Should I build this pot or protect my hand?

I am often faced with this decision, and it is an important one.  There are times when you have a great made hand like top pair/top kicker that is vulnerable to draws.  There are also times when you have a monster made hand like a full house or in some situations, even a set (3 of a kind) where it is best to build a pot rather than eliminate opponents.  How do you know whether you should protect your hand with raises and check/raises, or build a big pot?  For that matter, how do you protect your hand?  How do you build a big pot?  These are critical skills to a limit Texas Hold’em player, especially in small stakes.

Protecting your hand basically means using any means necessary to prevent other players with draws from having pot odds to call.  This often comes down to check/raising from early position when, hopefully, someone in late position bets and there are players between the bettor and you who will be forced to cold call 2 bets.

Here’s a classic example:  You’re under the gun (first to act after the blinds) with As Kc (Ace of Spades, King of Clubs).  You raise, and there are 2 callers including the big blind, so there are now 6 small bets in the pot.

The flop comes Kh (King of hearts), 7d (7 of diamonds), 6c (6 of clubs).  This is a great flop for AK; however, it is vulnerable to a straight draw or even a backdoor flush draw.  If someone is holding a 4-5 or 8-9, you want to make them pay dearly for their draw, and hopefully force them into making a mistake by either calling when they do not have pot odds, or even better getting them to fold.

If the big blind bets, you can raise immediately, forcing the limper behind you to face calling 2 bets cold.  Often they will fold; however, let’s look at the math:

There were 6 small bets in the pot preflop, and the big blind bet the flop and you raised.  There are now 9 small bets in the pot.  If the limper holds 8-9 for an open ended straight draw, they have 8 outs to the straight.  A good player knows that in order to call with 8 outs, they need 4.75:1 on their money.  They are faced with calling 2 bets cold in a pot with 9 bets, so they are now getting 4.5:1, just slightly less than the required 4.75:1.

That’s a very contrived example, and honestly, considering the implied odds, or the likelihood that if the open ended straight draw completes on the turn or the river, that the player will pick up extra bets, actually make up for, and make the draw profitable.

It might be better to check/raise the turn rather than the flop, where the betting units double.  Let’s say you smooth-call the big blind’s bet, and the limper also calls.  There are now 9 small bets, or, converting to turn/river units, 4.5 big bets.  The turn is a blank, that doesn’t improve anyone’s hand, and doesn’t complete the open ended straight draw – let’s say it’s a 2s (2 of spades).

If the big blind bets again on the turn, there will now be 5.5 big bets in the pot.  You raise, making it 7.5 big bets.  Now, the limper faces a similar situation, except the math has now changed.  They are faced with calling 2 bets cold, so instead of getting 4.5:1, they are now getting 3.75:1 on their money – definitely a bad call.  They should (correctly) fold; however, if they do call, they are making a big mistake that will net you additional money over the long run.  Implied odds aren’t quite as dangerous here, although still valid – if the straight gets there, it’s easier to fold a weak made hand, or at best call just one more bet rather than 2, on the turn and river.  It’s frustrating when someone does make a bad call like this and they do get there on the river, but you have to keep reminding yourself that they are making mistakes and will more often pay you off, so in the long run this is good news.

So protecting your hand is basically manipulating pot odds in creative ways to try and force opponents into either folding or making a mistake by calling when they don’t have pot odds.  Sometimes the situation does not allow you to protect your hand easily, for instance if you are in late position and someone in early position bets out.  It is difficult to protect your hand in this situation because often the players between the early position bettor and you, who called one bet, will also call your raise since they have already invested one bet into the pot anyway.  It’s rare that you’ll see someone fold to a raise after they’ve invested a bet already.

In that situation, by raising you are building a bigger pot, and potentially, offering pot odds to players who are drawing to either flushes or straights.  Remember, the bigger the pot, the fewer outs are needed to draw profitably.  After about 9 or so outs, the pot is almost always big enough to draw.

So when should you build a bigger pot?  This happens when you have a monster hand like quads, the nut flush, a straight flush, a royal flush, and even lesser hands like a set (3 of a kind) or even some monster draws like straight + flush draws.  In those situations, you can focus on building a bigger pot rather than eliminating players because usually (hopefully) they are drawing to 2nd best hands.

One of the classic situations is when you make quads (I like to call them quadzillas) and someone else has made a full-house.  I remember one hand where I was holding pocket 7s, and the flop came A-7-3.  I flopped middle set, and bet the flop.  A woman in late position raised, and I reraised.  She capped, and I considered the possibility that she either had a set of Aces, or maybe she had A-7.  That she raised preflop meant there was a pretty good chance she had Aces, and I was way behind.  Until the turn.  The miracle turn was the case 7, meaning I now have quadzillas!   She could not have A-7 and I was about 99% certain she had AA.  I checked, she bet, I raised, she reraised, and I capped.  On the river the action was exactly the same – I checked, she bet, I raised, she reraised, and I capped.  I showed my quads, and she showed a full-house with Aces over 7s.  (She was so mad that she left the poker table.)

So basically, building a bigger pot means getting as many bets into the pot as possible, which often means smooth calling, encouraging players behind you to call as well.  You have to be extremely careful when doing this, that you aren’t letting someone draw to beat you.  You are, by definition, not protecting your hand, so you have to certain that the other players are drawing to 2nd best hands.

Here are some situations that allow you to build a pot:

• If an early position player has bet and there have been callers, and you are last to act you might consider raising.  If the original bettor calls it will encourage the players between you and the bettor to call as well.  This can be dangerous if you think the original bettor will reraise.  You will probably lose players.
• Bet from early position.  I don’t really like slowplaying much by checking out of early position unless I intend to protect my hand.  It’s almost always best to play fast and bet out, hoping the players behind you will call.
• Call from early and middle positions if someone before you has bet, and there are still players after you to act.  By calling, you are encouraging those later players to call as well.

So in general, you should build a pot when you have a monster hand that will hold up successfully to draws (e.g. a full-house when a flush draw is possible, or quads, a straight flush or royal flush).

You should protect your hand when you have a strong made hand like top pair/top kicker that can be vulnerable to draws.  Go for check/raises, especially on the turn, or look for opportunities to put your opponents into a situation where they have to cold call, and they (hopefully) don’t have enough outs to call profitably.