Set
A set is three of a kind made with a pocket pair in your hand and one matching card on the board.
It is the most hidden strong hand in poker. Only one card of that rank is visible, so an opponent with top pair sees a board that looks safe, and a set therefore gets paid by hands that would fold to almost anything else.
A pocket pair flops a set or better 11.8% of the time, which is 1 minus the chance that neither of the two matching cards appears in three cards from the 50 you have not seen. Roughly one time in eight and a half.
an example
your cards
board
You hold two sevens and the flop brings a third. An opponent with a king has top pair and will happily put money in, because from their side there is one seven showing and nothing else on this board to fear.
This example is made up. The real one is in your own hand history: find set in your own hands and see how often it came up and what it cost you.
related terms
Trips
Trips is three of a kind made with one card from your hand and a pair already on the board, which means the same three c ...
Overpair
An overpair is a pocket pair higher than every card on the board.
Slow play
To slow play is to check or call with a strong hand instead of betting it, hoping the opponent keeps betting or catches ...
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Knowing the word is not the same as seeing it.
All ten hands in order, with how often each one turns up.