I need your advice as to how I might have been able to play this hand better...or if i played it as well as i could?

.1/.2 NLHE home game

So i was sitting in the BB with about something like $26 after buying in for $10, it was 4 handed.

As usual, everyone limps in /w ATC and I peek down at KK in the BB.

So i raise it $1.20 more to get rid of any pretenders and the button calls me, everyone else folds.

Notes about the player on the button - extremely loose pre-flop, will call pre-flop raises with ATC as long as they aren't some rediculous amount like $5, doesn't bluff the flop much, so if he bets the flop he usually has hit it to some extent.

flop comes 9 - 6 - 2 rainbow

I throw in a $7 overbet into the pot, hoping that I could take it down and convince the button to throw away any straight draws he might have picked up cuz he decided to call me preflop /w 7-8 or something like that.

action gets around to the button and he pushes me all-in, he had me covered

i call and he flips over 9-4.

turn = 4, i = pwned.

who cares what the river was....it wasn't a king

So how could i have played it any differently? (don't say fold KK pre-flop)

sorry about posting it wrong, i just read the posting rules

I'm sorry, but that's quite funny.

From the 'posting guidelines' link at the top of this forum:



Anyway, I like your preflop raise amount.

I don't like your flop bet. You will likely scare off many hands you would like to call. Overbet the pot by all means, but not by that much.

Call the shove.

What I was referring to earlier was that yes, basically you bet whatever you think your opponent will call, but that will also give him incorrect odds. So, if you know your opponent has a straight draw, but you know they won't call a pot sized bet with it, then you bet less than the pot, but more than they need to get the correct odds. If you know that your opponent will call an all in with a straight draw (as I personally believe this type of opponent would) then you should get all of your chips in the middle. The key though is to bet enough so that they will put in the maximum amount of money when they are making a mistake. So your bet on the flop was fine from that perspective. I'm sure you're getting called here most of the time by all sorts of hands, and when he moves in you're usually good.

I don't see what the problem is here? Villain was a complete donk and you got your money in with a big advantage. You lost, but don't be results oriented. Just sit down with him until he feeds you all your money back, which he undoubtedly will if he continues to play like this.

I might raise more, I think.

Actually, thats a good point. I'd make it ~$2. I havent played live in a while.

If he has a straight draw, you don't want him to fold. If he has 78 he is far behind in the hand, and you want him to put in as much money as possible. Next time bet the biggest amount you think he will call, not an amount to get him to fold. As for the results, you got your money in as a 4 to 1 favorite. You did it right.

Welcome to strat, where we are not results oriented in our thinking.

It's frustrating to lose a hand like that but there's nothing you can do about it. That's how good players make money in the long run.

I agree with the others that you don't want to make straight draws go away, make a closer to pot size bet and let him make a mistake by calling.

You got everything in with a much better hand, nothing else can you do. Don't let the results affect how you feel like you played the hand.

It's just a cooler, the only thing you could have done diff. was raise more pre-flop... everything else was fine...

But if this is the way everyone plays, I wanna play in your home game..

Id probably raise to ~1.8 preflop. On the flop I dont see why we need to bet anything close to the size of the pot here. Its 962 rainbow. 87 is the only good drawing hand to protect from. Against most opponents I probably only bet half the pot here but against this guy Id probably bet 2/3 of the pot. Im not sure why so many people are advocating betting the size of the pot or more on a flop that our hand is normally either crushed or crushing. How much would you guys bet here with AK?

I don't mind the flop bet because that is what our opponent obviously will call. Its not my default by any means, but I don't think this opponent is paying attention. He has tp, its the nuts, he's in. So overbetting the pot is fine since the opponent obviously doesn't have a clue. He might be inclined to call down with mid or bottom pair, or call with a straight draw even against bets this big. Its like how the casinos charge you 15 bucks for a hamburger and fries. They do it because they know that you're too lazy to walk outside the casino and buy a reasonably priced meal. If you've got a sucker, charge him whatever he'll pay.