05- 8-05, LearnTexasHoldem:

Going All-In With KK

Question: Hey I've got a question about an interesting hand I recently played. This was in a 2-5 NLHE cash game at a casino. I'm in early position and am dealt K-K...unfortunately, I was distracted by a conversation I was having and just called in the dark since I was on a bit of a run at the time (i know, not a smart thing to do). Luckily for me, everyone behind me folds to the small blind who calls and the big blind checks.

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The flop comes Q-x-x rainbow...small blind checks, big blind makes a pot size bet (about $15), player to my right calls and I raise 15...the small blind folds, big blind raises me 60 and the player to my right folds...i thought about this decision for a little bit and decided to put the big blind all in (which also basically put me all-in as well)...my reasoning was that he probably didn't know i had K-K given that I limped in from early position and he figured I had hit a Q with a weaker kicker...now i realize he was in the big blind so he could have had anything including Q-x to give him two pair, but with two pair, most people will feign weakness on the flop and try for the raise later...also i didn't think he had pocket queens given that he didn't raise pre-flop...i figured he had either A-Q or K-Qs ...did i make the right decision to put him all in?...i realize that you should almost always raise pre-flop with K-K to drive out drawing hands, but i got lucky when the rest of the table folded....also, the deception achieved by limping actually helped me a lot with this hand...he ended up having A-Qs and my kings held up so i doubled up.

thanks for your help,

bob

Answer:

That's a tough one because I don't know much about the other player; I can't tell you what he might have. I think you played it right. You are pretty much stuck in that situation. The problem, which you stated, is that since he is in the big blind, you don't know if he has only a queen or two pair (a set or AA is unlikely). Part of the value of raising preflop in no limit holdem is that you define your hand and also get some of the other hands out that might be very hard to see -- Q4 with a Q-7-4 flop.

Granted, you'll get some loose players calling and bad beating you with hands you would never guess, but the majority of the time it will clear the way and make the information you get back easier to decipher. You would have much more confidence in your hand had you raised preflop. Then when he just called and gave you action on the flop, you could have more easily narrowed his hands down to just the queen. Deception is important in poker, but if you play very deceptively and tricky, the signs you get back from other people will be mixed too.

Sometimes you'll see some really wacky plays in big games and the smaller limit players watching are surprised that the pro made such a big error. A sudden loss of judgment isn't the cause of the pro losing a lot in the hand, it is because he put the other player on a range of hands and played accordingly. The read was off, but the play was right for what he thought the opponent had. This happens more and more the higher you play, because the games are tougher and more deceptive. Lastly, many players would just forget about the hand and play the next one. One hand turns into 10 years and they are still playing $3-6. Develop good post hand and post game habits. Analyze your game as much as you can.

Try to squeeze as much information as you can from each hand so you can keep building your bank of knowledge. In sports there is a difference between practicing and playing. Sure playing will help your overall game some, but if you break down each part and develop it, the overall game will improve much more. Take the same approach to holdem and you'll keep progressing as a player and in limits.

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