Playing KK slooooowwwwwwwwwwww

[evanski]

n/m

[Relentless]

What are the results?

[thatpfunk]

You play good. Like the line a lot.

[Leaky Eye]

Your preflop raise is too small.

Other than that, provided you know the opponent, it looks good to me.

[Richie Rich]

I hated the way you played this hand. By raising from the SB, you pretty much announced to the table that you were most likely holding a premium hand (AA/KK/QQ/JJ/AK). Then you check-called on the flop and checked the turn? Are you sure you know where you're at? [img]/images/graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

OK, so villain may have put you on AK that missed, and is trying to buy the pot on the river. But I think more often than not, BB will have a hand that is better than yours. And on top of that, you let him go all the way to the river for relatively cheap.

If you were destined to go to the felt with your KK, why not go for a check-raise on the flop or turn? Play it a little tricky. I mean, you said it's an aggressive table, so I'm sure you can count on a little bit of action, right? In my experience, KK usually won't win a big pot unless the money goes all-in btf.

[evanski]

villain showed A7 and MHWG.

-Evan

[evanski]

n/m

[evanski]

"By raising from the SB, you pretty much announced to the table that you were most likely holding a premium hand (AA/KK/QQ/JJ/AK)."

I think thats precisely the point. If I just fire pot-sized bets and or checkraise the flop, itll basically turn my cards face up, and Ill only get messed with if Im beat. I just figured this was a good spot to cover my checks, and potentially win a nice pot. People will defend their blinds in this game with almost anything, so with the pair of 2s on board, I wasnt really worried about giving free cards, with the obvious exception of an ace falling. FWIW, i had planned on checkraising the turn, but it didnt pan out.

-Evan

Also, as a non-relevant side note, I personally find that the only way KK can win a big pot is after the flop. I hate getting my money in before, unless the guy is a complete fish.

[Wayfare]

The fact that this player only had 30x BB made this possible. I don't think anyone who doesn't play this game can really make definative judgements on play like this. Completely game-texture and player dependent.

[Matt Flynn]

evanski,

fwiw my two cents.

very opponent dependent, but unlike most online games, against the average ub 10-25 player i like the line. here you induced maximum action. you lose anyway if you're behind; by all the checking on an uncoordinated board you induced huge action, making KK profitable by dramatically increasing the payoff when you're ahead.

a key issue is how many were in the hand. many of the best players there (esp. in 25-50) get far more aggressive as you drop below 6-handed and especially in 2 and 3-handed games. in 9-handed games, they play far more tightly preflop but also mix it up with aggressive bs raises less often postflop. that makes sense for them because in 9-handed games most opponents play fewer hands preflop and thus are more likely to hit a commitment hand (especially sets) in a 9-handed game than in a 3-handed. so they straight-bluff much less longhanded.

one issue that can haunt you is the much higher variance. if you hit a run of natural downswing and then suffer a few set under sets, KK under AA with one short stack or othersuch problems, that experience can get you to play much more check-calling poker. it's like a viral infection of the psyche, and if you are vulnerable to it as i am it can really mess with your game, just like playing too long when stuck can. check-calling can work very well when opponents are very aggressive, but if overdone can kill you because you are put to big stack decisions without enough information, and you do not make enough on many of your big hands.

matt