rj_montana
Visionary
Silver Level
Bottom set is notoriously difficult to play against because it doesn't block any of your opponent's likely holdings that can continue.
It's really tough to identify a set. The only tip I can give is when you are blocking all of the strong hands and your opponent is still continuing they may be playing the bottom set. For example on an AK3 rainbow board and you are holding AK. If the villain is raising and re-raising into you, the only hands that make sense are sharing AK or he has 33. Not that you will get away from AK here..
It's really tough to identify a set. The only tip I can give is when you are blocking all of the strong hands and your opponent is still continuing they may be playing the bottom set. For example on an AK3 rainbow board and you are holding AK. If the villain is raising and re-raising into you, the only hands that make sense are sharing AK or he has 33. Not that you will get away from AK here..
Cam54
Rock Star
Silver Level
I agree very strongly with the things RJ Montana said and for me it is very much the same ... a set is very hard for me to put someone on ... and although what he said about the player who is on a bottom set is logical .. that particular thing for me comes down to how well I can figure figure my opponents play, ... are they spewy ..bluffing too much ... just splashing round like a big old fish or have you seen that their bet usually means something ... and if they playing in a straightforward fashion .. then you should probably respect the bet .... even then you have to be able to lay down that good ace or king, or as was used as an example an AK .... which a lot cannot do, myself included at times, and many others will not even see this far as to what their opponent may have for a range here, and say yayyy I have an ACE !!!! ... sometimes you get stuck in the wrong place and can't see what should be obvious ... getting a better handle on this one situation would improve my game 100 % although I have to go with the set just isn't obvious most of the time, at least to me ...
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LuisBoaC
Rock Star
Silver Level
I agree with earlier replies in that it's very difficult to put someone on a set. In fact, putting someone on just two cards is hard. For now I am focusing on putting my opponents on a certain range of hands at any given moment, then trying to choose what my range should be/what I should do with my specific two cards at this point. So in your example I'd be trying to decide what hands villain might have and how many of them I'm beating vs. how many are beating me.
This is a rather generalised point, hope it makes sense!
This is a rather generalised point, hope it makes sense!
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lintsikka
Rock Star
Silver Level
Good example
That is why i usually bet quite big preflop with ak or good hands to try to get rid off small pairs and other crap. Therefore i usually don't believe that there would be set of threes. And if i were in that situation with set of threes myself, i would probly just slow play them so in that way i wouldn't be too scared of getting reraised. Well, i would but not cause afraid of threes but set of kings or aces. Like you said, really hard to shiff bottom sets.
I guess silver lining is that i don't get tilted if i lose against sets as i can't sniff them
AntA_KO_v
Rock Star
Silver Level
The bottom set is very insidious combination! How many chips were lost to opponents with this hand... But much more was won by exploiting confidence.
The only way to recognize the bottom set is to have notes on a specific opponent and not overestimate your hand
The only way to recognize the bottom set is to have notes on a specific opponent and not overestimate your hand
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EvandroGatti
Rock Star
Silver Level
I think that no matter what you did, the result woul be the same. So the way I see, yyou did right!
Even if you go all in he or anyone would pay. He was losing only at the turn.
The only thing was that un-necessary A at river. But is to hard to resist, there was a considerable amount of money on stake.
Even if you go all in he or anyone would pay. He was losing only at the turn.
The only thing was that un-necessary A at river. But is to hard to resist, there was a considerable amount of money on stake.
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digdug0037
Rock Star
Silver Level
I think its impossible to sniff it out. Pretty much use your gut feeling and past hand experience with the player. If you are sitting on 2 pair and are being aggressively against, be careful with your chip stack. It is easier to throw away 2 or 3 hands during a tournament and know you will be there at the final table. At the same time I have called big raises in the past and had a feeling they had trips just to find out they were bluffing all along. Its just too hard to know.
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StepUp
Enthusiast
Silver Level
You should focus on their betting patterns and table image and look carefully to small details like if they limped or flatted a bet and if you have enough info on your opponentsnyou will sniff it. The hard part is to hero fold overpairs in such situations.