KK hu, with no A on board

[Wynton]

4 players. I have KK in BB. No read on the villain.

Co raises. I reraise. Co calls. HU on flop.

Flop is 3 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] J [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

I bet. Villain raises. I just call. Mistake?

Turn is 5 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

I check. Villain bets. I c/r. Villain calls.

River is Q [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]

I bet. Villain raises. I ??

[Spartan1983]

It looks like A Q to me. Are you ready for him to cap? I think it's a 3 bet but close. If I 3 bet, I'm calling the cap.

[Gyre]

Without a read I just call this, a cap from villan would suck big time.

Might as well be QJ as AQ and you lose more against QJ if he caps then you gain when he calls you 3-bet with AQ.

[imported_AlphaGun]

QJ seems most likely here with AQ a close second. I call.

[RunDownHouse]

I know we're less worried about draws when HU, but I still like 3betting this flop for a couple reasons. First, he could have a draw, maybe some sort of pair+BD, something like that. Second, he could be raising with an underpair to the J or as little as one overcard, in which case the turn gets checked through a decent amount of the time. I don't think its a very big difference between calling and going for the c/r and just 3betting, but I prefer 3bet. That also depends on how you play less powerful hands in similar situations.

I just call the river raise, because it seems like QJ to me, or maybe some crap two pair he backed into.

[mute]

Out of position on a drawy flop, I would normally 3bet. You don't risk a turn checkthrough, from a drawing hand, and if opponent is aggressive enough he may raise the turn with hands you beat anyways.

I don't see how you can fold this river against an unknown, and 3betting seems like major spewing to me, so I just call.

[Wynton]

Looking back, I have trouble figuring out what villain could have that would justify raising pf (without capping), calling the c/r on the turn (without 3-betting, despite a drawy board) and then raising the river.

Can anyone tell me hands that it makes sense for villain to play that way?

[BugsBunny]

I agree with just calling here. Most likely hands are either QJ or AQ. If you knew you could narrow it to just those 2 I'd say 3 bet, but some other hands are possible as well, especially given lack of any read.

Just calling this flop HU is fine. On the turn sometimes I'll lead hoping to be able to 3 bet, sometimes I'll go for a c/r like you did.

[wackjob]

just call for sure. plenty of hands have you beat. this looks an awful lot like 910 to me.

[BugsBunny]

Just a note that I'm not saying any of the following is necessarily a correct way to play, but they are some possibilities, some more fanciful than others, given lack of any read.

In a HU situation some people won't cap with premium pairs hoping to be able to extract extra bets postflop. If he plays like that he could have AA, JJ or QQ. The JJ hand could simply call your c/r on the turn hoping to be able to get additional bets on the river and being afreaid that you might fold to a turn 3 bet.

QQ may not have 3 the turn fearing JJ, AA, KK.

Some of the same things can be said for AA.

He may also have figured, with some of the above (or possible some other set that he hit) that he would wait and see if the flush comes in before pushing more chips in.

But the most likely hands to be played this way are still AQ or QJ. AQ of spades is definitely a possibility here.