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Here is the setup....

Say I get dealt any really nice starting hand, for this example AK suited. I make the appropriate pre-flop raise (2-3x big blind) and end up with 2-3 other players. Flop comes rainbow K, 10, 5. I bet an amount, about the size of the pot, one person calls. Turn shows a blank and I make another pot-sized bet, person comes over me all-in.

Now suppose this is relatively early-on in the game and I haven't had a chance to get a good feel for this players style. I get a pit in my stomach, knowing that I'm most likely beat, but I make the call anyway. Should this be an easly lay-down? This has bitten me hard the last few times, because I make the call only to find the person flopped a set of 10s and allowed me to bet into them a few times before destroying me.

I guess my real question is how do you avoid losing your stack with high pair, best kicker when someone is sitting on a low to mid set? There have been enough times that I make the call in the situation above only to find that the person had KQ and gives me his entire stack. Should I be more conservative with high-pair big kicker and only put my entire stack at risk when I'm more confident in the result?

Thanks for your advice,

J

Answer: Thanks for the question. In no limit holdem, it is very easy to get trapped in hands when you only have top pair. If you haven't had enough time at the table with a player, then you are often faced with tough decisions. Like you mentioned, sometimes the player has a weaker kicker, other times they have you drawing nearly dead (like with the set). Unless you are very good at reading hands, you are going to inevitably make mistakes. You'll either call in a bad spot one time and get busted or give up a big pot by folding the winner.

My main defense for this -- especially at the early part of sit and go tournaments -- is to make my preflop betting significant enough to purge all the crappy hands. If I get action, it should be only from one or two players max and I should have a fairly good idea where they are at in the hand. If you only raise 2 or 3 times the big blind early in a sit-and-go tourney, you are more likely to get 5+ callers. With hands that I am likely to get trapped in -- big pairs, AK, etc -- I like to make sure that my preflop raise sets me up well for the rest of the hand. Note that AA, KK and AK do best against other quality hands.

The last thing you want is more than two unknown hands in the pot. I'm not looking to make a huge amount with the hand unless someone else has a good hand at the sametime (AA vs KK for example). So the first tip is to raise more chips early on in the tournament with your good hands. Don't take the approach that you are going to try to trap people with AA because that too often backfires post flop. Ideally you want to get the most money in preflop with your large hands that you can't get away from.

Next, being raised in no limit holdem is something that shouldn't be taken lightly. If you raise enough preflop, you define your hand. If the flop comes back with scare cards that obviously made your hand and yet someone still puts a big raise over the top of you, it has to make you wonder if you still have the best hand. Nine times out of ten, if I get to that point of questioning, I'm behind in the hand.

The best case scenario if I call is that I win a big pot early in the tournament (not that big of a deal) but the worst scenario is that I'm out completely. Obviously, the latter in the tourney the game is, the more you are going to think about calling in these situations.

I'm less inclined to call big raises in no limit holdem when my hand is clearly defined. An example of this might be comparing AK when you flop an Ace to having KK with a Queen high flop. With AK hitting an Ace or King, after you bet the flop and turn cards, it is fairly obvious you liked the flop. When the other guy decides to move all-in, what are the two options? Either he is trying to bluff (very unlikely), or he sees what you have and is executing the trap.

On the other hand, let's say the flop is Queen high and you have KK or AQ. A Queen high flop doesn't always look attractive to a big preflop raise so an all-in on the turn might be less strong. It is hard for me to generalize some tips because they are so situational but the best tip I can give is don't risk your entire stack until you have had enough time to pick up some information on the opponents. Play conservatively early on.

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