KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

Playing 25-50 NL. 5 handed. Game has been going along with 2 or 3 to the flop. Not many big pots. No one is consistently aggressive with their hands. Not much of a game background, but nothing seemed out of line. Assume a standard game.

You get dealt KK in the small blind. (stack sizes at start of hand)

UTG raises to $175 (~$1500 in his stack)
You raise to $800 (~$8000)
BB raises all in ~$6000
UTG folds

Your action???

BB hasn't done anything curious for a while. Only 2 slight eyebrow moments.

Early on, he raised $175 with K4s UTG and called a small stacks all in of $900. He ended up losing the hand. He hasn't really put his chips at risk much except for this early hand and one other hand just prior to this one.

He raised pre-flop $175 and got one caller. flop came J66r. He bet the pot, got re-raised the pot, and then went over the top. No call

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

Call him and expect to see JJ, QQ, or AKs. You most likely have the best hand here.

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

I think this is far closer at this level and against opponents who hasn't done anything remarkable for a long while. Also keep in mind that KK is only 65%-35% favourite over AKs, but a 19%-81% underdog against AA.

A player who puts up an above-maximum buyin stack of $6000 faced with an UTG raise and a small blind reraise with around $1000 in the pot with JJ would've been sussed out MUCH earlier.

This is at very very least AK or QQ (although I will agree AK is a fairly likely hand here).

An observant opponent with Aces could very well make this play, given that with him holding Aces, a solid small blind is probably more 50% likely to be holding precisely KK, and by playing Aces in a way "Aces never would have", he might get EXCACTLY the play he wants (all, big, money going in preflop).

In a normal $25/50nl I think you are prone to be up against several observant opponents.

lars

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

I think the biggest question here is, how often have you been reraising, and what range of hands is the BB likely to put you on?

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

I hadn't re-raised anything pre-flop the entire time he was at the table.

maybe 6 times I led preflop with 175 or more, Called 175 about 6 times preflop in 60 or so hands.

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

Hey Media,

Out of curiosity, was this on UB? If it was, I have a guess as to the opponent...

ML4L

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

Yes, it was on UB.

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

[ QUOTE ]
Yes, it was on UB.

[/ QUOTE ]

kid55?

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

No, it was someone who I'd never seen play the table before. I won't post his name in case he becomes a regular at the table which I doubt.

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

[ QUOTE ]
No, it was someone who I'd never seen play the table before. I won't post his name in case he becomes a regular at the table which I doubt.

[/ QUOTE ]

It was worth a shot... [img]/images/graemlins/grin.gif[/img]

I have completely abandoned the "get all the money in preflop with KK no matter what and hope for the best" strategy, but I don't see any way to fold here. It doesn't seem like the guy plays very well. And, I really don't like laying down KK preflop in the absence of a meaningful read. I call; I think you will see QQ/AK here often enough to make it correct.

Hope it worked out.

ML4L

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

I agree it's hard to fold in this spot, and it really depends on how much he does something like this. against sane players this is aces a very large percentage of the time, and against fish it's a hand like JJ/AKs that wants to "win the pot without a fight".

what do you guys do if you're in the SB with AA? I rarely if ever smooth call with AA, but I might do it here if I thought hero would put me on JJ/QQ/AK and I could give him a big pair, because the stacks are perfect for the trusty 'ol bet reraise-allin on the flop.

--turnipmonster

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

If you can afford to play at this level I would make the call (though I would be pretty nervous until I saw the cards turn over).

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

[ QUOTE ]
If you can afford to play at this level I would make the call (though I would be pretty nervous until I saw the cards turn over).

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. This is really just a "does he or doesn't he" situation. Against aces you're screwed and anything else you're pretty good.

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

I have never played that high and don't know how the game usually plays, but it would seem to me that barring a lot of reraises by you b4 the flop, he sees your re-raise out of the small blind as a pretty strong hand. For him to go all-in with this massive overbet, I think he expects (wants) a call.

Re: KK from the small blind vs all in from big blind??
 

Since I've never had an opportunity to win 6 or lose 6 grand in a single hand my opinion isn't worth much but I really don't think I could lay down KK in that situation, especially with the guy's curious play earlier even if it was only a small sample.

I can usually handle these posts in the smaller stakes forums without seeing the results but I'm really dying to hear what you did and how it turned out, that's like 3 months pay for my poor ass [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Re: HAND RESULTS/CONFESSION
 

THIS POST CONTAINS THE RESULTS OF THE HAND. DON"T READ IF YOU DON"T WANT TO KNOW







First, I confess that I was actually the BB in this hand. I was curious what other people thought about what I (BB) had based on my bet and what others would do in the SB position. It seems the popular opinion was call, SB most likely has the best of it. If BB has AA, tip your cap. I'm not sure what I would have done in the SB position. I probably would have called as well and cursed the poker gods afterwards if I lost.

My thoughts on my push of (AA) were that the SB has played with some aggression, but never really doing anything preflop such as re-raising from 175 to 800. This put two things in my head strong hand or big bluff.

If it's a strong hand, he might come along and I'll have alot of difficulty getting away from AA if he out flops me.

If it's a big bluff, I'm not likely getting any more than what's in the pot (unless he has me beat on the flop, then I'm getting nothing).

A flat call of 800 from the BB I figured would put up major flags. A possible preflop re-raise war kind of screams AA as well. So I pushed, which according to the majority of people seems really suspicious.

My thinking for the push was I could win 1k now, or go to the board as at least an 80% favorite or even with all the money in. Also, the UTG maybe would have called 625 more if he had a hand, which would have lowered my edge.

The board was kind. Nothing over a 10 and a rainbow. I doubled up.

Re: HAND RESULTS/CONFESSION
 

Great play man - Very nice, and your reasoning is spot on. Such a rare opportunity, but well played.