Best Play?

[Guernica4000]

This situation troubles me and I don't know the proper way to play it.

The scenario is early in a tournament in early position with a pre-flop raise of 3 times the BB. No reads on any of the players and the chip stacks are even.

Say you hold a pair of KK and the flop is JJ5 rainbow. You are first to act against one pre-flop caller. What is the best move?

My dilemma is this: If I make a big bet player "B" will fold unless he has a J. If I make a small bet he may just smooth call with a J or he may call with over cards so I won't know what he has.

In this example there are 9 bb in the pot. What is the proper play?

[Boolean]

(first suggestion post since I've came back IIRC so take with a grain of salt)

First, I'll assume that you were the preflop raiser. Being OOP, I guess what we'd want to do is to extract the most information as possible. Since it's early in the tournament, we're most likely playing this blind without any reads. If you possibly have a read on an opponent, a possibility would be a check-raise if he'd bluff at a pot like this. If not, I think it'd be a little too risky.

Secondly, a big overbet will just get us knocked out early if we indeed are running into a jack. No point in risking so much without any information.

I'd personally bet the size of the pot and see what happens. If he comes over the top, I'd probably fold. If he just calls, well I'm just going to end up paying him off if he has the Jack because I think more than likely, he's a straggler with a lone 5 with maybe a high kicker. Thoughts?

[BOTW]

Being out of position sucks, doesn't it? I assume you have deep stacks, so I'd bet between 3/4-full pot. If he flat calls, I'm throwing out another bet on the turn.

[Onaflag]

[ QUOTE ]
Being out of position sucks, doesn't it? I assume you have deep stacks, so I'd bet between 3/4-full pot. If he flat calls, I'm throwing out another bet on the turn.

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that's way too much. If you bet half the pot, you're giving your opponent odds of 3-1 to call. Those are crappy odds for almost any kind of draw he may be on (there aren't many out there) and is sufficient. Any more than that and you're simply sweetening the pot in the off-chance he does have a J.

If he flat calls a half pot sized bet, you need to start wondering if your on the dope end of the rope-a-dope maneuver. You accomplish the same thing with a smaller bet and save money if you're beat. Pray for help on the turn. My 2 cents.

Onaflag.............