Way ahead or Way behind

[LimpinAintEZ]

I read this line yesterday and it got me to thinking about my NL game/thought process. I find myself oftentimes getting a flop to headsup preflop, hitting top pair and then taking the pot down on the flop with a good size bet. My thinking has always been that its better to take down the pot right there then to get in a big pot with an obvious hand. I tend to bet pretty aggro whenever I have a top pair hand that is probably best, but I don't like to mess around in these spots.

But i'm not really stacking too many people this way - Seems like i'm taking more stacks when i play a little SC or a J7 from the SB and flop 2 pair against the guy who thinks his AJ is gold. I'm either taking down the small pot or i'm getting in trouble because when they call the flop i've gotten myself into a big pot with a 1pr hand (when i'm just C-betting, i don't mind often giving up depending on my opponent)

In the example I read it was me having AK with a flop of something like A,9,3. It reccomended check/calling the flop and letting your opponent catch up. you can then bet the turn if opponent won't bluff at it, and if they are acting strong you can try to check/call for reasonable amounts (like whne you are behind)

Just as a general thought process, should I try to slow play TPTK kinda hands more often? Specifically in a heads up post flop decision, not against 3 or 4 players...but maybe its a good idea to slowplay a hand like this against opponents who will make stabs?

The reason i'm wondering is because I find oftentimes lately i'm taking down pots on the flop alot and my big hands aren't getting paid off too much - so maybe i'm being too predictable - I usually get paid off the best when i flop something weird and someone else thinks top pair is gold - or is just the way NL is supposed to go?

sorry if this is too vague -

[andmunn]

Here's my thinking:

I generally never slowplay unless i have the nuts, and it's unlikely that my opponents will catch up. I generally do not even slowplay a set - however, i play everything exactly the same - even bluffs - so i don't believe there is any way anyone could get a read on me.

Slowplaying TPTK is asking for trouble - this by no means is a monster, and it's very possible someone will catch up.

Andrew.

[pgil]

I think if you occasionally check-call TPTK it's fine, as long as the board is uncoordinated and you think your opp might try to take it on a bluff/semibluff if checked to.

You may be either betting too much with TPTK to allow TPWK/2nd pr to call very often, and/or you could be very predictable to your opponents who will know that you have TP when you bet a certain way, both of which are bad.

I don't know if you want to be stacking most opps with just TPTK (this depends a lot on your opp however). Getting another round of betting in is usually as good as you can hope for.

If you are taking down a lot of pots on the flop uncontested then maybe you need to start taking down more of them without the hand. This will give you a little more money, and will likely lead to you being called/raised more often when you do have the hand. Even a small increase in aggression can help a lot.

[LimpinAintEZ]

yeah, i think i'm being pretty aggro most of the time - I read an article and the gist of it was something along the lines of If your opponent has something to call you with, go ahead and bet good amounts to build the pot - You either build a big pot with a big hand (not TPTK, but a big hand) or the guy doesn't have enough to call you - the point was that if he's going to fold, your not going to make much anyway by slowplaying - but when they are going to call you, you build a big pot with a big hand and get paid off - Part of this was that by building a big pot you can then bet 1/2 pot on river and its a "normal" sized bet, vs. pushing river or overbetting when you don't have much chance to get paid off then -

i've been taking that line of thinking a lot and it works when your against a player who won't lay down a draw or a donk who thinks their 2nd pair is good and your just bluffing again - but too many times im taking the pots down on the flop, so i'm trying to find the balance between getting a decent pot built up with a good hand, vs. "protecting" against drawing hands -

guess stacking was the wrong word - I have layed down overpairs and TPTK hands for stacks plenty lately - I have learned that 1 pair is "usually" not the way to play for stacks...I just mean i feel like sometimes i'm taking pots down too fast, as if i'm always scared that someone is going to suck out on me with a 2nd pair or whatever - So I am trying to slow down a bit, and evaluate my thinking in these spots...