Being a NL Trapper

By Daniel Yee
8-17-06

The chubby businessman pushed all his chips in the middle when I bet out the flop during a $2/5 NL game at the Gold Strike Casino in Tunica, Miss. I only had J9s but I knew I had him in the heads-up pot. Wait a second, you say. J9s isn't a particularly good hand. This is true, but I was banking on the implied odds that he would put all his chips in the middle of the pot if I hit my hand.

Once you learn the basics of No limit hold'em and get a feel for the tight-aggressive play that's needed to be a consistent winner, there's one more step: playing the players. You can add to your overall bottom line if you are able to identify players you can take advantage of at the table and play against them.

What do you look for? Inexperienced players who go by the book or don't know when to let go of a hand. In this case, the businessman's raise of $18 from the big blind in a field of limpers told me he thought he had something extremely good, like a big pair or AK.

Playing heads-up at FullTilt against the businessman, the flop came AJ9. Perfect. I had two pair. He checked to me on the flop and I bet about $40 to make it seem like I was trying to steal the pot. He then pushed all-in for about $140 more. I immediately called and felted him. I could see other players at the table amazed at the businessman's willingness to commit all his chips with just one pair.

At another $2/5 NL table at the Gold Strike, I had JQ but called a $15 bet on the flop with a gutshot straight draw (a straight draw where you must catch one card to fill your straight) and a board of 894. One other person called. Normally this would not be a good play but the bettor was someone I dubbed "The world's greatest calling station" -- someone who would not be able to resist calling my bets if I hit. I was calling a $15 bet for the money in the pot -- about $35 now -- and the calling station's $300+ stack.

The turn was a T, giving me my straight and the nuts. It turns out, however, that I didn't get to bust "the World's Greatest Calling Station" but instead busted another person who called the calling station's bet -- that player unfortunately made a lower straight with J7, worse than mine.

Small pocket pairs and suited connectors are very helpful trapping hands. If more people call a pre-flop raiser's raise, it makes it easier to call with these lowly hands. You may not want to call a preflop raise with those hands, however, if you're likely to be the only guy in the pot with the raiser and if he's someone who can get away from a big hand after the flop when you hit your set or small two pair.

There's still danger -- a person with a big pair can still make a bigger hand than you if you hold a set or two-pair. But more often than not, your lead on the flop will hold up to allow you to pull down the pot after the river.

When you focus on other people, you are mixing up your play and other players will see that you aren't playing by the book. Deviating from traditional play -- sometimes -- is a sure way to develop the creativity needed to survive in the world of NL hold'em.