[grandgnu]

In both hands you should be usually pushing pre-flop. Anytime I'm down to about 10x the BB, I'm pushing if I play a hand. I just don't have enough chips to make a raise and then consider folding.

In the first hand, after you flop top pair, top kicker, folding for a 2K bet into an 18K pot is just plain ludicrous! The odds are huge in your favor, and you should be getting all your money in there.

In scenerio two, you've committed almost half your chips with the raise. If you're going to committ half your chips pre-flop, you might as well committ them all and give yourself a better chance of pushing another player out of the pot. Unfortunately in that spot, the pocket Kings aren't going anywhere, but you have to make a stand when you're down to 10x the BB or less, and A/Q is strong enough to do that.