Hi there - long time lurker, first time poster

So I'm three or four months into poker and breaking even on $5 SNGs. Seem to win one then go out on the bubble for the next two

I keep on finding myself in the following situations and would appreciate hearing what you guys might do. Note - these are both from late position.

Situation 1: I get some combination of A, K, Q which aren't paired. Preflop I raise from late position 3 x BB and a few of the callers fold and one or two stay in. Flop comes. No face cards and no straight or flush draws. I then get a big bet of around pot size and need to decide what to do. More often than not I will lay this hand down but it's tough - the flop is bad and if someone else is up there with two high unpaired cards, it could also help me out if they make their pair + their pre-flop betting doesn't indicate that they are sitting on a monster.

Situation 2: Late position and I get a medium pocket pair like 8, 9, 10. It's called round to me in late position. Do I put in a huge raise to try to take down the pot then, or try to flop the set cheaply? If a single overcard comes to my pair then I have to fold at pretty much any big bet - leading me towards the big raise. However, I don't want to bet too big as if I have single caller then the chances are that I'm dea and I've just thrown away my chips.

Situation 3: Not a lot of information on this one, but pretty much every hand I lose is where I'm on 2 pair and lose to trips or a higher two pair (with no pair on the board.) I think I am over-valuing 2 pair massively and wonder what your thoughts are on this. I guess you will need more info on this. I will post some hand histories.

Some of these decisions are probably 'just poker' and depend on a lot of other factors - but if anyone has any ideas on what factors I should be taking into account then please do share!

These "situations" are all so generalized, I can't really give any substantive response to how to play them. What are your opponents like? What are the stack sizes? Is this a tourney or a ring game? What are the blinds? What is your table image? How is the table playing?

Why don't you post some hand histories and we'll start there.

Hello there

Originally Posted by benjamin2005

Hi there - long time lurker, first time poster
Situation 1: I get some combination of A, K, Q which aren't paired. Preflop I raise from late position 3 x BB and a few of the callers fold and one or two stay in. Flop comes. No face cards and no straight or flush draws. I then get a big bet of around pot size and need to decide what to do.

Fold to a pot-sized bet in this situation. You have two overcards but cannot even guarentee that if you hit one them you will be ahead. You are getting 2 to 1 on the pot, but the odds of you winning the are worse than that. There are always exceptions but the usual play here is to fold.

Situation 2: Late position and I get a medium pocket pair like 8, 9, 10. It's called round to me in late position. Do I put in a huge raise to try to take down the pot then, or try to flop the set cheaply? If a single overcard comes to my pair then I have to fold at pretty much any big bet - leading me towards the big raise. However, I don't want to bet too big as if I have single caller then the chances are that I'm dea and I've just thrown away my chips.

Either is correct depending on the context though I tend towards a limp with mid-pairs in this situation as their value is often in sets. The other option is to push allin as you probably have the limpers beaten and at worse will be a coinflip v a caller with the equity of the folded limps (pick your spot for this though).

Situation 3: Not a lot of information on this one, but pretty much every hand I lose is where I'm on 2 pair and lose to trips or a higher two pair (with no pair on the board.) I think I am over-valuing 2 pair massively and wonder what your thoughts are on this. I guess you will need more info on this. I will post some hand histories.

This could be a result of your starting hand selection criteria. If you play J8 and hit two pair on a flop of AJ8 you can expect to be filleted fairly regularly. It could be a bunch of other reasons as well though.

Situation 1: Fold sounds good - at $5, anything is possible. I'm not a fan of 3x raises at this level though. No need to mix up your play or try to pull in a caller.

Situation 2: I like to play hit-or-miss with pocket 10s and lower at such a low level. With so many opponents on the flop, bet 'em if you got 'em, fold 'em if you don't.

Situation 3: Too general for me to even think about.