much. Slow playing is a recipe for disaster for a lot of reasons if done too often.

First, guys who pick up on it are just gonna start drawing to hands that beat you for free and then when you spring that trap... they're going to take all of your chips.

Too many people get too cute when a straight up value bet is a better option I think.

Patience,,,,
I find all the loose cannons at my table the second i get there and then just wait for them to hang themselves.
Usually works...

I got a better one. . .anyone have any swear by rules to identify a trap? I find myself in them more than I successfully set them.

The best way to trap aggressive players as well as calling stations is to simply bet your good hands.

baudib1 said:

The best way to trap aggressive players as well as calling stations is to simply bet your good hands.

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