Background info

No real read on villian he's been at the table maybe 20 hands. Doesn't appear to be a maniac and that's about all I got. He hadn't been overly aggressive, but again about 20 hands.

Stack Sizes

Hero $50
Villian $55

Hero has K K

Pre Flop
1 fold, hero raises to $2

Should I just re raise here instead of calling?

Flop 3 9 T ($9.5)
sb bets $3sb calls
[/color]
Turn Q (29.5)
sb checks

My read: Against an unknown non maniac my re raise range is AA-JJ and AK until proven other wise. I think here it's most likely QQ or JJ given that he didn't move in on the flop. So do I bet with my overpair (plus gutshot and K high flush draw) or do I check?

my stack = $35.5

I don't play much NL so go easy

reraise preflop with no reads.

I figured this to be the answer to pre flop. Still learning NL. Will do.

What about the rest?

You already did the correct play and retake the lead in the hand. This was very good , by him just calling its almost certain you are ahead. He might have called on the flop with AK or QJ, so it would be very unwise to give him a free card that board. 10 9 x Q, all eights, kings, aces, tens, and queens will make you unsure about yourself and put you to a tough decision. My guess is he had AK and was just trying to turn something, or he has JJ. I would bet out again like 15, It's almost certain you are ahead, I would live with the consequences if he had QQ or if he raised you all in. You still have a J as out if your not up against AK if things go terrible wrong. Semi scary board, cause JJ is going to come with drawing and most players will come with if they have a pretty decent piece of that board. Id put all in your money in here and hope the guy doesn't hit if he is drawing.

Besides reraising pre-flop, you're flop bet was a little low as well. he's gotta call $7 into a pot of $22.5. He's getting 3 to 1 to call. That means that any draw or overpair will likely call. So you gotta bet something like $20 on the flop to trim that down to 2 to 1.

The turns a bit scary, but his odds on a draw are worse as well. With just the jack of clubs he's got 17 outs against. With the ace of clubs he's got 12. So a bet of $15 is okay here. If he goes over the top (and he certainly should with trip queens), you should probably dump your hand. He may just call with the made nut flush. In either case, if he calls, you're gonna play the river cautiously.

Fortunately, you have position.

Never ever smooth call KK in position preflop. I always reraise in that position. It's amazing how often you get good value out of it, and folding an ace isn't exactly a bad result either.

The turn is an automatic bet with an overpair, gutshot, and second nut flush draw. I'd say $20 is probably good.

Haven't read replies.

Preflop, I would call out of position, and re-raise to 10 in position. Any more and it gets tougher to play if the flop has an ace or any 2 broadway cards.

If you do that, you should bet half your stack on this flop if checked to, or push over anything else, though.

If you call preflop, raise the flop to 15, and move in on the turn.

I think you played this fine if you move in on the turn here.

I think, in a general sort of way, re-raising preflop would have been better though.

Just make sure you understand how quickly analysis breaks down and how speculative it gets once you change such an important detail like re-raising preflop or not.

Raise preflop. Turn, check. If you really want to bet it, might as well go all in because you're getting the right odds to call if he comes over the top. However, I don't think you're getting any value on the bet on the turn, and it's not the sort of board that someone is going to get aggressive on the river unless they have the monster. I suppose you might be able to chase away A , Ten kicker with an all in bet on the turn.

pf: fine... dont wanna scare away hands like 88-qq
flop: fine
turn: pot's about 30, you have about 25 left... move it all in

personally, i'd rather take the pot down now than see a river card

Hero has K K

Pre Flop
1 fold, hero raises to $2

Should I just re raise here instead of calling?

Flop 3 9 T ($9.5)
sb bets $3sb calls
[/color]
Turn Q (29.5)
sb checks

Yeah I shoulda just pushed....not sure why I didn't, heat of the moment kinda thing I guess. Obviously after the bet I have to call an all in. As soon as pushed I felt like it was QQ. Didn't think it was AA b/c he would have moved in on the flop most likely. JJ w/ the J of clubs is possible to. He did end up having QQ but....

River J

Hero wins.

I guess I was kinda thinking results oriented. I did have a decent draw and didn't know if it was best to check. I still like moving in on the turn.

Thanks for the advice.

I actually wouldn't push on the turn. I'd just bet the size of the pot and if he came over the top I'd throw it away. That board is scary as hell and there are a lot of holdings that your villain could have that beat you.

Good thing the river was nice to you.

P.S. Nevermind, your stack was only $35 on the turn. Yeah, go ahead and push 'em in the middle.

Why would everyone be against checking behind on the turn?

I feel like at this point we have a better draw so why be scared to give a free card and induce a bluff possibly on the river?

Just a thought. I'm not against getting all my money on the turn as well. Just wondering why that seems to be the only option for everyone?

Mark

because we're unsure of our opponent's holdings, but we figure that we're ahead right now

there are many scare cards that may come on the river. if it comes an ace, a ten, another club, a king, an 8, or possibly another 9 and our opponent bets big into us... we're faced with a very tough decision and may end up laying down the winning hand in a big pot.

our hand isnt strong enough to let our opponent catch against us... or even worst, catch a scare card that could potentially make us fold the winner

I dunno. Again, more often than not I bet here. And especially with our stack in relation to the pot.

But what could he have? He reraised us pf. Granted we don't have a lot of history here on the guy:

AA or QQ we're behind
AKs we're ahead and he's drawing to 6 outs
AKoff we're ahead, but if he's got the flush A thats bad for us
JJ we're ahead and he's drawing to 6 or 7 outs

I guess based on what I assume the other guy might have, I'd consider this a reasonable place to slow play in certain situations.

Mark