08- 4-04, LearnTexasHoldem:

Milk A Set In A Tourney?

Question: First off, I'd like to compliment you on your site. Along with the help of your site and experience, my game is really improving. Anyways, my question deals with heads up play. I just recently made it to the final two players in a tournament and I had pocket 8's. I matched an 8 on the flop so I was sitting pretty with 3 of a kind, but there was a possible straight draw. I slow played figuring my oppenent wouldn't catch anything. Bad move on my part. He caught the straight and won. In this situation, do I milk the pot and get the most I can out of my opponent or do I raise high so he folds? I'm guessing the chances of there being a straight draw along with my 3 of a kind happening often are fairly slim. Would it be wise to milk the pot with 3 of a kind when there's no straight draw and bet strong when there is a straight draw?

Thanks for your time

Top 3 Beginner Rooms

Answer: If you don't lose a lot with a set, then you haven't played it correctly. In tourney play you are always balancing protecting your hand against getting value for it. Whenever looking back at a hand that you lost, compare what you did and what you would have done had you been able to see all the cards from the start. Would you have been that worried that he had a draw? Probably not.

You would be more then happy to have him call for it the whole way since you are such a huge favorite. No limit holdem is rarely played like people think it is -- you aren't just constantly going all-in. You want to make some money with your good hands so you make bets relative to the pot size and what you think you can get from your opponent.

If you were doing this, then you played the hand as well as you could. What should be going through your head when you have a set in a tourney is not, "how can I protect this hand" but "how can I get all this guys chips?"

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