50 NL -- flopped a monster/how's my line?

[IdiotVig]

Invited to a home game last night for the first time. About a dozen hands in or so with no real reads on any of the players, although play so far hasn't been terribly agressive, and not much preflop raising. The game has .25/.50 blinds, 6-handed, and most people bought in for between 40-60 or so.

I play primarily SNGs and am new to NL play, so I'm curious (read: flame away if my play was bad, please) as to how my line was, and how people might have played it differently. Relevant stacks are: Me and UTG at about 45, SB at 60. I'm on the button.

UTG limps, 2 folds, I pick up Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]. I make it $2.50 to go, SB calls, BB mucks, UTG calls.

Pot is $8. Flop comes K [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]. SB checks, UTG bets $3, I call, SB calls.

Pot is $17. Turn is 4 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]. SB checks, UTG bets $10, I raise all-in for $29.50 more ($39.50 total).

Should I have flat-called the turn instead? Raised the flop? How would you have played it?

[Hattifnatt]

Online I probably raise to 12 directly on the flop. Here I might play as you did because Live players get less hands/hour and cannot multitable and might take a card of with a gutshot for $3 to be in the action.

[Macedon]

Looks good to me. I would have raised the flop just to build the pot a little, but it isn't completely necessary. You are not worried about any straight draws and giving a free card is unlikely to hurt you at this point. The benefit to just calling is that he will most likely fire another bet at you on the turn (like he did) but would probably only check it if you raised him on the flop. So as you see, you got what you wanted.

However, I believe you have to push the turn (like you did). This guy is obviously holding a King and something decent. (K10? KJ? K9?) You don't want to give him the proper price to hit his kicker. All-in is a must, especially considering that your all-in is almost pot size.

[kurto]

I raise the flop everytime. If I raised Preflop, I'm playing the flop strongly. When you have a monster, you want to get as much money as possible into the pot as possible so you can have as much of his stack as possible by the end.

If he has a king, he's not going anywhere. If he doesn't have a king, you'll rarely get more out of him anyways.

[Leptyne]

When I have position like this with a player betting into me I'm going to call him down until he checks. I don't push because that will give him a chance to get away. His position with a K is like trying to hit a gutshot and firing two barrells. Call the turn, put him all-in on the river. He may call, but why give him a chance to fold?

I don't see any advantage to not raising the turn. It just gives trip kings a free chance to suck out. What is your opponent going to call the river with that he would fold on the turn?

[bizaff]

[ QUOTE ]
If he has a king, he's not going anywhere. If he doesn't have a king, you'll rarely get more out of him anyways.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree, so why not let SB call too, rather than shutting him out?

I think calling will win more from lesser hands.

[Benholio]

I like calling both the flop and the turn. Most are advocating raises on either or both streets, but with position, and not extremely deep stacks, I disagree. Raising the flop will likely prevent SB from playing a poor queen/ straight draw type of hand, and probably stop UTG from leading the turn.

Now on the turn, calling here makes the pot $37, and gives SB another chance to call. Worst case scenario, SB folds anyway, the pot is still $37 and you have less than a PSB to try to get in on the river, which will be easy if UTG continues to lead.

At any point in the hand, I think raising only helps get more money in vs. a king, and hurts against anything else. UTG is doing a fine job of pacing the pot to be all-in on the river for you, why stop him?