The Winning Hand: Understanding What is a Set in Poker

Although it is no longer advisable to base your whole poker strategy on set mining, it is still crucial to comprehend the idea completely. This tool is unquestionably helpful when used properly in the appropriate circumstance. What is a set in poker? When you call with a pocket pair to flop a set, you are said to be set mining. 

I’ll now go into detail about what is a set in poker and offer a simple process for determining whether or not you should invest. I’ll also talk about how the dynamics of the table might affect how profitable nut camping is in any particular circumstance.

What is a Set in Poker

There will occasionally be an opponent with excessively tight statistics if you play poker on a site that lets you view long-term information on your opponents. I’m talking about 10/7 for full-ring and 14/10 (VPIP/PFR) for 6-max. These are likely also nuts camping set miners in addition to rocks.

To hit a set and win a sizable pot, set miners will raise their opening bet with a very limited range, 3-bet with little frequency, then flat call with every pocket pair below QQ. For the same reason, you might even see them call with all of their suitable connectors.

Spotting Nut Campers = Saving Your Stack

Extreme nut campers will have numbers similar to 18/10 for 6-max and 14/6 for 9-max if they base their entire game on mining. For obvious reasons, being able to recognize them is a useful talent to have. Because if they call, then after the flop decide they’re still interested by calling or raising your continuation bet, be on the lookout.

Set mining is ultimately a losing tactic in today’s games. Those who use this “nitty” tactic will be eaten alive by the blinds as their rivals ruthlessly take their blinds and remove them from pots when they have weak hands.

However, nut camping with both pocket pairs and other speculative hands is a potent technique provided you can recognize the right conditions and have exhausted all other ways to profit in that location.

Profitable Set Mining Guidelines

There is a pretty straightforward procedure you can use to determine whether you have the proper pricing and whether mining is a realistic option whenever you are in a position where you are holding a speculative hand and are dealing with pre-flop aggression.

Here are four things to keep an eye out for when making pre-flop calls with set mining in mind.

1. Make Sure 3-Betting Is Not +EV
2. A minimum of 2 to 1 in direct odds
3. Have Implied Odds of at least 20 to 1

What If I Flop a Non-Nut Hand?

The rub of the green is this. Instead of the nuts, you will most likely flop a marginal hand more often than not. Just keep in mind that you have a pre-flop strategy and very large implied odds in these situations. Additionally, while you still want to play skilful poker and make the most of the circumstances, you do not need to automate your play by attempting to pull off wild bluffs every time you lose a hand. Simply accept what the poker gods have to provide and continue.