Pot Control Vs Protecting Your Hand

[linkwood 0]

I'm having trouble lately finding the balance between the two concepts of pot control and protecting your hand. I find that i get into a lot of situations where i have a one pair hand on a board with draws and i get into a situation where i don't want to make a monster pot with this hand but i also want to make sure i'm protecting my hand. Here's an example.25/.50 nlHero ~65Villian ~100Villian is somewhat LAG and tricky. He will slowplay hands, but he can also bet them fast, whether its a draw or a big hand. Hero is in CO with KhQh and raises to 1.50. Villian (Button) calls. Blinds fold. Flop QdJc3c (pot 3.75)Hero bets 3.25, Villian callsTurn 7s (pot 10.25)Hero???Villians range is Q8+, AJ, 109, K10, Axc, Kxc, JJ, 33. Do you have to bet here? Do you ever go into c/c mode? What if you had AJ instead, would that change things? I think i have a basic answer to these questions but i just want to see what everyone else thinks about this.

[Smank 0]

This is always a bet, not just for protection but for information and value. Think of it this way. If we bet, villian either:a) Folds, we win the potb) Calls, we gain information that we are most likely ahead as villian wouldn't slowplay on a draw heavy bored PLUS get more money in the pot, leading check/call or blocker bet the river for pot control oopc) Raises where we can assume our pair (which we have represented strength with on every street) is behind. If we check/called the turn we would have spent this money anyway, maybe even more by calling a bet on the river.If we check then villian either:a) Bets out, and we call but with no information about his hand orb) Checks behind and draws for free.You HAVE to bet the turn here, it's not even close.

[linkwood 0]

This is always a bet, not just for protection but for information and value. Think of it this way. If we bet, villian either:a) Folds, we win the potB) Calls, we assume we are ahead and can check/call or blocker bet the river for pot control oopc) Raises where we can assume our pair (which we have represented strength with on every street) is behindIf we check then villian either:a) Bets out, and we call but with no information about his hand orB) Checks behind and draws for free.You HAVE to bet the turn here, it's not even close.

true, and the example is more standard than i intended. what if your hand is weaker? like q-10 or a-j. does that change anything?

[No_Neck 0]

I'm having trouble lately finding the balance between the two concepts of pot control and protecting your hand. I find that i get into a lot of situations where i have a one pair hand on a board with draws and i get into a situation where i don't want to make a monster pot with this hand but i also want to make sure i'm protecting my hand. Here's an example.25/.50 nlHero ~65Villian ~100Villian is somewhat LAG and tricky. He will slowplay hands, but he can also bet them fast, whether its a draw or a big hand. Hero is in CO with KhQh and raises to 1.50. Villian (Button) calls. Blinds fold. Flop QdJc3c (pot 3.75)Hero bets 3.25, Villian callsTurn 7s (pot 10.25)Hero???Villians range is Q8+, AJ, 109, K10, Axc, Kxc, JJ, 33. Do you have to bet here? Do you ever go into c/c mode? What if you had AJ instead, would that change things? I think i have a basic answer to these questions but i just want to see what everyone else thinks about this.

I think with a hand like KQ you don't want to build a big pot, I would bet something like half the pot, you don't want a lot of heat with this hand so if you keep betting half the pot and fold to any aggression you will save yourself some money but still give them something that they have to call.Some villians this won't work against but those are also the villians you don't want to get involved in a huge pot with top pair second kicker.

[Smank 0]

A weaker hand like Q-10 just shows how much playing OOP sucks. The simple answer is unless you have a huge post-flop edge on villians, fold preflop.If we are BB in a limped pot I would probably just throw out a 1/2 pot probe bet to see where we are on the turn, unless villian is super tricky we should get a pretty good feel of where we are.

[lostless 0]

A weaker hand like Q-10 just shows how much playing OOP sucks. The simple answer is unless you have a huge post-flop edge on villians, fold preflop.If we are BB in a limped pot I would probably just throw out a 1/2 pot probe bet to see where we are on the turn, unless villian is super tricky we should get a pretty good feel of where we are.

If the pot is unopen folding QT in the CO is pretty tight escpecially if the table isn't full or this is 6 max. He is hardly out of position, he just happened to be called by the button.To be honest I hate this spot you are in here. I would probably lead for 6.50. This should get him to fold most 2nd pairs, weak top pairs and make him pay to draw. Plus it will slow him down a bit and if he calls we probably get a check-check river. I think we have the best hand often enough.The problem is if we check the turn I suspect the player you described will bet 70-80% of the time regardless of his holding, then we are in a worse spot.To be honest, I leave the table with a player like that directly to my left. There are far better games.

[Lavitz 0]

Havent read repliesThrow a half pot bet on turn. If river blanks c/c most bets.If he reraises turn then reevaluate but I probably fold. You're not ahead of much and when you are ahead, your lead is marginal.You dont want to be building a pot with TPGK usually. Especially when board isnt that friendly.