KK - UTG and under pressure

[Dr Rosen Rosen]

My first post so go easy. I’ve been playing Party .50/1.00 for the last two months with some success. I’ve been doing my homework and working on my game and think this message board is great.

This hand has troubled me all day and I just wanted to seek some input on my play and how others would have played this under the circumstances.

Party .50/1.00 fairly loose table with a couple of good players, the player to my immediate left is a total call station who had played every hand since I sat down. MP only sat down in the last 10 hands and with only 10BB’s – no real read.



Preflop: Hero is UTG with K [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
Hero raises, UTG+1 calls ‘surprise surprise’, EP 1 folds, EP 2 folds, MP 3-bets, LP folds, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, Hero caps, UTG+1 calls, MP calls.

No problem with any of this. Given that MP raised my early-position pre-flop raise I put him on AA, KK, QQ or AK and maybe JJ or TT.

Flop: (13.50 SB) J [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 2 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+1 calls, MP raises, Hero 3-bets, UTG+1 folds, MP caps, Hero calls.

After the MP raise I go through my 'no scary monsters under the bed' mantra and figure that I’ve got the CS potentially trapped for more bets knowing that his hand with this board is no threat and fire away. Is this the right play or should I be slowing down at this stage??

Based on the flop action I now eliminate AK as a potential holding for MP and now have serious doubts about whether he would show this much aggression with QQ. Maybe those noises under the bed are more than just my imagination.

Turn: (15.75 BB) 6 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets, MP raises, Hero calls.

Another blank and I decide to bet the turn and see how he reacts. Once he raises I decided to slow down thinking again that QQ is less and less likely. Is this the right decision or should I’ve stayed aggressive?

River: (19.75 BB) 9 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets, Hero calls

I decided to check call the River fearing the worst. Once again I’m not sure if this is the right play.

Final Pot: 21.75 BB

MP shows A [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] , A [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].


Ignoring the outcome I’m interested in whether I played the Turn and the River too passively or was this correct given the aggression shown by my opponent?

[tw texas]

I think calling is fine. The pot is big enough as it is, and the only hands MP could have that you could beat(IMO) are QQ and AJ. Of course, this is Party, so he could have T4 or 92. Welcome to the board.

[HajiShirazu]

I would slow down after he caps the flop...I think you have to give him credit for the rockets at that point.

[sfer]

You played it just fine. I would check/call the turn and river after he caps the flop, but I wouldn't fold unless I had a strong read on MP.

Bleck. You've really got no choice but to lose multiple bets with that hand. Sooner or later you'll have Aces to someone's Kings and it'll be sweet. Or they'll spike a set on the flop and you'll loose multiple bets again. Either way, them's the breaks.

Welcome aboard.

[Zetack]

[ QUOTE ]

Turn: (15.75 BB) 6 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero bets, MP raises, Hero calls.

Another blank and I decide to bet the turn and see how he reacts. Once he raises I decided to slow down thinking again that QQ is less and less likely. Is this the right decision or should I’ve stayed aggressive?


[/ QUOTE ]

No, slowing down here is almost mandatory. Aggression is a good thing, but not mindless agression. He capped the flop, you bet into him and he's still raising--he likes his hand a lot. Unless you had a specific read on him to suggest otherwise, you have to give him credit for a strong hand. There are very few strong hands that you can beat here. I think check calling both the turn and river would have been fine too--I probably would have.

--Zetack

[mikeyKay]

i dont think you can put him on aces with a cap on the preflop...i think at this level AK, AA, QQ, maybe even JJ, i dont think you can or should automatically put him on that.
-mike

[jedi]

[ QUOTE ]
i dont think you can put him on aces with a cap on the preflop...i think at this level AK, AA, QQ, maybe even JJ, i dont think you can or should automatically put him on that.
-mike

[/ QUOTE ]

After he caps pre-flop AND the flop, I'd have to give him credit for either AA or JJ. I'd fall into check-call mode and pray that he was overplaying QQ. You can't fold, but you need to get to a showdown as cheap as possible now.

[Dr Rosen Rosen]

Jedi - i capped the pre-flop betting. I read his pre-flop raise of my early position raise as AA, KK, QQ or AK.

I then led out after the flop and probably should not have re-raised the bet at this stage, and gone into check down mode, but I don't think you can put him on AA or JJ from just the pre-flop action.

By the way thanks for all the comments. Greatly appreciated.

[StellarWind]

[ QUOTE ]
No problem with any of this. Given that MP raised my early-position pre-flop raise I put him on AA, KK, QQ or AK and maybe JJ or TT.

[/ QUOTE ]
JJ and TT are quite likely.

Against an unfamiliar 0.5/1 player you need to expand your imagination to include the possiblity of other hands as well.

I would check-call the turn. You are likely to be behind, but that is not the whole story. Most of the hands you can beat, notably QQ, will probably bet if you show weakness by checking. By calling him down you lose less against AA and JJ while probably winning just as much against weaker hands like QQ and AJ.

Only if a hand like AK has completely duped you and takes a free card are you likely to cost yourself by going passive.

[James282]

A lot of low limit opponents will cap with MUCH less than what you described, but become more timid postflop. I think that you can judiciously put him on a better hand than yours by the turn, but you need to be betting the turn and then calling him down here every time for the times where he has AJ, QQ, or the other KK. I think you played it perfectly postflop.
-James