by Al Sousa (site owner)
Full houses, or boats, are one of the strongest hand a player can
have. It rarely loses because the hands that can beat it are very
hard to hit. There are two types of boats a player can have.
Top Full House: Powerful hand. This is when your
3 card of the boat are the top cards on the board or the higher
cards of the paired board. Lets look at some examples and how to
play them.
EXAMPLE:
Your Hand: T T ,
Board: T 33
Turn: 5 River
9
The only time you should slowplay a full house is when the board
looks like it hit no one and there are very few players in the pot.
The example above is a board that can be slowplayed if you have
1-2 opponents. You can only hope a player has a 3 and he will bet
if he has it. Hopefully someone will pick up a dead draw on the
turn. If you are last to act always bet as it will look like a steal
anyways. Now if there are many players in the pot bet anyways as
there will be probably be at least 1 player with a pair under calling
down. In a bet pot if I am last to act to the better I prefer to
raise it right there on the flop. The reason is that players won't
put you on a boat/trips, they expect you to slowplay it and raise
the turn.
If the board above was T99
then slowplaying would be wrong. Most likely there will be draws
out there and they will pay anyways for a chance to hit their dead
hand. So bet out.
Bottom Full House: Very strong hand. This is when
your 3 card of the boat are the bottom cards on the board or the
lower 3 cards of the boat. This usually happens when a small pair
hits a set and an overcard pairs on the board. Lets look at some
examples and how to play them.
EXAMPLE:
Your Hand: 44,
Board: QQ4
Turn: A River
T
Do not slowplay bottom boats. Most likely the top card on the board
will have hit someone else and your hand is still vulnerable, but
only slightly. Just keep betting. This is a hand you are going to
the river.
In the above example it is much more likely that someone hit a
Q than in the 1st TT example. If the board has pairs of aces or
kings that is even more reason to bet and raise. Most players will
play almost any king and definitly any ace.
The key factor is knowing how the board is. If it is coordinated
then there is a much more likely chance players caught a piece of
the flop and will pay you off. If the board has no texture, no draws
or high cards, then it is much more likely if missed everyone.
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