I was told u would be disappointed

[gliam]

Thats pretty much the point of the hand, this players tendencies were so loose and foolish that I believed I had the best hand. I would not play this so aggressivly against a player who had sense not to cold-call OOP with poor hands.

With this type of player I get called with draws, K-junk, and even mid pairs often enough. I think that most of the responses under-estimated the range of hands he could have.

Against a solid player what I did would be dumb, true enough, but the point is how far to adjust your game when in a hand with a weak player w/ a history of calling too much.

[bunky9590]

Why the preflop raise, been playing too much limit?

You just committed over 10% of your stack with unsuited broadways. Nice.

Now you just ran intop trouble on the flop. You have top pair, so so kicker. But now your going to play a decent pot because of your PFR.

Slow those hands down. KQo isnt the holy grail in NL. Its pretty much crap.

[Nero]

well i guess ill go against everyone else in that i dont mind the PFR. i like it because you have a playable hand on the button.

the pot bet on the flop is fine, though with these stacks i would make it around $15. again no big deal.

the turn is where the hand got away from you. you really need to check behind on this board. its heads-up so a flush draw is less of a concern and any hand that calls a bet likely has you beat.

in these short-stacked games, pot-commitment is probably the most under-rated aspect of the game. those that are good at getting their opponent to commit usually thrive in these games. here you made the commitment and it cost ya.

[gliam]

Judging by the responses, I would say 1 of 2 things is true. Either I am a moron who cant play this game, or you are all tight/weak. Considering my lifestyle, I vote for all tight/weak. I should know, I used to be tight/weak.

I just don't get you guys. There are other ways to play
besides that. You dont need AA to raise, you know.

FACT: AJo, KJo, KQo pay better when I raise late and muck early in these small games.

We are talking about 50BB max buy in games here not the 5/10 on UB after all. come on people, show some backbone and loosen up a litte. If your waiting for AA to engage the fish, someone will beat you to it.

About 2 hrs after I made this post, I was in almost the exact situation, On the button with KQo, 2 limpers , I raise 10, 1 caller with similar loose/foolosh tendencies, Q high r flop, I bet the pot, he called, checked to me on the turn, I bet all-in (about the pot), he called and showed middle pair.

[Nero]

cmon man, you come to a place asking for advice/critiques and this is the way you respond?

please explain to this weak-tight player why your turn bet is correct. im interested in your thought processes on why this is profitable.

[Jon Matthews]

I'll ask about the turn bet too - What percentage of the time do you think you will get called and win? Is it high?

[gliam]

ok, maybe I was a little quick to insult, for that I apologize, but I will explain:

I raise KQo, AJo, KJo and similar hands in the last 3 seats, sometimes MP, because statistically they make me more money that way (I usually muck them up front). I tend not to so much when the money is deep enough (100BB+).

I played very tight for a long time and made a fair amount of money (more than enough to live on). A few months ago I noticed that a couple of the looser more aggressive players were making more money than me consistently. Also a post by MS Sunshine about super-rocks made me explore looser and more aggressive plays. I came up with a new strategy for 50BB games (no, MS Sunsine did not suggest raising KQo) and ever since I have been doing much better, especially with hands like KQo that historically have been break-even hands for me.

IMO, the trick to playing these hands aggressively is to know who you get involved with. A tight player or a smart LAG, this hand is dangerous, so when I find myself against someone like that, or even an unknown, I slow it down post-flop. But against loose calling stations who see way to many showdowns, and limp/call out of position with Axo, I go full speed, and sometimes I pay them off, but in the long run, its these players who I make the most money from. The type that will call all the way on a draw, or an underpair, or top set.

I bet the turn the way I did because I get called more often than not with a worse hand by this type of player. It is specifically this type of player I am looking to engage with weaker top pair hands. An all-in in that hand gave me 2:1 if he calls, I have the best hand here more often than once in three when I get called, plus 6-11 outs against most any real hand.

With the 50BB limit you can't get hurt too bad, and I do well in avoiding the smarter players. The boost in my game came from measured aggression.

[gliam]

It only neesd to be 33% of the time.

[Jon Matthews]

[ QUOTE ]
It only neesd to be 33% of the time.

[/ QUOTE ]

... to be 0 EV.

I just don't think that a worse king will call this a third of the time or, importantly for the play to actually be profitable, more than that. Especially on that board.

On a board like that with straight, set and 2 pair possibilities all over the place, you are not getting to a showdown with a worse hand by him check calling all in.

Granted, your play is very player dependant, but you were hoping for a call all in from K9 or worse or AJ, QJ, AT, A6s?

This would be be very different if the board was K972r at the turn, where KJ may feel foolish enough to look you up...

[greywolf]

KQo with 50BB stack in a party 1/2 NLHE game against loose/passive fishes who you have seen make strange calls. I think your play is very fine.