Help me with a big leak in my game

[jlp_2908]

Im pretty new, but i have been showing a consistent profit on cash tables and tourny tables.
This post is concerning the cash tables, where I have found out where i lose MOST of my stack(sometimes as much as a buy-in but I usually win it all back....slowly). I have kept from goin on tilt Im pretty good like that.
My leak is when I get two pair or trips on the flop.
So, as usual, I bet aggressivly just as I would if I had top pair or whatever. It seems, when I have top pair or semi-bluff, everyone usually folds then, or on a later street. Oddly enough, when I have trips or two pair I get ALOT of action, even with no flush or straight drawy in sight, which should be good, right? Nope. I have only won maybe 2 out of 5 of them. It seems when I flop trips someone flops a HIGHER set, and when I flop two pair someone flops TRIPS.
I find these really hard to read cause trips are concealed especially when you have them yourself.(what are the odds of someone flopping a higher set????????)
So I need help with this leak, i bet aggressively and usually end up betting most of my stack. Should I be raising my low pocket pair more often? (8,8 etc) I dunno, how do you get a good read on these type of plays?

[weknowhowtolive]

Numero Uno...there is a difference between trips and a set. A set is when you hold a pocket pair, say 88 and a third 8 hits.

Trips is when you hold say, AK, and KKX comes on the board.

A set is a better hand to hold because it is more disguised and leaves more room for improvement as such.

There is no way to just plug a leak like getting beat by 2 pair by a set or set over set. It is just playing and learning. You will slowly develop a sense of when to slow down and proceed a little more cautiously.

If you think you may be beat by a set or something higher, or you are getting reraised a lot with a hand, just slow down. Maybe call it down rather than raising.

Another thing you want to do is learn to use position. A hand like 66 may be great to raise with from the button in an unraised pot, but from UTG you are probably going to fold it or limp in.

[mvdgaag]

I think your memory of your experiences may be biased. It is very easy to remember all the times you get action against a set and forget the top pairs where someone had a better hand. Use a program like poker office or poker tracker and see how many of your sets got action and why. Your leak may be overplaying your hands.

Also you might play big hands wrong. If you hit a set on a 5s6s9d board someone might easily outdraw you if you think you should play it slow (like very many players do). While if you hit top pair you will probably not give them the odds to draw. There is as much reason to protect a set against a straight or flush as there is for one or two pair, because they'll all lose against these hands.

I don't know any specifics about your game, so the only thing I can advise is to review the hands and see if you were just unlucky to face a better hand or playing it wrongly.

GL

[Ralph Wiggum]

If you're getting beat set over set on the flop frequently, then you're running bad, really bad.

If you're putting in all your money with 2 pair constantly when your opponent isn't backing off, then you may be overplaying your hand occasionally.

If you're just running into a lot of sets, then that's really unfortunate.

As far as developing reads, it comes with a better understanding of the game & recognizing where your opponent's style of play falls within. This takes time.

gl

[EZgo]

Losing with a set to a bigger set, is not a leak. It's bad luck.

[mvdgaag]

Another thing I feel I should mention, quite obvious, but important: If the pot is big there is a reason for it. Your opponents didn't give up, because they have something that they think might beat you. Determine what you think your opponents would call you with and see if you were right. I bet you will often see that when the pot is big they had a bigger hand than you expected and therefore you lose more big pots than you should.

The solution: do do not bet big or at all when you are more likely to be called by a hand that beats you than by one that doesn't.

Set over set is something that is so rare that you better not even think about it, because outguessing yourself is going to cost more than the times you run into a bigger set.

About raising the pocket pairs... If you have position (or most likely have position after you bet) this is a good idea. If they check it to you you can rep a big hand and if they bet you can fold (or raise if you think they are weak). These times make a bit up for the times you don't hit a set. Also a raised pot is bigger to begin with, so if you hit a set you are more likely to be able to stack someone. And finally the bigger the pp the higher the likelyness that it is the best hand. So any pp is good for a set (since set over set is so rare), but they still have high card value!

GL

[jlp_2908]

Ya, I guess I should play the same way Im playing pretty much but more careful. I think these thing finally balance themselves out over time, cause today I got JJJ on the flop and someone else had 444...So you guys are right, Ill just be careful when it seems liek someone has something. Thanks!

[Wizzy33]

[ QUOTE ]
Oddly enough, when I have trips or two pair I get ALOT of action, even with no flush or straight drawy in sight, which should be good, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

It is better if there are flush or straight draws because if there aren't any then in order for you to get action with say 78 on 883 the person will likely need to have an 8 with a higher kicker. If the board is 688J with 2 of a suit then you can get action from a straight draw, or a flush draw as well.

[Number27]

I am grunching so forgive me if I am repetitive.

If you have 94 in the BB and the flop comes 993 rainbow and you lead all three streets for pot sized bets then you have effectively narrowed your opponents hand range to a point where you lose far more often than you win. This is because any sane opponent will not call without at least a 9.

The bottom line is you need to think about the board texture in combination with your opponents tendencies and the strength of your hand. There are alot of books that will tell you to fire away when you flop a good hand; but in the example above your hand will probably only be good in a smallish to medium sized pot. If you tried to play for stacks with this hand you are going to lose in the long run.

Also, sets are different than trips because they are far less obvious. It is correct to play for stacks far more often with a set because your opponent could have alot of hands that you crush like TPTK, Top Two, or a good draw.

Bottom line: Exercise some pot control with your medium strength hands. What hands are medium strength depends entirely on the board, your image, your opponents image, and how the game has been playing.

[Bullzeye]

The only way to know if your sets are beat is know how your opponet has been playing. If it is someone who has not played many hands and plays extremely tightly u might want to be careful. Like "weknowhowtolive" advised you might want to just call it down and hope that your set comes up on top. On the other hand if the opponet has been playing a little crazy on hands like this u might want to raise a high amount to send him the message that "u have the goods" or just go all-in to scare him off. Your leak in your game is that you need to be able to read the player, know how he plays( which is gained by paying attention to ,not only him but everybody)and what he does in situations. Keep in mind that the key to these tight situations is protecting your hand. If u raise a high amount Pre-flop(while you still only have the pair) it can help narrow down the number of players that could have had the potential of grabbing a higher trip.