| K-K |
| Introduction: Cowboys. You will almost always be a big favourite with these cards and you have to raise Preflop. Limping in is a sin! In No Limit this hand should be played even more aggressive than in Fixed Limit Hold'em. Because the Implied Odds in No Limit are bigger, most players try to limp in with mediocre hands. With KK it is your task to punsih them. If you can get All-In Heads Up, do it! If, on the Flop, there is no Ace, you have to put the money in. Because KK has little room for improvement, you are looking to get the money in the pot early on, rather than later. KK is most likely to be the best hand Preflop, but this might not be the case on the Turn or the River. |
| Hand # | Hand | Main Theme | Game | Date entered |
| 5 | KK | Flop: Having an Overpair | No Limit | 10-05-2002 |
| 2 | KK | Flop: Flopping a Set | No Limit | 29-04-2002 |
| #2 | K-K | Flop: Flopping a set | No Limit | 29-04-2002 |
| Introduction: This hand was played online at Paradise Poker on the No Limit Hold'em Maximum buy-in $50 table. There was a lot of chatting going on on this table. And it was rather loose. These 2 often go together. It was very common to have 5 or more players on the Flop. There was a lot of money at the table aswell, which stimulates looser play. The average stack was $79.10 which is more than %150 of the maximum buy-in. Combined with the fact that not everybody buys in for the full amount this means that quite a few players have been donating money and then either left or bought in again. There was one player I had notes on from previous sessions, Player 9, and he is a very loose and very aggressive player. A maniac almost. I've seen him go All-In Preflop 6 times in a row once. |
| Game ########## - (blinds $0.25/$0.50) No Limit Texas Hold'em -
2002/04/28-08:57:55 (CST) Table "Kaukura" (real money) -- Seat 7 is the button Seat 1: Player 1 ($32.75 in chips) Seat 2: Our Hero ($48.75 in chips) Seat 3: Player 3 ($69.25 in chips) Seat 4: Player 4 ($49.50 in chips) Seat 5: Player 5 ($22 in chips) Seat 6: Player 6 ($204.50 in chips) Seat 7: Player 7 ($198.50 in chips) Seat 8: Player 8 ($44 in chips) Seat 9: Player 9 ($57 in chips) Seat 10: Player 10 ($64.75 in chips) Player 8: Post Small Blind ($0.25) Player 9: Post Big Blind ($0.50) Dealing... Dealt to Our Hero [ Kh ] Dealt to Our Hero [ Kd ] Player 10 : Call ($0.50) Player 1 : Fold Our Hero : Raise ($1.50) |
| Always raise Preflop with Kings wired. Just like with AA never ever slowplay a hand like this Preflop. That would be a huge mistake. I see it a lot. Players trying to disguise AA/KK in the hope to trap someone. Ofcourse you want to trap someone with this hand, but you can't allow 5 or 6 people to see the flop. You want 1 or 2 opponents to see the flop. It is only the size of the raise you have to decide, taking the table conditions into account. I raised only $1.50 because I expected to be reraised by Player 9 (he had done so far), while having 2 or 3 callers in the meantime. Depending on the size of Player 9's raise I would either Call (small raise) or go All-In (in case of a big raise). |
| Player 3 : Fold Player 4: Call ($1.50) Player 5: Fold Player 6: Call ($1.50) Player 7: Fold Player 8: Call ($1.25) Player 9: Call ($1) Player 10 : Call ($1)    *** FLOP *** : [ 2h Qh Kc ] |
| 5 callers! And Player 9 did not reraise. I obviously misjudged the table conditions. Overestimated the aggression. But I was right about the loose-ness of the table, although that works as a disadvantage now. Because have a look at the flop. I flopped a set. But there is a possible Flush draw and a possible Straight draw and with 5 opponents that is very dangerous. I have to make them pay for the draw. Giving a free card, or a cheap card is a financial disaster for a made hand against a drawing hand. I have to raise more than the potsize to not give them the correct odds to draw. Minumum raise here would be $10 with the current $9.00 in the pot. If they still go for a draw after such a raise, you make money on their calls. The size of the raise minus the amount that gives the correct odds for a draw (this amount is not a constant, it depends heavily on the number of outs) |
