Got screwed by worse player, advice on this hand?

[Dr_Jones40]

I was playing $1-$2 online, and I called in early position with KAo. I have a very small bankroll, I just want to try out some higher limit games than the 25-50 cent I have been playing. There are 3 aggressive players, all behind me, so thats why I checked, and I ended up calling a double bet, which was a good idea, right?

The flop comes with a K, and two suited cards, which worries me, but I have high pair. One of the cards is a two. I call a single bet, started by the guy to my left. I am just calling because I fear better hands, holding only one pair, albeit top pair, plus I have a limited roll
so the flop is K, Xclubs, 2clubs (suit isn't important)

Then the turn comes another two, so I am worried, because these guys stay in on anything and could very well have trips, so I check, and end up calling $1, with my top pair.

The river is a 5, there are no flush draws, with a king (my top pair, with good kicker), so I call another bet. I am playing passivly, becuase I know these other guys are aggressive, and I am at a much higher table then I normally play at, plus they could very well have trip twos). so the board is [K X 2 X 2]. Normally I would feel confident with my top pair, but this is such low limit, lots of wankers.

We show, and the guy next to me has K2, a full house, I lost hard. This was a big loss, because of my small bandroll. I don't think I played it that badly, but it still feels like I should have folded earlier.

Please, critique me, tell me what I should have done differently, I know something wasn't right with how I played this. Tear me apart, its good for learning, though I know I don't have to ask~

Dan

P.S. It sucks because he played with K2o, oh well to be expected

[Dynasty]

You should have raised pre-flop.

You should have bet and raised the flop.

You should have bet and raised the turn.

You should have bet and raised the river.

You should study more.

[Trefo]

Definite raise preflop and flop....you can't sit there and be a calling station and let guys run over you, you've got to be and stay aggressive, if you can't be aggressive you should stay at the lower limit until you gather a larger bankroll. Don't put yourself in a situation where your doing things you normally wouldn't.

[StoneAge]

Your biggest mistake was playing with scared money, it seems that the limit was completely controlling your decisions. Fold? With the game you described there was never a point in the hand that folding was an option, raising however,as dynasty points out, was a good one. Sure sometimes someone is going to have a two, but in this game I am going to be raising until I think a 2 is a good possiblity.
If you are winning at .25-.50 just take shots at 1-2 with some of your profits once in a while. Play a good game and eventually you will break through.
In the past 14 years my top yearly salary has been $12,000 (but I love my job). I normally play 10-20 and 15-30 and the limit does not scare me - if you want to play profitably this is important.
And as dynasty said study!

[slim]

"There are 3 aggressive players, all behind me, so thats why I checked, and I ended up calling a double bet, which was a good idea, right?"

If these players are aggressive, it is even more important to raise from UTG with AKo because that'll make the hands like K2o fold along with other hands that might beat you. Make sense?

[Dr_Jones40]

Yeah, I know I shouldn't have moved up in tables yet, but I didn't feel like being stuck at the 25-50 cent tables for much longer, but looks like I am headed back there. I see what you mean about all the raises, which I would normally do if I had the bankroll. Thx

[M2d]

With a scared bankroll, raising is even more important. Not that this is a slowplaying hand, but, with a short roll, it's way more important to win pots than it is to maximize them.

[MRBAA]

I am a low limit player and have been known to have weak tight tendencies but...if $5 is a big loss to you, don't play. How old are you? 12?

[pufferfish]

Hey, LL weak/tight. Why not back off on the personal insults?

pf

[TobDog]

When stepping up, you want to win hands early, not slow-play. If you call, the only way you can win is in a showdown. If you het hammered on AK, it happens all the time, get used to it. If you never get a bad beat put on you, you are playing with too tough opponents for your level. I think if you are ready to 'explore' a higher game than you are playing now, the buy-in you bring with you there should not be the end of your bankroll. When you move up you will encounter tougher opponents and they get more aggressive as you go up, I know that it is easy to sit back now and talk about plays, but when you are in that situation and you are gonna call, you are often better raising, you will see it, go watch the 10-20 games online and see how many people are in each pot, and how many times the big blind gets a free play. Like 'D' said, study, then you need some experience. Good Luck /forums/images/icons/smirk.gif

[KOJAK]

This is the funniest post I have ever read on this site.

