PLAYER STRATEGY
POKER: Trapping with a Big Hand Trapping with pocket aces or pocket can be extremely dangerous. By “trapping” with these hands, I mean just calling one or two bets before the flop, rather than raising or reraising with your hand. By just calling preflop and trapping other players into playing their hands when they ordinarily wouldn’t have done this, you’re creating a bigger pot, which means you’re also risking losing a big pot.
opponent into thinking I’m weak so that he will give
For example, suppose that someone in front of you has raised with Q-Q , and then you decide to just call with your K-K before the flop. Now someone with As-Js decides to call two bets with his hand, and then the board comes off 2s-4s-9h-3h-Ad. In this case, you would have won a huge pot from the opponent who had Q-Q if you had three-bet with your hand instead of calling two bets before the flop, because the As-Js would have folded before the flop and not hung around in hopes of catching a spade draw on the flop and the (for you) dreaded ace on the river. Imagine the number of bets that you would have won from the Q-Q in this scenario.
Advanced Hold’em on the flop is really all about
But because you decided to trap other players into the pot before the flop, you lost a big pot. Because the AsJs flopped the nut flush draw, he was forced to play his hand all the way, and then he hit an ace on the end to beat you.
that smooth-calling in limit Hold’em with big hands can work out very badly or perfectly, depending on
the way the cards fall. When you smooth-call with a big hand, you really are gambling. Advanced Hold’em on the Flop reading other players. If you read your opponent as weak and think you might be able to take the pot away from him, then do it! If you have flopped a
big hand and you feel that betting will drive out our opponent when what you want to do is keep him in the pot, then go ahead and trap your opponent by
checking on the flop. Use your reading ability on the flop to determine what you can and cannot do. You may have flopped top pair, but if you read that your opponent has you beat, just fold your hand, having
lost the minimum number of bets. If you read your
opponent as being weak before the flop and you are
Phil Hellmuth, Jr., is a 16time World Series of Poker Champion. He has two New York Times best-seller books; Play Poker Like the Pros and Bad Beats and Lucky Draws. This column is an excerpt from his latest book, Phill Hellmuth’s Texas Hold ‘em released this summer. Phil’s books and products can be found at PhilHellmuth.com and bookstores everywhere. Chat or play with Phil at UltimateBet.com and learn about his new cell phone poker game at HellmuthHoldem.com.
making a steal on him, then make sure that you
follow through on you steal attempt, unless you then have a strong read that he has hit the flop well.
Suppose that you have K-K before the flop and two
opponents are also in the pot. If the flop comes down
Another time when I may smooth-call with A-A or K-K is when I’m in the big blind and someone else has raised, and it’s just myself and one other opponent in the pot. I smooth-call in order to trick my
As you try different things, you will find that the
| G A M I N G A N D D E S T I N AT I O N S . C O M
PHIL HELLMUTH, JR.
me a lot of action the rest of the hand. Just remember
Despite the grim scenario that I’ve just presented, trapping has its place in tournament poker, lest you become too predictable. One good time to trap is when you’re in late position and no one else has entered the pot yet. This is a good place to just call one bet, to see if anyone else enters the pot behind you. In this scenario, if raise, then you’ll probably just win the blinds. But by smooth-calling, you will at a minimum force the big blind to take a free flop. Just remember that in this case you’re asking for action when you have a big hand. We all know that you should be careful what you ask for, because you may get it!
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by
A-7-2, the advanced player makes his money by
knowing what to do, on the strength of his read on
his opponents. Does either of you opponents, or do
both of them, hold an ace, a set of sevens, or a set of
twos? How does the betting on the flop come down? Are your opponents capable of raising on the flop
with just a pair of sevens or worse? If it does come bet and raised to you in this spot, will you three-bet it or fold? Odds are that you probably have to fold in this case, but what does intuition tell you to do?
basic top ten strategy is a pretty good way to play
Hold’em with a twist- some well-timed intermediate and advanced moves along the way.
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