KQo UTG

[Levi King]

KQo UTG. PP $15/30. Full table. New to the table, but PokerTracker tells me that 3 of the players call pre flop 40%+ of the time, and another couple are in the 25 - 30% range. Call, Raise, or Fold?

I almost always fold KQo UTG, but it seems like there should be some conditions that merit different play? Is this it?

Thanks in advance - trying to refine my game.

[1800GAMBLER]

Raise, for value. 3 people playing 40% of hands means lots of crappy k,x hands will call.

[shemp]

How aggressive they are and the way the other players at the tables play matters. When someone leaves out a critical piece like that, I wonder a bit...

But I do want to play here -- I think calling is better. Out of position, I'm willing to give up some of the pre-flop equity to ensure that my opponents are making postflop mistakes. I raise some and call some in this spot, probably raise too much -- I like to raise.

[Levi King]

As I mentioned, I was new to the table, but should have included PT #'s for raising. All the loose guy's PFR#'s were low - let's just say nothing out of line so I wasn't real worried about getting three or four bet.

I posted because KQo is one of those hands that I pretty much raise or fold. I really don't like to limp them ever. But I thought maybe this was a case where it was a good idea. Sounds like you guys are split, but leaning towards raising.

Of course, the real reason I started thinking about it was because I folded, there were four limpers, and the flop was KQx with a Q on the turn. Oh man that would have been a good one...

Thanks for the help, guys. More hands later...

[Senor Choppy]

A table that bad definitely warrants playing KQo here.

[ResidentParanoid]

If an unknown player or known good player re-raises behind you and you end up with him and 2 baddies in the hand, with pair of Q's, how do you feel now?

You could raise it and hope that all reasonable players fold behind you, leaving you with the baddies. Don't know if that happens often enough to make it profitable. If you have any kind of image UTG with the other "good" playes at the table, they may all go away.

I say fold it out of position and move on.

[shemp]

I really don't like open limping, especially utg, and the reasoning is pretty much in line with Sklansky's criticism of why it's for mediocrities. While it's hard to argue against raising when suited trash, connected trash, and some crappy Aces and Kings are likely to call, I'm not happy in a jammed pot out of position with KQo. I think the best answer probably has as much to do with the 6 other players and the table's aggression pre and postflop as it does with your opponents preflop looseness.

Looks like a good scenario for a simulation, in that you can get an idea of the preflop profit you are foregoing if you just call.

[Softrock]

I have always thought that KQo first in is a raise or fold proposition. You don't want weak Aces to be calling - might get hands like AT or AJ even to fold. However, in the live games I play where the lineup is tougher I'm usually mucking until I'm about UTG+2 and then start thinking of coming in for a raise.