2-3-5 hand

In my second hand of the session I have KK in the small blind and $600. There is a kill and several players are in for $20. I make it $125 to go. only one player calls. we have similiar stack sizes. The flop is Ace high. gack! Why me?


I check and thank god that I'm heads up with the one player at the table that is least likely to try and push me off the pot.


Any advice on how to proceed?

All i can say is...AIYAH!!!!!


tough spot. For me, i tend to play KK much more strongly than A-rag(A2 through A9), exactly because if your opponent holds the Ax, he will think again about his kicker and wonder if it's any good. I've been in this situation lots of times and easily more than half the time i've gotten the weak ace to fold. If you can give the impression that you have the big kicker, he/she may just lay down.


Also ask yourself what range of hands are people limp-calling with when you raised preflop. you may just be up against TT and other small cheesy pairs.


KK in the blinds are much weaker however, because you have no position on your opponents. you have many many more options when you're in late position of course, but i'd say either jamm the pot and pray that they fold, or just check and muck it----you've already paid too much on an unfavorable hand in an unfavorable position. Save your money for when you have the best hand with the best position and you will win more often.


misctwo

You checked the flop, why? Checking gives him all the initiative. I would have bet right out on the flop. Find out what he has. He called your large raise, do you have a read on his type of cards in this situation: AJ -Ax? TT - 88? would he call with something like JTs after limping in on the kill?


You could have gone for the check raise since you imply that he is not a very aggressive player. If he calls you are most likely beat and the turn will decided your fate. In this situation it can pay in the long run to be aggressive early on to define your hand and position. So either play aggressive (you may get him to lay down a hand like AJ or Ax) - or fold.


-Zeno

I check and thank god that I'm heads up with the one player at the table that is least likely to try and push me off the pot.


Any advice on how to proceed?


Seems to me you answered your own question. If he's the least likely to try to push you off the pot, just check and see if he bets. If he checks behind, bet the turn (for value) and those are the last chips you put into the pot.


Simple. Unless your read on his playing style is wrong.


natedogg

the guy will have a pocket pair 9 times out of ten. if he hit his set you are gonna lose all your money anyway when he checks behind you and puts you all in on the turn. when he doesnt have a set you dont give him a free card to break you. plus you eliminate the possibility of being bluffed.

BC,


I'm with betting the flop as the default, and betting it big. I've checked that flop and then find myself out of position with a hand I'm not committed to having shown weakness. If your opponent's good, you're in for pain. If he's that weak, it's giving a free card vs. the combination of how many lesser hands he'll call with vs. how many better hands he'd call with but not bet. If he'd fold queens and call with any ace but not bet less than two pair, sure, check the turn.


Matt

Because of the fact that several players were in for $20, Boris' raise is likely to be called by a middle pair or bigger, AK, and probably AQs. Many players would give looser calls here. There are 16 ways to have AK and 4 ways to have AQs. There are 6 ways to have pocket aces, so that is a total of 26 hands that beat Boris on the flop (not including the two possible under sets). There are 6 ways to have any pair, so the liklihood of an under pair depends on the liklihood of your opponent calling with a small pair. So, 66 hands if you think he calls with any pair and 30 if you think he calls with 8s or higher.


This is all a bunch of BS, but my point is that he is not likely to have a pair "9 times out of 10". There are 26 hands that he is likely to call with preflop which include an ace...so it's probably closer to 50-50.


I would check the flop and watch my opponent. You absolutely need a read here. If you decide he doesn't have an Ace or a set, then all your chips go into the pot. But this is the type of hand you need to be able to get away from when you're beat if you want to survive in big-bet poker.


Craig H.

well, maybe we play in different types of games, but i think ur making a bad read here. when someone kills it and then gets calls people love to raise, they'll raise with as little as AT, AK or AQs for sure. but they'll just call with small pairs, and then call again after the raise if the stacks are deep or if theyre stupid and the stacks are short (as in this case). the "killer" is often aggressive if its limped to him he will raise more than the ordinary amount of times, other aggressive players dont want the play taken away from them so they will raise first. ive seen this play out 1000 times and 900 of those times the cards are as i described so ill stick with 9-10 times it will be a pair.

I played the hand as Natedogg suggested. we checked the flop. on the turn I bet $100 and the other guy called instantly. The river card was a baby that made 3 cards of the same suit on the board (but I don't think that really matters in this hand). I checked, other guy checked and my Kings were good against his JJ. Good read limon.

Thanks all for the feedback.

of course limon had a good read, i havnt played this game 30 years for nothin. always glad to respond to anyone NOT talkin' bout on line poker.