KJo hits two pair at $2 paradise.

[DavidC]

Hi there.

Just getting back into NL play after a many months' hiatus. I play Paradise $2 buy-in tables right now, and I'm far from confident with my game.

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7 handed, stacks:
SB: 8.93
BB: 7.42
UTG: 1.80
UTG+1: 2.25
Hero: 5.37
CO: 0.42
B: 1.29

Hero dealt: K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]J [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

PF: utg calls, fold, hero raises to 0.08...

(Out of position with a weakish hand... please comment on this, but please focus on the rest of the hand.)

... fold, call, call, bb folds, call.

Those who remain:
SB: 8.93
UTG: 1.80
Hero: 5.37
B: 1.29

Flop: 5 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]J [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (pot: 0.34)

Action: check, check, hero bets the pot, button calls, fold fold.

Is a pot-sized bet here okay? I'm probably the best hand, and I'm trying to build a big pot so that I can tie the big stacks to it. I was intending to give a big push back if someone raised me here, especially if they were a big stack.

Turn: (5 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]J [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]) 9 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img](pot: 1.04)

Hero bets the pot, button calls all-in at 0.86 cents.

Not sure what you guys will think of this. The only draw out there was a straight draw, and it was the card that hit... However, it seems unlikely to me that someone would call my raise PF with QT, or that they would call my earlier bet with 99.

Any comments?
--Dave.

[gavrilo]

Thinking that someone wouldn't call your preflop raise with QT when you are raising KJo doesn't really go hand in hand.
However, I think you played postflop well. You could probably even bet more on the flop and these guys will still call with whatever they have. You will also be quite amazed at the holdings you will see that call your turn bet here.

[TheGrifter]

It's tough to learn much in these super micro games, just because, due to the fact that the money is meaningless, people often play in a completely illogical manner. (Although this happens at other limits, it happens much more often in micro limit games).

So basically, at this stage you want to focus on playing the best poker you can and look at your wagers as bets, not pennies.

You don't want to raise 4xBB in mp with a crappy hand like KJ. In fact you don't want to raise at all, depending on the likelihood of other players to raise I would either limp or fold.

The rest of the hand plays itself for the most part, potting it down is fine.

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
Thinking that someone wouldn't call your preflop raise with QT when you are raising KJo doesn't really go hand in hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

Well, as soon as I made the play I realized how dumb it was... I just hoped that my opponents played better pf than I did at that point.

QTs wouldn't be a horrible call from someone with a big stack who wanted to take a crack at me. However, the guy that called my bet on the flop didn't have a big stack, though he did have position (his position sucked to make that call though, with others left to act behind him and with myself potentially ready to re-raise if it was check-raised).

---

Out of curiosity, how much do you think I could have gotten away with raising on the flop, and still had a caller?

The guy flipped over JTo (gutshot on the flop, gutshot + pair on turn). The river was a 2 and I won.

Definitely surprising!

--Dave.

[DavidC]

To be honest, I'm inclined to fold KJo in that position in the future.

Would it be worth a call if I thought that it was going to be a family pot for one bet? These seem to be the kinds of hands that hit top pair and screw you for it.

Thanks for your comments.

[AdamL]

While KJo is a pretty poor NL hand, raising with KJ is a whole lot different than cold-calling with QT...

[AdamL]

I'd play the hand the same except for the preflop.

I wouldn't bet less than the pot with top-two. It's a pretty good NL hand and your opponent can easily have AK or AQ...

Were you thinking of making a smaller bet?

[gavrilo]

yes, i agree. maybe what i said came out different than what i meant.

my point was that you shouldn't be suprised at someone calling a raise preflop with QT

[DavidC]

[ QUOTE ]
raising with KJ is a whole lot different than cold-calling with QT...

[/ QUOTE ]

Is calling with QTs from the button a good thing (if the guy's stack as bigger and mine was bigger)?

I don't think it's a good idea to call with short stacks, though, FYI.

[DavidC]

No, definitely a larger bet rather than smaller.

However, it would have perhaps been okay to bet smaller, get raised and slam it... comments?

You'd have to have a damn good read on your opponents to do that... probably better in a live game.