Regardless of if you just play free poker online or play for the highest stakes imaginable a Set is one of the most unreadable hands in Texas Hold’em.
A Set is made up of a pocket pair plus one of the Community cards that has the same rank as your pocket pair.
For example, if you have 4-4 and the Community cards are 5-4-10-J-K, you have a Set of Fours.
Sets are unreadable because most players are accustomed to reading (a) two different hole cards, (b) high cards or overpairs, (c) draws that complete the Board, or (d) cards anyway related to the Board cards.
Our hand reading habits generally a mix of limiting possible hands to the given characteristics of the board/community. How would you put someone on 5-5 or 4-4 when it is much easier to put him on A-K (for top pair, best kicker), A-Q (for a made Straight), or K-10 or 5-4 (for Two-Pair), or even A-A (a high pair)?
Sometimes you may even put him on one Five, say, 6-5. But on two Fives or two Fours? This is why Sets are very potent in Boards which have no Straight or Flush potential.
However, suppose in a Flop of Q-7-2 with no Straight or Flush possibilities, you have 2-2. You check (hoping to trap him), the other player bets. You raise all in then he immediately calls and reveals Q-Q. You thought your opponent had A-Q or K-Q. How is this possible? It’s possible. Even in this spot you are more susceptible.
Because you are the one who moved all-in, you are in a raise/re-raise position. Your opponent is in the same situation except he has no Straight or Flush cards. He may have thought you had K-Q or Q-5; it could have been a pair of Q’s, an Ace, or even a Queen.
So the choice of starting hands is clear. Even though you are the one who moved all-in, you are not a favorite. You are not a high pocket pair player, and your opponent probably has more of them.
If you think your opponent has them because you are holding 2-2, you should play cautiously. Even if you opponent does have them, you are still not a favorite. In this case you should call, but you shouldn’t fold.
Had this occurred at a limit table, you would fold. If you think your opponent will fold with less than A-Q, you should also fold, especially if you are putting your opponent on a high pocket pair.
But in a no-limit tournament, you can be fairly aggressive with a player like Q-Q or K-K. Even if you’re ahead, you are very likely to be behind by a large amount of chips. And if you’re not, you can get knocked out by two big all-ins.
What should you do if you’re a high pocket pair player? There is no specific answer to that question. You have no preference. You play your best with the best hand. But if you were playing your hole cards better, you might want to consider playing some other way so you can see the flop more. Maybe that means moving all-in with A-Q or K-Q from an early position. If you make that move, make sure you have a good read on your opponents so you know when you’re ahead and when you’re beat.
In conclusion, it is important to push the action at the starting doors in a Bolagila tournament. If you think your hand is good enough to play, then you’re ahead of most players. At least in the beginning stages. There is nothing wrong with playing your cards, if you’re the chip leader at the time.
What your MZone is, is your opportunity to squander, or to save, your chips. If you’re not sure that your hand stands to be the best at any point during a MTT game then you’re playing at too high a level. Hopefully that gives you an order of importance for developing a solid tight-aggressive game.