[elwoodblues]

I am by no stretch of the imagination a good player (be forewarned). One thing that you might try is finding a site that offers Kill games. Play at your normal limit, then every once in a while (when a player wins 2 hands in a row for x number of bets) the stakes will double and you'll get a taste for a higher limit. While the kill game doesn't play exactly the same as the actual games at the higher limits, you might be able to overcome your fear of losing a hand at a slightly higher limit.

Have fun with it. See you at the low limit tables!

~elwood

[Homer]

You were definitely lacking proper aggression in this hand. AK, suited or not, is a premium hand. You want to raise because you most likely have the best hand, and you want to make lesser hands (like the K2 that beat you) pay multiple bets to see the flop, or else fold their inferior holding. The flop was close to ideal for your hand (with the exception of the flush draw...you'd rather have had it be rainbow). You have top-pair, top-kicker, which is quite a powerful hand on this flop. There is no reason to assume that you don't have the best hand. You should be betting and raising with this hand, until you find a reason to believe that someone else has a better hand. When the turn pairs the board, you still shouldn't be worried, as it was the bottom card that paired. There is no reason to believe that anyone called the flop bet with bottom pair. There is still an excellent chance that your hand is good. Assuming you bet/raised and didn't meet any resistance (i.e. reraising) on the flop, you should keep betting/raising on the turn. If someone starts to raise out of nowhere, you might want to consider slowing down and seeing the showdown as cheaply as you can. But, until you have reason to believe your hand isn't best, don't get scared of monsters under the bed and slow down. The river card is a perfect one for you. Your hand will be best here a large percentage of the time. Keep betting and raising.

I know it can difficult to play on a small roll. That is why it is not advisable to be playing with scared money. You won't be playing your best game of poker. You will be playing in a fashion that does not allow you to be a winning player. You will probably be a lot better off if you wait until you have built a larger bankroll before you move up to the next limit. You want to be able to play your best game, without thinking about the money that is at stake. This game is hard enough to play already! /forums/images/icons/grin.gif

Good luck with everything. Hopefully the inconsiderate and unhelpful comments by some of the people around here will not deter you from posting again in the future. You will receive good advice from the majority of posters, or at a minimum, well-intentioned advice. It is a shame that you will have to sift through some garbage along the way, but that's the way it goes...

-- Homer

[ChuckRazor]

The next time you get AKo in early position, you should fold, throw a roll of nickels out the window. This will save you money in the long run.

[Homer]

wonderful first post ahole

[MRBAA]

Okay, okay. I'm sorry I asked if he was 12 -- but his concern and seriousness about such a small sum of money did make me wonder if he might be very young. Am I totally out of touch or is a $5 loss insignificant to everyone here? You just can't play THAT scared.

[Fitz]

Everyone's financial situation is different. A $5 loss will be a bigger deal to some. I have a cousin who makes over a 100k a year, and I still can't get him to play above 3/6, so that is all relative.

I think the more important thing we can all take from this post is how to deal with the awkwardness we all feel when we move up to a higher limit. I had a similar experience recently; I normally play 2/4 online, and occasionally, I will play 3/6 if a game looks good. A couple of weeks ago, I stepped up and got into a 5/10 game online. I'm a very experienced player, and I still ended up making some weak tight mistakes that I know cost me money.

One other thought: What if he is 12? I was playing nickel dime poker with my buddies at that age. Had I had internet access, I'm sure I'd have been in a quarter game somewhere. Think about it, if we'd all started studying and building a bankroll at that age, we'd be beating the 30/60 games today.

Good luck all,