15/30 Bellagio Hand

[foobar]

Hi all,

15/30 at Bellagio. I'd been at the table a while, had caught some cards, and done more than my normal share of raising. UTG in this hand has been mostly straightforward, and pretty passive. Comments on all streets welcome.

Hero picks up KK in the BB
UTG raises
2 MP callers
Hero 3 bets
UTG 4 bets
All fold to hero, who calls

Flop comes rags...3h 6d 8c
Hero bets
UTG calls

Turn comes Ts [3h 6d 8c]
Hero bets
UTG raises
Hero calls

River comes 4s [Ts 3h 6d 8c]
Hero checks
UTG bets
Hero calls

Thoughts?
Some specific questions:
1)Preflop, I could of put one more bet in, should I have done so? After UTG 4 bets, I figure there's a decent chance she's on AA or QQ. Anyhow...I seized up, the final raise was in order here?

2)Flop: Her cold-call here kind of caught me off guard given the preflop action: she's waiting for the turn to pop me? This line seems plausible for AA given the board.

3)Turn: there's the raise I was expecting. During the hand, I figured there was a good chance she was on AA, and a set of tens wasn't out of the realm of possibility (she raised preflop to narrow the field...figured my 3-bet wouldn't get any respect from MP limpers, so re-raised to isolate). At any rate, I just call her raise because I'm scared...did I miss a bet here?

4)River: my plan from the turn was to check call any non-king river, so that's what I did.

Results later if there's interest.

Thanks for your comments.

[Manzanita]

foobar,

[ QUOTE ]
Preflop, I could of put one more bet in, should I have done so? After UTG 4 bets, I figure there's a decent chance she's on AA or QQ. Anyhow...I seized up, the final raise was in order here?

[/ QUOTE ]

She could also have a hand like AK (suited). While AA is a possiblity I wouldn't automatically put her on this hand and clam up. With respect to capping preflop, I would usually do so. But if you choose not to then you should consider check-raising the flop.

Given your position and description of your opponent my plan -- if I were in your shoes -- would be to mix it up on the cheap streets (preflop and the flop) to see if I can get a better read on how strong she is.

[ QUOTE ]
Flop: Her cold-call here kind of caught me off guard given the preflop action: she's waiting for the turn to pop me? This line seems plausible for AA given the board.

[/ QUOTE ]

While her cold-call could forecast a turn raise it could also mean that she only has overcards. Given your preflop play, I really like check-raising here (since the flop is a good one for you) and seeing if she plays back at me.

[ QUOTE ]
Turn: there's the raise I was expecting. During the hand, I figured there was a good chance she was on AA, and a set of tens wasn't out of the realm of possibility (she raised preflop to narrow the field...figured my 3-bet wouldn't get any respect from MP limpers, so re-raised to isolate). At any rate, I just call her raise because I'm scared...did I miss a bet here?

[/ QUOTE ]

Assuming that UTG's play so far is consistent with her holding a pocket pair TT or better you are a small favorite [4:3] to have the best hand. Against some players you could 3-bet knowing that a 4-bet from UTG meant at least AA (which means you can promptly fold). But I don't think that you read UTG that well so your plan to just check-call her down is probably the best choice.

I think that you need to get more aggressive when holding powerful hands like KK. You are heads-up against an opponent you should be able to read well and have gotten a very good board; I think that you failed to maximize your gain in such a favorable situation.

-- Manzanita

[foobar]

Manzanita,

Thanks for the detailed reply...

[ QUOTE ]
I think that you need to get more aggressive when holding powerful hands like KK. You are heads-up against an opponent you should be able to read well and have gotten a very good board; I think that you failed to maximize your gain in such a favorable situation.


[/ QUOTE ]

I think you're right on here. This was my first shot at the 15/30 game, and looking back at the session, it's pretty clear to me that my biggest short-coming was failing to value bet/play to maximize profit when ahead. This is odd for me, as in smaller games I tend to tread on the over rather than under-aggressive side. Hopefully this is just a temporary leak that I can plug after I get some more time in at the 15/30 level.

Results
-------
I hadn't seen UTG get out of line the whole session, so I was amazed when she turned over QTo and my hand was good.

[elindauer]

The most interesting part of this hand is the limper(s) who manages to call 2 cold for the initial raise, but then fold for 2 more. Bizarre.

Your play in this hand is somewhat quirky, as you seem to think you're behind preflop, but then ahead on the flop. Make up your mind. Really though, heads up with KK, it's hard to go too wrong. If this is your biggest leak, you're doing fine.

Good luck.
Eric

[foobar]

[ QUOTE ]
The most interesting part of this hand is the limper(s) who manages to call 2 cold for the initial raise, but then fold for 2 more. Bizarre.


[/ QUOTE ]

Two people in MP called the initial raise, and then folded when it came back to them for two more. I found this a bit odd too...but saw similiar action at the table all day. Players would call one raise preflop w/ a wide range of hands, but give too much respect to a 3-bet (or in this case 4-bet)...especially if the raise was coming from EP. IS this common in the 15 game? Common enough to exploit?

[ QUOTE ]
Your play in this hand is somewhat quirky, as you seem to think you're behind preflop, but then ahead on the flop. Make up your mind.

[/ QUOTE ]

Err...change the word "quirky" to "pretty bad" and I agree. If I'm going to lead any non-insanely scary flop, I should be capping it preflop. My current preferred way to play this hand is to call UTG's 4-bet, then check-raise the flop, see where I am, and go from there.

[JasonP530]

Perhaps I am being weak, or oversimplifying. Seems silly to 3 bet and fold to a 4 bet, because you could have used that money to get to showdown. Add in the odds that the player does something out of whack with a hand you dont expect(KK, QQ, QT, a flush draw) or that you spike a K, I dont feel comfortable laying down here for one more bet. Seems like the right play is to get to showdown and not make good laydowns. Your thoughts on this? am I leaving too much money on the table with my good hands?

[Manzanita]

Jason,

I wrote:

[ QUOTE ]
Against some players you could 3-bet knowing that a 4-bet from UTG meant at least AA (which means you can promptly fold)

[/ QUOTE ]

The key phrase here is "against some players"; you would have to read your opponent well to make this a positive EV play. My point is that I wouldn't re-raise the turn unless I had a good idea of how they would respond plus what I would do if they 4-bet me.

Since you are out of position the default action (against an opponent that you don't know well) would be to just call the raise -- which is what I believe you advocate in your post.

-- Manzanita