Re: Winning big off trips?
Quote:
Originally Posted by surviva316
I use Renton's article as a crutch when I'm unsure of how to play a certain hand, but I think he's missing a tricky one by leaving out trips. I tend to check the flop if I hit trips (and I wasn't the preflop raiser obviously) because if I bet then the only calls i'm gonna get is from better hands. Is this the right play? I don't find myself winning any big pots with these hands because a lot of action often means i'm beat. How the heck do I build a pot against losing hands in this situation? (I have trouble from any position in the hand, that's why I didn't specify too much about the situation)
I guess it depends on the tendencies of the players you play against. At the tables I play at, players with two pair (i.e., a pair to the unpaired card) on a flop that is paired tend to bet that hand. E.g., if the flop is Q66, you see people betting with a pair of queens, figuring that only 2 cards can beat them.
Further, it is very dangerous to slowplay trips. As I have posted on several occasions, you should only slowplay when your reads put you so far ahead that it is unlikely that a player draws out on you, players are likely to fold to your bet, and a player is likely to be induced to bet if you check. Trips tend to fail the first condition, as they are usually vulnerable to all sorts of hands-- trips with a better kicker, straight and flush draws, sets (which become boats on a paired flop), and, if there is an overcard to the trips on the flop (such as in the Q66 example where you flop trip sixes), a card that completes a better full house on the turn or the river.
Occasionally, it is OK to slowplay trips where there is no overcard and you have a very good kicker, say flopping KK4 rainbow when you hold AK. In that situation, the only hand that beats you is 44, and anyone else other than pocket aces would need runner-runner to draw out on you. But usually, you have to bet your trips to price out the draws and also to see if there's someone else out there with a better hand.