Setting A Trap In Poker

[pirateglenn]

As part of how i play - setting traps is a crucial weapon when faced with good opponents, nitty players to extract value and also players who chase hands like flushes all the way to the river.

One example i want to offer is a hand taken from a freeroll i played in yesterday, without too many specifics it involved being dealt a pocket pair, hitting a set on the flop and then the real play starts.

I knew from the bet sizing and flop that my opponent was chasing a flush and so i let them bet out- when they hit that flush on the turn, i was behind but prior to this, i had checked back my set to induce the bet and to add value to the pot as this opponent was aggressive and understandably wanted to build the pot in the hope the next 2 cards gave him the flush he so desperately craved.

Now normally, most players would bet out on hitting a set and often the bet size chosen - scares off the majority of players, the opponent i faced was a different kind and had been playing very tight - now admittedly when the river came and it gave me a full house, i knew my hand was so disguised and that i was certain they had hit their flush, i could make any bet or jam and they would call.

Yes i had the luck to boat out but decided to take the risk to extract maximum value. It was a different play but the positive afterwards was that the same player stopped chasing flushes so it altered their play behaviour.

I jammed all in - they called and got the bad news.

 

[Risto234]

You are talking about wednesday's cardchat freeroll right ...

 

[najisami]

No matter what you are saying, trying to trap turns against you most of the time. You got lucky hitting your boat that time, but it wasn't a guaranteed thing.

 

[LetterRip]

If you know your opponent will call a big river overbet, you can call a reasonable turn bet given the implied odds. With 10 outs you have 20% chance of hitting your fullhouse. And if villain will bet river and call a raise, or call a big overbet, then you definitely have the odds to call a pot sized bet or less on the turn.

 

[alien666dj]

The trap is always justified if the opponent can be read like a book. After all, such players often play with air.

 

[300HPGOD]

https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/9q1nz2nY
Well I would say I know about this hand for obvious reasons. Your trap did work this time and yes I figured you did not have a set based on how you played the hand. I am not sure it altered my behavior as you say either. I wouldnt say I chased the flush either as I checked back the flop. There are some issues with how you played here...

First, lets say the flush did not come in on the turn like it did. Would you check the turn as you did or would you have bet? If you check then you are giving a free card and then losing value by not betting. If you do bet, villain would have folded depending on your sizing, trust me, I know villain would have folded.

Secondly, you had 1187 in chips going to the river. If the river does not pair the board and a 4th spade did not hit then what would you have done? Im guessing you would have jammed anyway and you would have been given the bad news since you slowplayed on the flop. If Q of diamonds came on the river (Im sure you remember the board as it took a K to pair it to give you the boat) you would have jammed since you had few chips left relative to the pot and you cant always put me on a flush there.

Thirdly, what happens if you check turn and I check back and a fourth spade hits river? Are you just easily folding a set with under SPR of 1 there on the river? I doubt it and then all one spade hands I had got there because you slow played.

I dont want this post to be taken as I am crying over the hand but I want to point out to you that you looked brilliant because the board runout cooperated with your opponent getting their card on the turn and then you coming back to take over on the river. Without the board pairing you would be the one felted and would it would have been from a poor poker move to let someone draw out on you without making them pay proper odds to do so. But its all in the past and good luck to you at the tables. I will have to be prepared for more "Ar Ar Ars"

 

[azforlife]

As part of how i play - setting traps is a crucial weapon when faced with good opponents, nitty players to extract value and also players who chase hands like flushes all the way to the river.

One example i want to offer is a hand taken from a freeroll i played in yesterday, without too many specifics it involved being dealt a pocket pair, hitting a set on the flop and then the real play starts.

I knew from the bet sizing and flop that my opponent was chasing a flush and so i let them bet out- when they hit that flush on the turn, i was behind but prior to this, i had checked back my set to induce the bet and to add value to the pot as this opponent was aggressive and understandably wanted to build the pot in the hope the next 2 cards gave him the flush he so desperately craved.

Now normally, most players would bet out on hitting a set and often the bet size chosen - scares off the majority of players, the opponent i faced was a different kind and had been playing very tight - now admittedly when the river came and it gave me a full house, i knew my hand was so disguised and that i was certain they had hit their flush, i could make any bet or jam and they would call.

Yes i had the luck to boat out but decided to take the risk to extract maximum value. It was a different play but the positive afterwards was that the same player stopped chasing flushes so it altered their play behaviour.

I jammed all in - they called and got the bad news.

I suffer from this too.
It worked out but this style will always lead you to missed value & tough unnecessary decisions post-flop & generally making you easy to play against. You should also as a rule of thumb never try to "trap" a TAG & get max value especially on a wet flop, with the exception of Slowplaying a monster pre-flop.

