On bet sizing

while i read the entire thing i'll confess to not paying a huge amount of attention.

anyway as you probably have figured out - guess what - big pairs are vulnerable, and the most players in the pot the more people have a chance to own you.
and in single raised pots (specially if they're multiway) you're going to have a tough time getting people to overplay one pair, so no surprise you're often behind when the money goes in

reeeeally most often the most +EV way to play KK+ will be to just bet/raise/shove preflop. QQ, JJ, AK are more situational.

- How do I make the most out of the strongest pairs without losing to weaker hands on flop/turn?
- When should I just secure the pot?
- When should I slowplay my hands preflop?

- Bet
- When you get the most value
- Never, your not phil hellmuth.

Originally posted by Gnillperker
Hey community! It's a little long, needed to clear some thoughts though, please bear with me!

Lately I've been losing hands I feel I shouldn't lose, partly because I've been trying to slowplay some of my hands. Its been working against me though, I've been trying to conceal my top hands. Especially hands like AA, KK and AKo ect. However, I can't seem to figure out what is the more profitable play: to get many to join the pot, or to win it as soon as possible?

When i slowplay AA for example, by calling instead of raising, I keep losing to
weaker hands or finding myself in situations I don't want to be in.

If you are trying to conceal hands by calling you are probably not raising enough and people think a raise from you = nuts. The easy fix: learn to play more hands, especially IP.

Why do we bet? - or put differently, how to make the most out of strong hands?

Value bet them a lot and fold when you know you are beat.

I find more money gets in the pot if I call than if I raise. And if someone raises before me preflop, it might be better to call to make entering the pot more attractive to others. It's a two-edged sword though.

It's not a two-edged sword, it's just bad for your raising range and it's the best way to lose with the strong preflop hands since you will always feel commited to the pot and pay off the other players.

AKo is hard to play slow though, it's not even close to as good as I though that hand might be. You only hit around 25% of the time.. and I often have to fold when they call my cbet with ease.. its a tough laydown!

But with Kings, Queens, Aces (and maybe Jacks) I don't want the others to fold preflop. How do I balance this so I don't lose to weaker hands on the flop? Should I raise (min-raise maybe?)/ 3 bet?

I guess my thoughts boil down these questions:

- How do I make the most out of the strongest pairs without losing to weaker hands on flop/turn?
- When should I just secure the pot?
- When should I slowplay my hands preflop?

... or something like that

tips and constructive criticism will be appreciated!

PS:
What to do when you have top pair As (or less)? on rainbow flop?
Isn't it better to "c-bet" than to play him out of the hand?

The best advice I can give you is to join the NL Beginners Course here.

Regards,
Manu.