News: Poker Basics – The difference between Trips and a Set


They are both Three of a Kind but they are very different hands.

These are ‘Trip Aces’

We have previously written about the difference between a bad beat and a cooler. This was mostly just to get you more familiar with the terminology in poker but understanding the difference also helps you understand variance a little better. 

Today we have two more terms that get confused for each other, but you won’t really learn a great deal about the game by recognising the difference, you’ll just get better at terminology. 

However, it is useful to know, because few things annoy seasoned players more than when somebody gets Trips confused with Sets.  

Trips vs Sets

set
This is a ‘Set of Twos’

Whether you have Trips or a Set, you have the same ranked hand, which is Three of a Kind, which is a very strong hand. 

Trips are when the community cards have two or three of the cards in Three of a Kind. So, for example, you have AT and the flop is AA6. You have Trip Aces. Or indeed if the flop is AAA and you have KQ, you also have Trip Aces. While very strong, your opponent will be aware you could have Trips and you also might run into a better hand (AK,AQ,AJ,A6,66).

A Set is when you have a Pocket Pair and a third card of that ranking hits the board. So you have 22 and the flop is KQ2, you have a Set of Twos. This is a much stronger hand than Trips because it is disguised and there is no risk of another player also having the same hand with a better kicker. You are only worried about your opponent having a better Set. 

So now you know the difference, feel free to keep getting it wrong on purpose to tilt your opponent. 

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