 

[pirateglenn]

Mixing it up

I suffer from this too.
It worked out but this style will always lead you to missed value & tough unnecessary decisions post-flop & generally making you easy to play against. You should also as a rule of thumb never try to "trap" a TAG & get max value especially on a wet flop, with the exception of Slowplaying a monster pre-flop.

I would never recommend my previous action as % wise you will lose much more than win - the boat on the river was lucky but i was priced in to make the play and i wanted to send a clear message to the table and that particular opponent that i was capable of making that play - table image being so important, i got lucky but afterwards that opponent was far more wary when playing pots and being overly aggressive with their bets against me - so it was a good job. Mixing it up is so important at a table, keep people unsure of your exact image pays dividends later in the tourney especially if you have made notes on specific players.

 

[nuttea]

As part of how i play - setting traps is a crucial weapon when faced with good opponents, nitty players to extract value and also players who chase hands like flushes all the way to the river.

One example i want to offer is a hand taken from a freeroll i played in yesterday, without too many specifics it involved being dealt a pocket pair, hitting a set on the flop and then the real play starts.

I knew from the bet sizing and flop that my opponent was chasing a flush and so i let them bet out- when they hit that flush on the turn, i was behind but prior to this, i had checked back my set to induce the bet and to add value to the pot as this opponent was aggressive and understandably wanted to build the pot in the hope the next 2 cards gave him the flush he so desperately craved.

Now normally, most players would bet out on hitting a set and often the bet size chosen - scares off the majority of players, the opponent i faced was a different kind and had been playing very tight - now admittedly when the river came and it gave me a full house, i knew my hand was so disguised and that i was certain they had hit their flush, i could make any bet or jam and they would call.

Yes i had the luck to boat out but decided to take the risk to extract maximum value. It was a different play but the positive afterwards was that the same player stopped chasing flushes so it altered their play behaviour.

I jammed all in - they called and got the bad news.

So what are the best situations to set up traps for your opponents? Well, this is an easy question - if you actually have the nuts on hand, like top set or straight. Take the aforementioned flop A J T. You can check-raise here with AA or KQ, because in both cases you don't have to worry too much about being behind. It is likely that you hold the best hand in both cases, and therefore you will not mind playing a big pot and getting all the money. Another important aspect to keep in mind when setting up a poker trap is that your opponent must play aggressively.

 

[Luvepoker]

As part of how i play - setting traps is a crucial weapon when faced with good opponents, nitty players to extract value and also players who chase hands like flushes all the way to the river.

One example i want to offer is a hand taken from a freeroll i played in yesterday, without too many specifics it involved being dealt a pocket pair, hitting a set on the flop and then the real play starts.

I knew from the bet sizing and flop that my opponent was chasing a flush and so i let them bet out- when they hit that flush on the turn, i was behind but prior to this, i had checked back my set to induce the bet and to add value to the pot as this opponent was aggressive and understandably wanted to build the pot in the hope the next 2 cards gave him the flush he so desperately craved.

Now normally, most players would bet out on hitting a set and often the bet size chosen - scares off the majority of players, the opponent i faced was a different kind and had been playing very tight - now admittedly when the river came and it gave me a full house, i knew my hand was so disguised and that i was certain they had hit their flush, i could make any bet or jam and they would call.

Yes i had the luck to boat out but decided to take the risk to extract maximum value. It was a different play but the positive afterwards was that the same player stopped chasing flushes so it altered their play behaviour.

I jammed all in - they called and got the bad news.

Setting a trap is not the worst thing to do but many players over do it and become trapped themself. I just see people trapping when its not advisable to trap and wonder why they lost. Some guy tried to trap me just recently with his aces, My crap hand hit and he was stacked. There are just bad time to trap.

 

[pirateglenn]

Works for me!

Setting a trap is not the worst thing to do but many players over do it and become trapped themself. I just see people trapping when its not advisable to trap and wonder why they lost. Some guy tried to trap me just recently with his aces, My crap hand hit and he was stacked. There are just bad time to trap.

We all have to find what works for us, I tend to save that move for a very special kind of player lol

 

[thetaxman1]

Most of my getting caught in traps are those players in the blind. Limping in against any old ace gets me more often than not.

 

[lcid86]

Traps work better if you know your opponent. Against players you don't know, you are probably better off betting aggressively.

 

[hog123]

I look at the bored texter on how I will play the hand if I get tricky or what not
and yes it depend on your opponent

every move we make comes with risk

 

[Negan92222]

Let people play themselves into trouble