| Player 8: Check Player 9: Check Player 10 : Check Our Hero : Bet ($10) |
| A raise of $10 us just about enough to give a Flush draw or a Straight draw the incorrect odds and therefor give them the option to make a mistake by calling. A bigger raise and they might not call and I want precisely 1 caller. That means that with a bigger raise I don't give them the option to make a mistake. But I can never give someone holding 10-Jack of hearts the incorrect odds; he/she could go All-In and I would be in trouble. 10-Jack of hearts is the only hand to be afraid of at the moment. But in Hold'em you can't be afraid of ghosts. If I am in the current situation a hundred times, maybe 1 of them (if that!) the opponent actually has the 10-Jack of hearts. So I am going to play this as if the hand is not there. |
| Player 4: Call ($10) Player 6: Fold Player 8: Fold Player 9: Fold Player 10 : Fold  *** TURN *** : [ 2h Qh Kc ] [ 7h ] |
| Phase 1 of the plan on the flop has succeeded. I am heads up, and the pot is of decent size: £29.00. But the third Flush card has fallen. I might not be in the lead anymore and the changes of improving are small. The plan was to make an All-In move, but that doesn't seem so profitable anymore. I can't stop betting and give him/her a free card, but it does slow me down a bit. |
Our Hero : Bet ($5) Player 4: Call ($5)  *** RIVER *** : [ 2h Qh Kc 7h ] [ 7s ] |
| Not counting pocket 7's I have the nuts now. The only thing that counts now is maximising profit. If he does not have a Flush, he might think I haven't got a Flush either because of me slowing down on the turn and might call a big raise. If he does have a Flush (hopefully a high one) he might call a big raise too. |
| Our Hero : Bet ($32.25) Player 4: Fold |
| The raise was too big. |
| Our Hero : Winner -- doesn't show cards *** SUMMARY *** Pot: $37.25 | Rake: $1.75 Board: [ 2h Qh Kc 7h 7s ] Player 1 didn't bet (folded) Our Hero bet $48.75, collected $69.50, net +$20.75 [ Kh Kd ] (a full house, kings full of sevens) Player 3 didn't bet (folded) Player 4 lost $16.50 (folded) Player 5 didn't bet (folded) Player 6 lost $1.50 (folded) Player 7 didn't bet (folded) Player 8 lost $1.50 (folded) Player 9 lost $1.50 (folded) Player 10 lost $1.50 (folded) |
| Conclusion: Well played, apart from the All-In raise on the turn. This should have been smaller. Maybe $10.00? |
| #5 | K-K | No Limit | 10-05-2002 |
| Game ########## - (blinds $0.25/$0.50) No Limit Texas Hold'em -
2002/05/08- Table "Lomaiviti" (real money) -- Seat 6 is the button Seat 2: Player 2 ($11.75 in chips) Seat 3: Player 3 ($69.50 in chips) Seat 4: Our Hero ($47.25 in chips) Seat 5: Player 5 ($46.75 in chips) Seat 6: Player 6 ($89.25 in chips) Seat 7: Player 7 ($31.25 in chips) Seat 8: Player 8 ($17.50 in chips) Seat 9: Player 9 ($20.50 in chips) Player 7: Post Small Blind ($0.25) Player 8 : Post Big Blind ($0.50) Dealing...  Dealt to Our Hero [ Ks ] Dealt to Our Hero [ Kc ] Player 9: Call ($0.50) Player 2 : Fold Player 3: Fold Our Hero : Raise ($2) |
