Set for Life

It's one of the best feelings in poker. You're holding a pocket pair and watch the dealer spread a flop containing a beautiful matching card. You've flopped a set. Right off the bat, this puts you in a fabulous position to take down the pot. Not only is your set more powerful than the vast majority of hands that could be out against you-unless the board is very coordinated, and we'll get to that in a moment-but it's also exceptionally well-concealed. Most of your opponents will never guess what you have until it's too late. The biggest problem you'll probably face is figuring out how to extract the most money from your opponents. It comes down to the age-old question: Play it fast or play it slow?

Before the flop, your chances against flopping a set were 7.5-to-1. Now that you've overcome those odds, your decision on how to proceed next should hinge on the particulars of the situation-the number and type of opponents you're up against, your position, the stakes involved, the size of the pot, the texture of the flop, and so forth. That said, the majority of poker players just love to slow play sets and will often do so to a fault. The typical betting pattern for a player holding a set is to check-call on the flop and then check-raise the turn. Oftentimes this can be the best way to go, but in many instances it's a mistake. Lack of speed can kill.

Sets may be powerful hands, but they are not invincible. An unimproved set can be an expensive liability if your opponent manages to make a straight, flush, or better. So if the flop contains two suited cards or any kind of a straight draw-and most flops support some kind of straight draw-then you should seriously consider playing your set aggressively from the get-go. You want to charge drawing hands the maximum price for the chance to suck out on you. The last thing you want to do is give them a free or cheap card on the flop. If the turn card looks dangerous and one of your opponents suddenly springs to life and starts firing out chips, recognize that your set may now be second best. In that case, it's usually best to tone down your aggression-and hope the board pairs on the river.

Fast, aggressive play is the way to go if you're up against numerous opponents or the pot is already large. Notice how both these conditions will usually be true in low-limit games. Moreover, you should be less inclined to slow play when you're up against the kind of opponents who will keep calling your bets and raises regardless of what pathetic long shot trash they hold. Again, a typical scenario in lower limits. So in small stakes, the combination of all these factors means that it often becomes correct to play sets aggressively on the flop, rather than waiting for the turn.

When conditions are flipped and the action is shorthanded or the pot is small, it's more rewarding to slow play. Shorthanded, you are far less concerned about another player drawing to a hand that could beat you. With a dinky little pot, you want to get some money in the middle before springing the trap. The same applies if the board is especially ragged, with no apparent draws. Barring some sort of freakish bad beat, or the rare occurrence of losing out to a higher set-and you're pretty much destined to lose a big chunk of chips whenever that happens-your set is a huge favorite to drag the pot. So build it up!

Barbara Connors is a sucker for classic old movies, science fiction, and the St. Louis Cardinals. Her life's ambition is to figure out the unusual behavior patterns of that unique breed of humans who call themselves poker players. Contact her at fyreflye222@yahoo.com.