Set vs Trips

I received the following email today from one of my SitNGoTraining.com readers:

Hey,

I was reading your sit and go training guide and this should be corrected.

• F = Fantastic--you flop a set or better.
  
• I = Interesting--you flop top pair with good kicker, two pair, trips, or 4 cards to a straight or flush draw.
  

You categorize a "set" as Fantastic and in the line below you categorize "trips" as Interesting. In my poker experience, a set and trips are the exact same hand. Which is correct?

I've received similar messages in the past, so I thought I would take a few minutes to hopefully clear up the confusion. 

For starters, it is a common misconception that a "set" and "trips" are the same thing. They are not. To clear this up I will first define these terms and then explain why a set is stronger than trips. 

• A "Set" is three of a kind when you hold two of the cards in the hole and one is on the board.
  
• "Trips" is also three of a kind. However, two of the cards are on the board and only one is in the hole. 
  

Here's an example of a set:

• Board: Kxx
  
• Hole Cards: KK
  

Here's an example of trips:

• Board KKx
  
• Hole Cards: Kx
  

(The x's represent other, non-paired, random cards)

Both are three of a kind but the configuration is different. Do you see the difference?

So why is a set stronger than trips? First, a set is less obvious (or more deceptive) than trips. It is harder to put someone on a pocket pair that hit the board than a single card that matches up with a board pair. In addition, in a situation when one player has a set and the other has trips, the set wins. Well how does that work. They are both three of a kind, correct? Wrong. For me to have a set and you to have trips means that there is a pair on the board (the pair you need for trips). As a result, if I have a set, that means I have a full house (I have a set which is three of a kind and your pair on the board gives me a full house). So my set will always beat your trips. No exceptions. 

• Board: KKQxx
  
• My Hole Cards: QQ
  
• Your Hole Cards: AK
  

I hope this helps explain why I value a set higher than trips in my Post-Flop Play Lesson--because a set is different than trips and (excluding potential draws) it is a stronger holding than trips. 

Good luck at the tables!!

Making The Right Decisions

I haven't been playing much lately. Been focusing on some projects that I have been managing overseas. But to be honest, I got a little burned out on poker. The rest was needed.

Last night we had some friends over to play a little friendly Texas Hold'em around the kitchen table. I felt good playing again. The game sparked that inner poker fire that had been burned out for a while. 

Tonight I decided to go back online and play a little. I started with a little limit Hold'em to warm up. Within about 10 minutes I had a pretty good feel for the players at the table and was able to "extract" some profit from the weaker players. I then moved on to a $20 sit n go tournament. 

I played my standard game, just as I teach on SitNGoTraining.com. I played a very patient game and made good decisions throughout. We were still at an M of about 40 by the time we made it to the money. As a result, we had lots of time to wait, wait, and wait, until the blinds rose enough to start forcing plays.

With three players left, we were about even in chips, but it was time to start shoving. I waiting for the proper situations to shove. Finally, the big opportunity came. The player to my right had been raising the pot on each button. He did this time also and I looked down to see QQ. Normally I would be excited to have QQ with three players left, in the money, and a raise-happy button. However, QQ and I have a bad history together. I don't have the exact statistics, but more times than not (many more times!), someone sucks out on me when I play QQ. If I were on the bubble I probably would have thrown it away. That is how bad my history has been! Throwing QQ away against a habitual button raiser. However, I couldn't let it go this time. He raised, I shoved. He turns over AKo.

The result of the hand isn't really what this message is about. The issue is about making the right decisions, regardless of your history in that situation. I almost folded the QQ because it has such a bad history for me. There might be some situations where folding QQ is the right decision. For example, if the button and I were equal in chips and the BB was all in (blinded out), if the button shoved, it would probably make sense to fold and hope to get down to two players. But the three of us were about equal in chips and our stacks were about 8x the BB. So it is time to shove. 

The point is this. Know the right decisions before you are faced with them and more importantly, follow through on them regardless of your history. If you continue to make the right decisions, over time, you will profit from them.

Lights On!

I received an email today from one of my SitNGoTraining.com students. I love getting messages like this. Enjoy!

Hi, I just came across your blog yesterday, I have read the whole thing and improved my game already! I got Tournament Indicator, and placed 1st in the first tourney, and 2nd in the second one. I just wanted to say THANK YOU! That program and your blog have made me feel like I have been driving at night without the lights on, and finally I figured out where the switch is to turn them on! ;)  I really hope your blog continues soon, and you go over some of the strategy for the big, multi-table tourneys! Have a great day, and Happy Election Day! :)

Kristina

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Why Bankroll Management?

I regularly check my visitor referral information at SitNGoTraining.com. The referral information tells me where visitors come from and how they found my site. Many visitors come to my site as a result of a question they typed into one of the major search engines. Just yesterday a visitor typed the following question:

What does poker bankroll management protect you from?

What a great question. I have addressed this in my lesson on bankroll management but I wanted to expand on one of the reasons in this post.

One of the primary reasons for bankroll management is to protect you for the inevitable swings that WILL occur in your luck. That's right, I said the nasty word... LUCK. No matter how skilled you are as a player, poker still involves luck. Just ask Phil Hellmuth who is quoted as saying... "If there weren't luck involved I guess I'd win every one!"

I've often heard the coin-toss analogy used to explain the luck swings. In a nutshell, if you flip a coin enough times it will land heads roughly half the time and tails the other half of the time. However, it won't rotate evenly between head and tails. For a period of time it might land heads many more times than it does tails. And other times it might land tails many more times than it does heads. This is the luck swing that I am referring to. You have no control over it and it will happen regardless of anything you do to try to stop it.

There will be times when the cards go your way--when luck is in your favor and it seems like you can do no wrong. We've all been there (and love it!), but it never lasts. There will also be times when you are playing your best game (or at least you think you are!) but the cards just don't seem to go in your favor--your opponent catches that one-outer, or your draws never seem to complete. It is during these negative times that you must have a large enough bankroll to continue playing through the negative swing until your luck balances out.

So back to the question... What does poker bankroll management protect you from? It protects you from the inevitable swings that will occur as a result of bad luck. If you have a large enough bankroll you can play through the swings without worrying about going broke.

Now, if you feel like you are constantly on the negative side of the luck swing, maybe you need to focus on developing your skill further! For free poker strategy and training, check out my website at SitNGoTraining.com.

Good LUCK at the tables!