| It is obvious that starting hands don't get much better than this one. You only have 1 decision to make in this situation: how big should the raise be? You don't want to make it too big because everybody will fold and KK is worth a lot more than picking up the blinds. Too small a raise will mean that people with drawing hands will limp in, and when 3 or 4 people limp in you won't be the favourite to win the pot anymore. You want 1 or 2 callers. Definitely not more than 2. The correct amount to raise is that amount that gives you either 1 or 2 callers. So, how big should the raise be? It all depends on your position, the number of people who already entered the pot, the tightness/looseness of the table etc. At the moment 2 players have entered the pot: the Big Blind and Player 9 who called. Player 9 called while being unter the gun. This normally means he has a good hand, probably 2 high cards. Which is something to keep in mind while thinking about the amount to raise. He is a likely caller. |
| Player 5 : Raise ($8) Player 6: Fold Player 7: Fold Player 8 : Fold Player 9: Fold |
| If a reraise is a considerable amount, like it is here, you can are up against a high pocket pair, or high suited cards. The only hand I would be an underdog against is pocket Aces. So the first thing to do is to find out if he has pocket Aces. I am going to re-raise and if he calls he does not have them. If he raises All-In (what I more or less expect him to do) I will call. Experience has learned me that in a preflop situation like this one, 8 out of 10 times they do not have AA. And I am a big favourite against all other hands. It would not mind going All-In preflop at all. |
| Our Hero : Raise ($12) Player 5 : Call ($6) |
| A hint that he does not have AA. If the Flop does not bring an Ace, I will be betting again. |
   *** FLOP *** : [ 8h Js Ts ] Our Hero : Bet ($10) Player 5 : Raise ($32.75) |
| Suddenly this big All-In raise. Does he have AA after all. Or did he Flop a set of Jacks? Or is he just betting his overpair? In case of the latter he has either QQ, KK or AA. I sort of ruled out AA before the flop. KK would be very unlikely because that is my hand. But it is not impossible and I have seen it before. QQ would be very good for me. JJ would be a disaster. But would you call with JJ in the Preflop situation? I would either go All-In, or Fold. Let us put us in Player 5's position. Preflop there was a bet in front of him, he raises because he has a very good hand. Then he is re-re-raised (raise $2, re-raise $8, re-re-raise $12). Then the Flop comes, and he sees Our Hero, who was the Preflop raiser, bet again ($10) with the Flop 8h-Js-Ts. He can be pretty sure he is not against AJs or ATs or even JTs. He must know that he is up against a very high pocket pair or against Three of a Kind. AA, KK or JJ. Knowing this, he raises All-In. i am now faced with an $22.75 call. When you *think* you have the best of it, you *have* to put the money in. If you lose, you were either unlucky or you made a mistake in which case you should learn from it. The bottom line is that you have to have confidence in your own decisions: No Fear! That is one of the reasons you need a large bankroll to play Hold'em. No Limit Hold'em, when played correctly, is a very aggressive game and that is why we love and play it. |
Our Hero : Call ($22.75)  *** TURN *** : [ 8h Js Ts ] [ 6c ]  *** RIVER *** : [ 8h Js Ts 6c ] [ 2c ] |
| Neither the Turn nor the River made a difference, they were both blanks. |
| *** SUMMARY *** Pot: $91.75 | Rake: $3 Board: [ 8h Js Ts 6c 2c ] Player 2 didn't bet (folded) Player 3 didn't bet (folded) Our Hero bet $46.75, collected $91.75, net +$45 (showed hand) [ Ks Kc ] (a pair of kings)   Player 5 lost $46.75 (showed hand) [ Qc Qd ] (a pair of queens) Player 6 didn't bet (folded) Player 7 lost $0.25 (folded) Player 8 lost $0.50 (folded) Player 9 lost $0.50 (folded) |
| Conclusion:the Preflop read on Player 5 when he called (and I ruled out AA) was correct. He did not make a real mistake, but was a bit unlucky to have QQ when KK was also out there. One of those hands were you can lose it all when the Flop is not too dangerous. |
