Not all three of a kind are the equal. If you have a pair in the pocket and a third card appears on the flop, you have a set. If you have a card in the pocket that is matched by a pair that flops, you have trips. Many players feel that both are three of a kind and should be treated the same. This is not true. A set is more powerful than trips. Two people can have the same trips. When there is a pair on board another player could have the fourth (case) card giving him trips as well. Only one player can have a set.
A Set
The strength of a set lies in the fact that it is well disguised. Any innocent looking flop could actually make a set for anyone with a pocket pair. In fact, most of the time when we have a pocket pair, we will need to make a set to have a winning hand. As much as we love pocket Aces and Kings, most of the time our pocket pairs end up in the muck pile. The sad reality is that unless we make a set, our pocket pair will usually not be strong enough to win on its own merits. Unfortunately you can only expect your pocket pair to turn into a set about 11 percent of the time. The good news is that anytime you make a set on the flop you will win about 80 percent of the time.
Because the set is so difficult to read most players will not put you on this hand. Go ahead and bet. You will get action from any one with top pair. If there was a raise before the flop and you are sure there will be a bet you could try for a check raise. I prefer to bet this hand hoping that the player with top pair will raise me. I will then smooth-call the raise and save the check-raise for the Turn when the betting limits have doubled.
You should not slow-play a set especially if the flop is showing two suited cards or a possible straight draw. A set is strong but can be beaten, so you don't want to give any free cards in this situation. You are better off getting money into the pot. An exception is when you are absolutely sure the flop has not given anyone a drawing hand. If I have pocket Aces and the flop is something like A-8-3 rainbow, I will check from early position to give the impression that I am afraid of the Ace. If I am in early position, I will check to give the impression that I am afraid of the Ace. If it is checked around I will bet on the turn. If it is bet before me I will just call on the flop and then raise on the turn.
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