Joined: May '10
Location: Serbia
Age: 45 (M)
Posts: 128
Past few days I have been losing a lot due to the fact that I find it hard to recognize if someone has hit a set. And it is also hard for me to fold my two pair even when i got the read on someone. How do you manage to see if someone has hit a set online?
Joined: Jul '10
Location: South Africa
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 33
Good question...I've struggled with the same problem. Sets and over pairs to the board are probably the hardest to read. Beluga/m theorem says if you hit top pair top kicker and and he raises you on the flop, turn and ships/all in on the river then u are likely up against a set. Would love to hear other opinions on this.
Joined: Oct '10
Location: Germany
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 86
there is just no way of telling, you only can have a hunch.
a set is the hardest hand to tell. Sometimes when a tight player starts betting big on a flop which doesnt offer any draws you can be sure he hit set or plays overpair. Sometimes when you play together with some players for a long period of time you might get a tell from betting pattern. I cant think of any other situation where you can really tell. It gets even harder if more players are in a hand.
Joined: May '08
Location: Germany
Age: 59 (M)
Posts: 6787
Posted by Mudadzija: How do you manage to see if someone has hit a set online?
Just look at his hole cards.
You can't see a set, as there is no sign of it on the board (unlike trips, a straight or a flush) So one can only get suspicious, if opponent likes to play a big pot on a dry board, when we have TPTK or an overpair. But you have to know your opponent. Does he overplay KQ on a K72 rainbow board, or does he have more of a hand?
Joined: Nov '09
Location: Poland
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1189
It's kinda easy against some players and nearly not impossible against other. Some people are limp/calling pockets preflop and folding when they didn't get set (set mining). If you see a player who limp/call pre and easy fold on flop you can be sure he is just normal set miner. And if he call/reraise u on flop u need to start thinking does he have it? Some more players are raising preflop with pockets also u need to check which of them are the one. Just remember AA/KK/QQ etc it's just a pair. Yea it's good preflop but even on flop it's easily beaten. When some opponent which u have no reads on play to agressive on weird flops u need to fold over pair sometimes.
Joined: Mar '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 6714
Some good answers, spotting it can be hard if playing a decent player with a decent hand, following good bankrollmanagment will allow for such hands, you will run in to just as many as those who will run in to you, just got to be sure you get paid for yours. As said above the limpers are oftten PP or weak A or outher weak hands that they will only play on the cheap, IMO if you involve yourself with them do so raising hard so that the sneeky 55 wont be given a chance to set. If you dont over value your cards and dont appear as a pusharound then you should be ok. A HUD should give you a good lead. See a players normal reaction to a flop, turn/river, any unusually play should ring some bells.
Joined: Feb '08
Location: United Kingdom
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1886
I agree that spotting a set is very hard to do. The really annoying thing is quite a lot of the time I've been able to put my opponent on a set but I've still called. If for example there's a low flop, I have an over pair and my opponents re-raised the turn. I've put them on hitting trips on the flop cos I know this is the kind of idiot to call with a low pair preflop but I still shove cos I've usually committed chips and the chances of them not having it are just enough to push my chips in. Actually it's probably tilt convincing me that's the right move. It's so hard to put your opponent on a set and go through with folding.
Joined: Apr '09
Location: Australia
Age: 40 (M)
Posts: 6483
As awood88 said it's not just about recognising it, it's about folding as well..
IMO - it's not so much about specifically recognising sets per se, it's more about recognising strength in general..
On lower limits I generally assume people have junk and unless i get familiar with a villian and decide they're a solid player. I'll normally call down check-raises etc with top 2 pair, etc.
However, at higher limits (nl100 +) I'll give a bit more credit to the regs and if they are representing strength I'll be more likely to lay down top 2, etc. However, don't be pushed around either. Sometimes you just have to accept your decision is based on the fact that you're ahead 60% of the time and the other 40% they flip a set and you lose. So long as you're using proper brm this shouldn't be a disaster every time : /
But yeh, sometimes even at lower limits it's obvious.. like you get a low-limit aggressive donk for example, they'll over play AK, K10, top pair, middle pair, draws etc.. Then they actually hit something and they LOVE to slow play it because they try and shove everybody off every other hand.. so it suddenly looks really suspicious, they start min-raising, check/calling, check/(min)raising etc. Look for changes in peoples style.. also great for picking bluffs.. those people that slow play their strong hands - suddenly act really aggressive when they're trying to rep a big hand, even though you KNOW that's not how they play their big hands..
Joined: Nov '09
Location: Poland
Age: 35 (M)
Posts: 1189
Posted by awood88: I agree that spotting a set is very hard to do. The really annoying thing is quite a lot of the time I've been able to put my opponent on a set but I've still called. If for example there's a low flop, I have an over pair and my opponents re-raised the turn. I've put them on hitting trips on the flop cos I know this is the kind of idiot to call with a low pair preflop but I still shove cos I've usually committed chips and the chances of them not having it are just enough to push my chips in. Actually it's probably tilt convincing me that's the right move. It's so hard to put your opponent on a set and go through with folding.
Joined: Dec '09
Location: Romania
Age: 33 (M)
Posts: 587
Posted by wesleyj: Good question...I've struggled with the same problem. Sets and over pairs to the board are probably the hardest to read. Beluga/m theorem says if you hit top pair top kicker and and he raises you on the flop, turn and ships/all in on the river then u are likely up against a set. Would love to hear other opinions on this.
or he just represent o very strong hand and you can call him only with a set or better .
Joined: Oct '09
Location: South Africa
Age: 38 (M)
Posts: 92
just watch out for the check-reraise on the flop or the check-call then check-reraise on the turn. The check reraise is usually a sign of super strength which usually = set
Joined: May '09
Location: Croatia
Age: 39 (M)
Posts: 20583
its hard to fold,hard to pay or bet!its good chance that he have set,but you cant know if he try to bluff you,so pretty hard to decide what to do!but sometimes its better to fold(even its bluff) and stay on table,then to pay and lose!
Joined: May '09
Location: India
Age: 37 (M)
Posts: 4873
its real hard to find if someone has set on a no-draw board but you should get suspicious when a tight player starts betting big and dnt overplay ur two pair, its not that gud of a hand to get broke.
A usual case that you might find at table is a limper who calls when you raise more than 5xbb. If he get the set with a weak flop, you will know because he will call each bet or even he would raise if a flush or straight draw is on the table
Joined: May '08
Location: Sweden
Age: 55 (M)
Posts: 1362
A lot of good answers has already been posted, and I am certainly not BMR:s best player. But one thing I have noticed is, that pretty fresh players usually call you on the flop, checkraise the turn, and all in the river.
Joined: May '10
Location: Serbia
Age: 45 (M)
Posts: 128
So generally it is the best to spot the change in behavior of the opponent, and if the composition of the board is such that there is no possible strong hand. The best thing there is to get away with as little damage as possible.
Joined: Mar '10
Location: Greece
Age: 44 (M)
Posts: 31
Write notes on player how bet his set in flop-turn-river if you saw his cards in showdown and compare his betting pattern with other hands he showed. (I suggest to avoid being you that come in showdown with his set )
Joined: Oct '08
Location: Estonia
Age: 48 (M)
Posts: 446
Best way to be really sure, that opponent has set, is to see his cards. And if he has pocket pair and same card is on the table, he has set. All other methods to make sure, does he have set or not, are not accurate and you can only guess. I always want to be sure, so im not guessing.
Joined: Oct '10
Location: Switzerland
Age: 38 (M)
Posts: 23
I think its realy hard to recognize that a player has hit a set. The problem is, that you probably loose more, if you fold every time you re afraid of a set.
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