How should i have played it?

4-8 Holdem 8 players, reasonable game with 1-2 good players and the rest from fish to average. Easy game to beat i have been doing well, anyway here is the hand two limpers to me in SB i have KK and raise BB calls as well as both limpers.

Now the flop is huge KK6 with two diamonds, i am first to act and bet. Offcourse everyone folds.

One of my friends later said that checking would have been better, what do you guys think?


-MJ

The deck is crippled and you will only get action from 6-6 and maybe A-A. The only way you will make any more money on this hand is to check and hope one of the limpers will try to bluff on the flop. If noone bets they might hit a boat or flush on the turn. Give them the free cards.


This is a good hand to show that you don´t want monster hands in holdem. You want action hands.

I am guilty of slowplaying too often when I shouldn't, but this hand screams for a slowplay.


Definitely check the flop, but don't expect anyone to bet. Hope an Ace or a diamond falls on the turn and someone has one. You can check the turn too if you want, but since you raised pre-flop no good player will believe you when you check the turn too unless a dangerous card falls.

Man, you ABSOLUTELY HAVE to check that flop. Lets think about it:

1. You raised pre-flop; this puts AK bells in the other players heads, therefore after the flop they're thinkin monster already.

2. The flop; well you KNOW that nobody has a KING, because eh well, YOU HAVE THEM ALL ;-). So should you bet? I'd have to say "What is NO!!? Alex" (I think its a bad bet if you only have one King IMO). The only player that can call would have a six, which anything with a six is unlikely to call a raise (unless pocket 6's), or somebody with a high pocket pair.

3. Greed is good; but you have nothing to worry about except how to get paid, so let them be the greedy ones. If you check this flop what does it tell the other players? Probably that you have a pocket pair, or maybe AQ, AJ depending on if you raise those hands early position. You gotta hope that someone catches some kind of miracle cards and bets into you.

4. BAD BEAT JACKPOT; my final note is on the pure 1 in a million chance you get beat (Aces or a Royal). Now I don't know if you have bad beat jackpots but if the hand did get beat than you might get paid even more.

MJ,


This is one of the situations that you can slowplay if you want to. There is almost no danger that you are going to be caught, and there is almost no chance that anybody has part of the flop, if you let them see the turn, they might get enough to continue on.


On the other hand, if someone had a middle pocket pair, he might not believe you and call you down. Then you would win more by betting out here.


It is tough to make a lot of money when you have alll the good cards in a hand.


Good luck,

Play well,


Bob T.