I hope you have time to answer my questions. I badly need clarity. Thanks!

1. In one of my games, I have a pocket pair 7-7, and then I have a set because of the flop, it was one overcard and 2 suited cards. I guess it gave someone else a flush draw. Eventually, one opponent went all-in and I’ve seen he has more chips than me. As a result, I placed him on at least a top pair as well as a flush draw. Like at this instance, whenever your opponent is on a flush draw and went all-in, what do you normally do? Do you fold or immediately call his all-in instead?
2. In my game the other day, I had a top pair, top kicker. I had a A-Q and then the flop is Q-10-2 rainbow. I remembered that the game was very passive and loose then, having numerous calling stations. At some point, I longed to thin out the field to get at least 4-5 callers but I know it was a hard thing to do. Eventually, I started thinking of some stuff.

I wondered, if in the event you get called by someone, do you check the turn? And in case you bet the turn, is there a need for you to bet a large amount? If you have to and then he calls, does it mean you’re beaten and check-fold the river?

3. Oftentimes, I lose lots of money by just merely guarding my hand as well as doing the thinning out of the field stuff. Because of this, I thought of betting less to let everyone in. At some point, I also thought of betting just the necessary amount to thin out the field. I don’t know which is which.

Please help me.

Thanks!

Luis

Luis,

1. You are going to call his all in. You still have the lead and he is still drawing. Granted, they had a big chance to hit their hand, but they are still laying a heavy price to hit their draw. Also, you do have 7 outs on the flop, and 10 on the turn to make your full house which gives you around a 30% chance to resuck out on him if he hits. You have the advantage here. Take it.
   
2. In the scenario with A-Q your problem comes with there being so many people staying in. Are they on draws? Did they flop top pair with a worse kicker? Did they have pocket 2’s and flop a set? It becomes difficult to decipher sometimes. If the turn does not produce a third straight or flush card, you need to take charge and bet out. If they call again, you need to see what the river falls. Again, if it is unthreatening, you should be out and take the lead. If it does complete a draw, slow down.
   
3. Sometimes you will lose money doing this. Typically a bet of around 30% to 40% of the pot is sufficient to thin out most players. If there are potential draws on the board, you need to bet enough to keep them from having sufficient odds to draw. Don’t bet less and let more people in. When you let people into the pot, you are inviting them to outdraw you. You need to avoid this.

I’m now bothered because of what I have found out in your Questions/Comments section, specifically the one about sets vs flush draws/top pair top kicker. As I read the situation of the sender, I remembered something. I remembered actually the same situation I had.

Well, to be honest, I don’t agree with your advice about betting again on the turn. I believe the problem is that bad players do not know the value of their hands well enough therefore you don’t have the chance to gather valid, significant information about your possible bet by which is against them. Just for like in one of my recent games, I had JJ preflop, I raise, one player calls, flop comes “3 5 9″. Then I bet and he calls. The turn comes another 9, and I bet while he goes all in. I then fold and he had 3 5 as a proof that he was not bluffing at all. Think about it, he didn’t know that two pair was already not for him.

I’m sorry to say this, but I believe the only way to win in tourneys is to steal blinds when the blinds go up and build up strong foundation for your chips.

Please, don’t think that I totally disagree with what you have said in your Questions/Comments section. Maybe somehow, my point of view is different.

Thanks!

Jesse

Jesse,

I’m not sure what your scenario had to do with sets vs flushes, but your point about bad players not knowing the value of their hands is a valid one. In situations such as those, the only thing you can do is to make note of how they are playing and punish them when you do flop a true monster.

In regards to tournaments, the way to get deep in tournaments has a lot to do with how competently you can steal blinds and antes in the later part of the tournaments.

By the way, in most cases, the player with the 3-5 will likely not make it that far, and if they do, they usually get their stacks taken late.