Moved up in Limit...how was this hand?

st0neC0ldNutz

As you might know I am quite new to poker - I have been playing for 7 months.
I have been playing .01-.02 Limit and have been doing quite well (meaning I have won $ on almost every session I have played, not a ton of $ but its positive). I decided to move up to .25-.50 (since that is the next highest level on UB) and I have also not lost $ in a session (however I have only played 3 sessions!).
Anyway, here is a hand from last night I ended up losing on the river. Could I have played it any better? Did I make any mistakes? I appreciate all your feedback.
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($.25/$.50 Hold'em)
Powered by UltimateBet
Started at 13/Jan/05 22:28:06

Tiguron is at seat 0 with $18.70.
kellysteve_99 is at seat 1 with $15.70.
RyanMitchell is at seat 2 with $22.60.
duhastmich is at seat 3 with $2.30.
Nobita is at seat 4 with $16.80.
dietbeer is at seat 5 with $7.25.
femtxldy is at seat 6 with $9.15.
sToNeCoLdNuTz is at seat 7 with $10.
Matty Bee is at seat 8 with $14.50.
BruceF57 is at seat 9 with $23.05.
The button is at seat 5.

femtxldy posts the small blind of $.10.
sToNeCoLdNuTz posts the big blind of $.25.

Tiguron: -- --
kellysteve_99: -- --
RyanMitchell: -- --
duhastmich: -- --
Nobita: -- --
dietbeer: -- --
femtxldy: -- --
sToNeCoLdNuTz: Kd Ks
Matty Bee: -- --
BruceF57: -- --

Pre-flop:

Matty Bee folds. BruceF57 folds. Tiguron folds.
kellysteve_99 folds. RyanMitchell calls. duhastmich
folds. Nobita folds. dietbeer raises to $.50.
femtxldy calls. sToNeCoLdNuTz calls. RyanMitchell calls.

Flop (board: Qc Td 7d):

femtxldy checks. sToNeCoLdNuTz checks. RyanMitchell bets
$.25. dietbeer calls. femtxldy calls. sToNeCoLdNuTz raises
to $.50. RyanMitchell calls. dietbeer calls.
femtxldy calls.

Turn (board: Qc Td 7d 8c):

femtxldy checks. sToNeCoLdNuTz bets $.50. RyanMitchell raises
to $1. dietbeer calls. femtxldy calls. sToNeCoLdNuTz
re-raises to $1.50. RyanMitchell re-raises to $2.
dietbeer calls. femtxldy calls. sToNeCoLdNuTz calls.

River (board: Qc Td 7d 8c Ah):

femtxldy checks. sToNeCoLdNuTz bets $.50. RyanMitchell folds.
dietbeer calls. femtxldy calls.



Showdown:

sToNeCoLdNuTz shows Kd Ks.
sToNeCoLdNuTz has Kd Ks Qc Td Ah: a pair of kings.
dietbeer shows Js Ac.
dietbeer has Js Ac Qc Td Ah: a pair of aces.
femtxldy shows Ad Kh.
femtxldy has Ad Kh Qc Td Ah: a pair of aces, king/queen kickers.


Hand #3882853-8525 Summary:

$.50 is raked from a pot of $13.50.
femtxldy wins $13 with a pair of aces.
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st0neC0ldNutz

Maybe I should have capped this sucker pre-flop (if possible)?

-ANTE RIVER-

Looks like a fairly tight game with only AJ, KK and AK seeing the flop with 1 preflop raise.
Based on that, you likely didn't re-raise pre-flop to scare anyone else out of the pot. Probably want only 2 or 3 in against your KK. I think you should have started the action after the flop though, and played that round aggressively to make any drawing hands pay to see the turn and the river (which turned out to be the case). You might have had any Q with high kicker follow you to the end in that case. Other than that, there's not much else you can do. They chased the str8's and overcards and happened to hit it. Your raise on the river was going to be called no matter what at that point with 24 big bets in the pot. Had you checked, and one of them raised, with your re-raise, they may have put you on a str8 yourself based on your earlier calls, who knows? I too always have a hard time with KK getting rivered on drawing hands, and as such, usually bet strong after any flop that looks dangerous to feel out the table. If they want to pay and get lucky, so be it...

RAM_Eh

The reallity of the low limit is that there is nothing you can bet to move someone off the AK and for most parts the AJ.

Bet strong with the KK, but if an A shows on the flop, slow down and get ready to fold. In low limit most people will play Ax.

It is hard to fold KK and even harder AA, but you have to get used to doing it.

IMO

Rob M.

Gord

At this limit i think you're going to lose this hand because i don't see the other players dropping their hands... However i would have reraised preflop... chances are the guy who raised you will call one more raise, the guy who called in the middle has called and will likely call one more bet, which leaves the first guy who has to call 2, he might fold he might not but i think i would have reraised preflop...
Other than that i think it was alright

ScottyZ

I would have re-raised pre-flop. KK is a monster hand which is worth a raise for value.

On the flop, I would have bet and raised at every opportinity.

On the turn, I would have bet and then just called the raise. There is now some evidence that KK could be beat, but I think the hand still has enough of a chance of being good (relative to the pot size) that I wouldn't fold at this point. There is almost no chance a player will fold a better hand or draw if you re-raise.

Betting out on the turn was a strong play, since (based on the flop action) it seems like the most likely way to face the rest of the field with a double bet cold.

On the river, I would check and probably call one bet. If it comes back to you 2 or more bets cold, you are in a tough spot due to the large pot size.

Betting out on the river either for value, or as a bluff (that is, with the hope that a hand better than KK will fold), doesn't seem justified.

ScottyZ