It's quite possible that by now you're familiar
with terms like "pot commitment". The pot is the key in sit and go
poker games, but those who win it are not only dedicated to work the victory
from a statistical point of view: they are masters at manipulating the pot, and
we are going to explain you why and how to do it.
When we talk about manipulating the pot,
we really mean the same as "having it under control".
This serves us, mainly, to make the pot grow
or be maintained according to our interests, because a too big pot in which
we have put money from our bets and that is turning against us will give us
anything but joy. Of course, having a good hand and having to skip the raise
button because it is not worth playing that trick to win such a small reward,
is not the best thing in the world either.
Keeping control of the pot requires skill and
dexterity. It is something we must learn to do in order to be able to play big
pots with very strong hands, and small pots with bad hands. And, although on
paper it is not too difficult to do, in practice it can get complicated.
Why? Because manipulating the pot is related to several theoretical concepts
associated with poker, and using them in combination is something that requires
a certain level of skill.
In short, the better our hand is, the more
interest we will have in making the size of the pot grow. But all this will
also depend on our style of play. Let's say we want to try to control the
table, then: How can we make the pot bigger? By making big bets.
Easy, but not so easy, because this requires
always maintaining the balance between making big bets, without causing the
opponent to fold, because if he leaves the hand, goodbye to the idea of
making the pot grow. Therefore, we have to draw an approximation of the
number of times we can bet without the opponent folding.
This leaves us with several clear conclusions: going
all-in right off the bat is not an option. It is to go all in, shout to the
others that we want to enlarge the pot and that they will give us their money.
Obviously, they will say no, and fold. Nefarious move.
But if you manage to conceal your enthusiasm
and make gradually stronger and stronger bets, things change. Then you will
have options to enlarge the pot, to make it bigger and juicier, before the
others fold. And the longer you stretch the gum, the better.
But for that we must know how to adjust the
size of our bets, especially on the first streets. That will define the
authenticity of our raises, whether we have a good preflop hand or if
our intention is to get to the showdown with a weak hand.
Poker is a multi-round game, which means that
the bets made on the flop will have their importance when we get to the back
streets. A good poker player with the ability to manipulate the pot at will
always thinks long term, foreseeing the impact his bets will have on the
later streets.
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