Playing top pair + pair on the board

Usually when I have questions like this I will usually just google, but I have noticed this happens so frequently that I need some personal insight.

Earlier I was betting a hand where I had pocket 10s10c's
the flop was 7h7d5d

I had a great pair, but there was a strong possibility of someone having three of kind themselves. I was one on one against just the one player and checked, only to have them bet me on the turn card so I folded.

I also experienced the exact same thing twice in a row. What's the best way to play these kind of hands?

I think it would be more beneficial if you convert the hand using the hand converter. It makes analysing a hand much easier. There is no "best way" to play any hand as such, a lot of it depends on how your opponent is going to play.

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Originally Posted by seven-deuce

I think it would be more beneficial if you convert the hand using the hand converter. It makes analysing a hand much easier. There is no "best way" to play any hand as such, a lot of it depends on how your opponent is going to play.

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This. You'll need to buy some tracking software to do so, which is a worthwhile investment if you think that you'll really get into poker. If you don't know what this is, look up Holdem Manager or Poker Tracker and watch some videos on them too.

Generally speaking though with over pairs, you should bet until given reason not to continue. Reasons not to continue include being raised at any point or if the board runs out horribly e.g. you have TsTc and the flop comes 234hhh and the turn comes 5h. This old article is well worth a read:

http://www.flopturnriver.com/poker-s...grinders-19587

I'd also strongly recommend you read the "stickies" in this forum and work your way through the Poker Strategy articles linked in the tab above.

Yeah, you need to get the hand history and post it. Otherwise we're just guessing at all the factors involved.

general abc play would be to either bet the flop and fold to a raise based on the fact that the opponent is unlikely to have a seven, and is likely to call with any pair lower than tens, and also with overcards. If you bet this flop then they are unlikely to raise this flop with hands you beat.
On the turn, your hand is under-represented after you check the flop, so call turn for sure.

but, the best play is opponent dependent. Ideally you will have an idea of your opponent's playing style and this will aid your decision making.

You gotta bet the flop with an overpair. You don't have to call if they raise you, but you gotta bet.

When you didn't bet, you leveled yourself and got scared without any reason to be scared. How many 7's are in your opponent's pre-flop range? The bottom line is that your opponent has a lot of cards bigger than 7 in his range and, and the hands with 7's are only a portion of all the hands he could have.

If you bet the flop... now he has to be scared you have the 7... so you push the pressure onto him.

Unless he's a blindly raising bluff maniac, then you can be pretty sure that if he check/raises you on this flop, that your TT's have medium equity at most. He could be doing that with 88's, 99's (which you beat), or he could have JJ, QQ, KK, AA, 7x, which you have very little chance of beating. Maybe you think he would re-raise with AA, or KK, so maby those are less likely, but it's still not looking pretty for you. There are more hands that you lose to than hands that you beat.

For now, just think about that. Pot odds can sway your decision the other direction, but it's another level of complexity on top of this.

Focus on this for a while.

Im guessing you raised preflop with the 10's, so that flop shouldn't worry you, definitely bet the flop don't give any free cards away :)

You are one on one, and think there is a strong possibility that you are up against a set? Or were you up against more players, don't really understand what you mean, sorry.

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Originally Posted by PokerKing

You are one on one, and think there is a strong possibility that you are up against a set? Or were you up against more players, don't really understand what you mean, sorry.

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In Hold Em, a set is when you hold a pocket pair, with the 3rd card on board. When the pair is on the board and a player holds the 3rd card in their pocket, it's called trips. They're both "3 of-a-kind".

I don't mean to nitpick, but the terminology has a specific use in Hold Em that it doesn't have in some other poker games.

:)

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Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey

In Hold Em, a set is when you hold a pocket pair, with the 3rd card on board. When the pair is on the board and a player holds the 3rd card in their pocket, it's called trips. They're both "3 of-a-kind".

I don't mean to nitpick, but the terminology has a specific use in Hold Em that it doesn't have in some other poker games.

:)

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?????

I was not questioning what a set is, but if he was up against one or more players in the hand LOL Sorry if my English isn't good enough :)

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Originally Posted by PokerKing

?????

I was not questioning what a set is, but if he was up against one or more players in the hand LOL Sorry if my English isn't good enough :)

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I know you weren't asking what a set is, but you asked if Hero thought a Villain had a set here.

By the terminology I described, it is impossible for any player to have a set on a paired board. DUCY
(DUCY is a poker shorthand for "Do You See Why?")

I'm only trying to help you feel more comfortable in using the most direct terminology to make your point. I was corrected in the same manner when I first joined FTR.

I appreciate you taking the time to learn English. Consider this one more definition in a crazy language of loopholes.

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To answer your question, it says in OP that Hero was "one on one against just the one player".

In poker, when only 2 people are involved in a hand, it's called "Heads Up".

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MadMojoMonkey

I know you weren't asking what a set is, but you asked if Hero thought a Villain had a set here.

By the terminology I described, it is impossible for any player to have a set on a paired board. DUCY
(DUCY is a poker shorthand for "Do You See Why?")

I'm only trying to help you feel more comfortable in using the most direct terminology to make your point. I was corrected in the same manner when I first joined FTR.

I appreciate you taking the time to learn English. Consider this one more definition in a crazy language of loopholes.

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To answer your question, it says in OP that Hero was "one on one against just the one player".

In poker, when only 2 people are involved in a hand, it's called "Heads Up".

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You are right. I just read it again, I think I just stuck to his three of a kind, and then forgot the flop LOL

He wrote:

I was one on one against just the one player and checked, only to have them bet me on the turn card so I folded.

It's the them that confuses me here LOL

"They" or "Them" is often used in English for a gender-neutral pronoun even when referring to only one individual. "He" is also used as a default that needn't exclude women (or girls) but this can be considered non-PC (politically correct) these days ..and some writers now use feminine pronouns as a counter to this (which always seems weird to me -esp where the population is overwhelmingly male).

Short answer to OP is bet the flop or call that turn but don't get too attached to the hand. It is likely your TT is still good here. If your opponent calls or raises your bet then you should seriously consider that you might be in trouble.
Many people will bet any Turn after a check-check flop so his bet in this case had a very high bluff rate.

It seems to me, he was looking for general advice rather than a specific hand so the 'villain' doesn't matter.