One of the dilemmas we constantly face is how to play our hand. Do we trap, or do we bet away in a straightforward manner? Both plays can be deceptive. For instance, we are in an unraised small blind with garbage like 3/7 off. The flop is 3/3/7. Do we check or bet? In this case I like to bet. Why? Because I want A/3 to raise me and J/J to call. You have created a big pot, out of position, but you are holding a monster with only 5 combined outs against you. On the other hand, a check could give a free card to the jacks or the slow played A/3, which is infinity to 1 odds. Not good for you.
I play so much omaha and both trapping and straightforward play occurs. My feeling is that you want to get the money in the pot when you have the best hand as the draws always come along anyway. In the omaha game I seldom win when I flop 2 pair, but checking is not a good alternative as it gives low draws free cards as well as overpairs a chance for their 2 outs.
Where I do like to trap is with great hands in the blinds. I have previously written about how poor a play raising out of the blinds is. Having a hand like AK in the big blind can be a huge win. Since it is a drawing hand, taking the "free card" by not raising is such a better play than raising only to have the whole world jump on or the small pair decide to flip and go all-in. Yikes!!! By seeing the free flop with a monster hand you can evaluate and make a decision on your play. I think that too often we get married to cards like AK, QQ, even KK and AA and don't really stop to evaluate the texture of the flop. In my omaha game, I might have the most powerful starting hand of AA23 double suited but trust me the flop can easily destroy it and I will throw it away in a minute on a flop like, KK9, or 9/10/J, etc.
I play so much omaha and both trapping and straightforward play occurs. My feeling is that you want to get the money in the pot when you have the best hand as the draws always come along anyway. In the omaha game I seldom win when I flop 2 pair, but checking is not a good alternative as it gives low draws free cards as well as overpairs a chance for their 2 outs.
Where I do like to trap is with great hands in the blinds. I have previously written about how poor a play raising out of the blinds is. Having a hand like AK in the big blind can be a huge win. Since it is a drawing hand, taking the "free card" by not raising is such a better play than raising only to have the whole world jump on or the small pair decide to flip and go all-in. Yikes!!! By seeing the free flop with a monster hand you can evaluate and make a decision on your play. I think that too often we get married to cards like AK, QQ, even KK and AA and don't really stop to evaluate the texture of the flop. In my omaha game, I might have the most powerful starting hand of AA23 double suited but trust me the flop can easily destroy it and I will throw it away in a minute on a flop like, KK9, or 9/10/J, etc.
1 comment:
It seems that whenever I try to trap, I end up losing. It doesn't matter if my opponent has only one out - they will hit it. It's ridiculous. No slow playing for me.
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