9 replies to this topic

[Big Larry]

This is a hand I played in Atlantic City last week. I am starting to get a better feel for what my opponents have and this is a hand I learned from. In the future, when the same scenario presents itself, I will know what I am looking at.I was playing in a 1,2 no limit game and had a few hundred in chips. I was under the gun and looked down to see As,Kd. I raise the pot to $10. Two people call and the big blind raises to $30.00. I call. the other two players fold. Now there are $83.00 in the pot. Flop comes K,9,3 rainbow. BB checks and I bet 30.00. BB immediately raises to $60. I call. Turn comes 4h. BB bets $60.00. I call. River comes 7s. BB bets $150.00. I call.Tell me what you all think and then I will tell you what my opponent had, my thought process throughout the hand and how I would play it differently in the future. Larry

[Wilderness]

From his play on that hand it seems like he's got one of 3 hands: AA, KK, QQ.Now, with QQ, he would play the same way pre-flop and on the flop. But I would think that he would slow it down after you call his re-raise. Maybe he would keep firing at it, and so you were right to call him down, but it seems more likely he has AA or KK.

[KKsuited]

That's a tough one, but you could have gotten away from that hand for a lot cheaper.Here's how I'd look at it.The BB's reraise after 3 people where already in a raised pot represented either 1) an idiot or 2) significant strength. At that point I put the guy on AA, KK, QQ, or AK.I seriously doubt he would make that move with AK, but QQ is definitely possible. Honestly, I probably would have seriously considered folded preflop in that situation. You're up against a guy who didn't give a crap there were 3 guys already in the pot when he reraised, plus your hand is going to be very difficult to play after the flop. You being suited would have made it much better.Once the flop came and you got check-raised, I'd be ready to dump the hand pretty quickly after that. Once he fired $60 on the turn, I'm out. Even at that point, you lost about half your stack on that hand. AK offsuit in that situation is a fold before the flop in my book. But, what do I know. Just my opinion.I do know this top pair, top kicker can get you killed in NL cash games.

[Big Larry]

Thanks for your responses. When he raised it up to $30 before the flop, it was obvious he had AA, KK or QQ. Since I had and A and a K in my hand, I figured it was unlikely he had Aces or Kings. So I assumed he had Queens and figured it was worth seeing a flop. In retrospect, I should have just let the hand go. AK is good but when you are looking at that kind of raise in a 1,2 no limit game, I think it is better laying down the hand and conceding your $10 than potentially losing a pile of $$$. Anyway, when a King came on the flop and he checked it to me, I thought he indeed had QQ and was scared of the K. Seeing that I stayed in the hand, I feel I was right to bet there but when he immediately raised me, I should have known he didn't have QQ and that I was beat. I should have definately layed the hand down there. He surely didn't have QQ and he probably didn't have AA because he would be foolish to raise into a possible set of Kings. Anyway, he had pocket Kings. Larry

[jayboogie]

I think you either pump it up with a re-raise or you dump this hand. I would re-raise if only I have a strong feeling my hands is good, otherwise I'd throw it away. Giving your opponent control of this hand is disasterous. I think the only hand you can hope for is AK that was overplayed, very unlikely of course. There's no way he's got QQ, nobody plays it that hard with a K on the board. If he had check-raised the flop, and got called while holding QQ, he surely would have slowed down on the turn or river. It's tough laying down top pair top kicker, but a check raise is real suspicious here and when they continue to bet into you after you call them, they usually have top pair top kicker beat. Passively calling with your hand is a sure way to lose money. You want to be the aggressor, not the player being pushed around.

[copernicus]

Big Larry said:

Thanks for your responses. When he raised it up to $30 before the flop, it was obvious he had AA, KK or QQ. Since I had and A and a K in my hand, I figured it was unlikely he had Aces or Kings. So I assumed he had Queens and figured it was worth seeing a flop. In retrospect, I should have just let the hand go. AK is good but when you are looking at that kind of raise in a 1,2 no limit game, I think it is better laying down the hand and conceding your $10 than potentially losing a pile of $$$. Anyway, when a  King came on the flop and he checked it to me, I thought he indeed had QQ and was scared of the K. Seeing that I stayed in the hand, I feel I was right to bet there but when he immediately raised me, I should have known he didn't have QQ and that I was beat. I should have definately layed the hand down there. He surely didn't have QQ and he probably didn't have AA because he would be foolish to raise into a possible set of Kings.  Anyway, he had pocket Kings.                                                                 Larry

You nailed it here, though I dont think you can eliminate AA, which you lose to anyway. If hes got AA and is looking at your hands he has to put you on AA, AK, KK, QQ. Since KK is less than 1/3 of those holdings, he's unlikely to slow down much heads up out of fear of KK. All the more reason to get out after the check raise. BTW I dont think I like his check raise on the flop. It should have eliminated you when you have at best a 3 1/2 outer. A smooth call on the flop followed by a check raise on the turn might have been more likely to extract the max from you. If the 4h matches a suit on the rainbow flop he may have to bet out instead of check raising the turn, but thats a fairly small risk compared to driving you out on the flop.

[JFarrell20]

All's I know is it looks like you're beat. I'm not calling that turn bet. In fact, I'm probably not calling his check/raise on the flop either.

[Leedspokerguru]

raised too much preflop by yourself at 5x the bb. Then he did the standard 3 times your raise of 30. I would ditch here for sure. WIth AK you need to be in the driving seat and getting in the last raises and re raises. So heres where I would have ditched. If he Would have just flat called and then check raised the flop I would have ditched. I know you had top pair which was kind of unlucky for yourslef becuase surely no K on the flop and you would have given up right then. When people show strength then more often than not you have to give them respect. But showing strength on every single part of the hand, pre flop, flop, turn, river then HE'S TRYING TO TELL YOU SOMETHING AND YOUR NOT LISTENING. Only a world class player or maniac could bluff at the pot that many times. Lesson learned though.

[KsItLoLnEeR]

I fold no question after the $30 reraise. Also I dont have much of an issue with the 5x bb pre flop raise, alot of times in crazy games its correct to raise more.

[Smasharoo]

Tell me what you all think and then I will tell you what my opponent hadI think you paid off 9s and are confused why he raised so much preflop. That or AA.The times you split with with AK aren't worth the times you're crushed on the flop.edit: I should probably read all the posts. KK is the least likely hand, but works too. Least likely because flopping a king is going to happen so infrequently when the two of you hold three of them.