How To Trap Opponents In No Limit Hold ‘Em
Hold ‘em is known as a game of traps and bluffs. And at the right table that’s exactly what it is. One good rule to keep in mind is that bad players are generally more susceptible to traps, and good players are usually more vulnerable to bluffs.
So there are really two types of players that you can actively seek to trap. Good loose/aggressive players are easy targets, and so are bad players who make loose calls.
In order for a trap to be effective, you need to be an aggressive player yourself. If you’re only betting with your good hands, your opponents are going to pick up on it, and you probably won’t get much action. This is one reason why mixing up your play is such an important element to the game.
Let’s take the following example. You’ve been playing relatively tight. An aggressive player has been actively raising in front of you. You’re on the button with pocket 8’s, and the aggressive player raises in front of you. You elect to call, the small blind folds, and the big blind calls.
The flop comes Ah, Kd, 8s. That’s a fantastic flop for you. It’s not draw heavy, it’s likely to have hit at least one of your opponents, and you’ve flopped a monster, bottom set.
The big blind checks, the aggressive player bets out, and the action is to you. This is an easy call, you want the big blind involved in the hand as well. You call, the big blind calls. The turn comes 4s. Another good card, your hand should still be in good shape. This time the big blind bets out about half the pot. The aggressive player thinks for a moment, and then folds, he obviously didn’t have much of a hand, but the big blind probably has a pair of aces at the very least. I don’t hate another call here. You’ve got position, and you’d like him to believe you’re weak.
The river comes 4d. The perfect card for you. Only AA, KK, or 44 have you beat, but if you’re beat here, you just lose your money, there’s no folding this hand. The big blind bets out about ¾ of the pot. You need to raise here, you can’t worry about a bigger full house. You raise the size of the pot, he calls, you show your boat, he mucks his AK.
You always need to know who you’re playing against in order to effectively trap someone. If there’s a calling station at the table, just bet into him with your strong hands, there’s no sense in being tricky. Also, many good players are suspicious of players feigning weakness, so playing your hands in a strait forward manner will probably win you the most money against good players, as long as you’re also playing a few weaker hands just as aggressively from time to time.