Set Mining in Texas Holdem Poker
Set mining is an important concept in Texas Holdem. If a player holds any pocket pair, his odds of flopping a set are 12.5% which means that if he plays every pocket pair he is dealt he should hit a set once out of every eight times. This is important to note because you have to have the right implied poker odds to be able to call a raise pre-flop with a small pair. If you feel that the pre-flop raiser may have a very big hand such as aces, kings, or AK, and you have a small pair you can still call his bet trying to hit your set if both you and he have at least eight times the size of the bet in your stacks. This ensures that when you do flop a set, a very strong hand that will likely remain the best hand until the river, you will be able to get good value out of it. A set is a hard hand for other players to put you on, therefore it is easier to get them to commit their chips to the pot with lesser holdings. When playing poker, try playing more of your small pocket pairs when the bet and stack sizes are appropriate in the hopes of flopping a set and stacking your opponent.
