Texas Holdem Pot Control
Pot control is an important concept to understand in Texas Holdem, especially in no-limit, when it’s possible to risk your entire stack at any one time. This strategy allows a player to manipulate the size of the pot based on the relative strength of your hand. Relative hand strength considers the strength of your own hand in comparison to the range of hands your opponents could be playing.
Stack sizes are an important factor to consider when determining if you should make use of the pot control strategy. When playing deep stacked poker, there is potentially a lot more money you could lose if you make the wrong decision by overvaluing the strength of your hand.
For example, even though a hand like top pair top kicker (TPTK) is usually the best hand on the flop, especially when you are involved in a heads up situation, simply because there aren’t many hands which can have you beat. However, it might not be still be the best hand once the action makes it to the river. Keep in mind TPTK is still just a one pair hand, so if you are playing in a big pot and facing a lot of resistance from a tight player, it likely is no longer the best hand.
It really depends on the situation and the opponent. Against a tight poker player, if you are involved in a big pot you usually need a better hand then one pair, but if you are playing against a calling station then TPTK might be good enough to value bet on each street to extract the maximum.
So when is pot control useful to a player? A beginner poker player tend to overuse the concept of pot control, which prevents them from extracting the maximum amount they could have won in the hand. Novice players will typically go for pot control when there is a scare card on the turn, to avoid making a mistake and losing a big pot. But they fail to consider the range of hands their opponent is playing. The scare card could be just as much of a scare card for your opponent as it is for you. Just because the board pairs doesn’t mean it helped your opponent, for instance.
Hand reading opponents in poker is a crucial skill in using pot control. If you likely still have the best hand and your opponent will call the bet, you should not go for pot control, especially if its a draw heavy board and you need to protect your hand.
The next factor to consider is the playing style of your opponent. If you find your opponents are very tight/passive players and looking to only play in big pot when they have the nuts or close to it, then it can be worthwhile to use pot control on the turn for example, in an attempt to extract an additional bet on the river, if you expect your opponent would fold to a strong bet.
On the other hand, if you find your opponents are very loose/aggressive, and you have a medium strength hand like top pair good kicker (TPGK), even though you may think you have the best hand, if you have history with the player and know they are very capable of check raising as a bluff or with draws, it can be worthwhile to go for pot control to prevent getting yourself in awkward spots. By adopting pot control, you can keep the pot small and avoid tough decisions when playing against aggressive players.
Generally, implementation of pot control is a result of taking the check/call line or checking back instead of betting to keep the pot small. For example, even though you may sometimes semi-bluff with a strong draw, you can consider taking the check/call line against a tricky opponent for fear of them raising your bet.
Always have a plan for the hand and if you feel that pot control is the best plan for the hand when consider all of the above factors, then make sure to use it.
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