KK UTG 100NL Commerce

[kingele]

Hero has $400
Villain has $280
2/3 Blind NL100 at Commerce Casino

Table fluctuates between loose/passive to tight/passive preflop

I'm dealt two black Ks UTG and I raise it to $20
Villain in MP reraises to $40, all fold to me and I call.

Villain seems to be a pretty tight/passive player who only raises with the goods (he just called every street with a flopped K high flush in a previous hand) so I put him on a big pocket pair AA QQ JJ and not AK. I'm the youngest at the table so people have decided to take shots at me previously, but I've called/raised with my hands and have showed down only once with QQ to win a large pot.

Flop comes 862 rainbow, I decide to bet out $60 from here, hoping that he'd call with QQ/JJ and raise with AA (although i'm not sure if could let go of this hand even if he did raise me). Villain slightly hesitates and calls $60.

Turn is 10 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], I strongly believe this card hasnt helped him since i've put him on QQ JJ at this point (no raise on the flop) and I believe he is committed now to the pot, so I go all in here and after slight hesitation, he calls all in.

River is a 5 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

How'd I do?

[elitegimp]

I'm asking this to improve my game (not to criticize yours), but why didn't you re-raise pre-flop?

[kingele]

The reason I decided against reraising preflop is that I had a tight image and the player who raised me was fairly loose but very passive and I felt that his reraise was very likely to signal AA. If I reraised him and he went all in on me, I definitely would not have folded either, so I wanted to see a flop and hope I hit a set or hope the post-flop play gave me more information on the hand he could be holding.

There were 9 people at this table, If any of them but this guy and another reraised me, I would have pushed back in an instant.

[amoeba]

if you put him on AA then why do you change your mind on later streets?

[kingele]

I thought he could very well have AA and also QQ and less likely, JJ, so I thought playing the flop would be a good way to find out what he might have. I'm mostly a limit game player but I've decided to play some NL as well -- one to expand my game selection and two, to cash in on the gambly types who don't have the discipline to succeed at limit so they move to the NL games where they wont be "sucked" out on by betting huge and making nice pots. [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

I haven't been in many of these situations before so I don't really know what the standard play is. I just played it the way I thought I should, but I'm not sure if its correct.

[amoeba]

Well, I think your play is fine except if you had a strong read that he had AA that you ignored. I don't know if you had this strong read so I can't say.

I think play was fine.

[coltrane]

not that it's a huge deal, but you might get better responses if you re-post this in the small stakes forum.....
villain has $280 (less than 100x BB) and makes it $40 to go before the flop (leaving him with $240), you're out of position, why did you just call there?....with these stack sizes, in general I'd say that KK is strong enough to get all-in before the flop - you should've re-popped it pre-flop....smooth-calling would make sense if you had aces in position and wanted to trap post-flop against KK or QQ...
now, if you had some incredible read that he has aces and nothing but aces (and that's why you flat-called pre-flop), I would think you'd check the flop....you're not afraid of a free card, and paricularly if he's as passive as you say, maybe you can get a cheap showdown.....again, this would be due to a spectacular read though.....in general, I think you should've re-raised before the flop and if he goes all-in - you call - and if he smooth-calls you, you put the rest in on the flop.....

[kingele]

the guy does in fact have AA and I lose [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img] [img]/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

[Niwa]

You ignored a strong read. If you suspects AA let him bet the hand if he's that passive the bets won't be too scary.

[BlueBear]

You need to VERY certain that your opposition has AA and is an absolute rock. Without being results-orientated, if there is over 50% chance your opponent can have any hand other than aces, it's usually correct to reraise.

[ QUOTE ]
The reason I decided against reraising preflop is that I had a tight image and the player who raised me was fairly loose but very passive and I felt that his reraise was very likely to signal AA. If I reraised him and he went all in on me, I definitely would not have folded either, so I wanted to see a flop and hope I hit a set or hope the post-flop play gave me more information on the hand he could be holding.


[/ QUOTE ]

I disagree with you here. If you re-raise and your opponent moves all-in to you, you are NOT pot committed and nobody is forcing you to call. I have folded pocket kings pre-flop before.