1/2NL hand from Niagara for analysis
Really good 1/2 game at Casino Niagara. Three limpers to me I limp with KQo in late position, something like 7 to the flop, Q 7 3 two diamonds, sb bets $10 and has another $20 or so behind, one fold, I raise to $25 (hoping to isolate and not commit too much if someone picks up a hand behind me) button surprisingly calls $25 cold and original bettor goes all in for $32 total, I call, button calls, turn is Qd completing flush, not sure if I like that card so I check, button checks, river is black deuce. I check and now button bets $40 with about $30 left in this stack. Can I call this bet? Comments on the hand are appreciated.
Comments
Mark
I wouldn't worry about AQ here because that guy should have been raising preflop.
You should have been raising or folding as well from the CO with your hand. With KQ and no strength shown yet you should put them to the test and see who really wants to play this hand. When you limped in along with the entire table holding KQ you find yourself in a mulitway pot with no idea at all of where you stand. Weak passive play here.
With seven limpers to the flop and a flush draw present I would be very worried about someone drawing to the flush. You did the right thing and bet the pot here and got called in two spots. You can't be really happy with your hand here.
The turn completes the flush and you don't bet so the button bets small to represent the flush but give you the right odds to call. If you think he is a skilled player at all you should release this hand. If you think he is a bit of a donk (and there is lots of them in these games) he may be messing around here with Q J-9. Those three hands are about all that you can beat.
Mark is right that you are priced in so with the lack of any good reads a call here is not really a bad play but your big mistake was made pre-flop.
Caddy
The turn was checked through. The river bet is giving you good odds to call. Reads are dependent in NL of course, but given the price you're getting I think folding here is terrible unless you have a very very good read that you're beat.
I don't think the pf limp is that horrible. KQo is a tricky hand NL wise. I'd probably raise to limit the field with it (if I thought that was likely), but a mixed strategy of limping/raising it is probably alright.
Against "most" decent players though you're likely beat. The only reasonable draw he could have is a flush draw. (He shouldn't be drawing at a gutshot there given he doesn't have much in the way of implied odds since his stack isn't that deep) He "probably" isn't cold-calling a bet and raise with a worse pair or a Q with a worse kicker. If he's bad though, then all of the hands I just mentioned are of course possible (among others).
Your are correct in the fact that KQo is a tricky hand in NL. It is very easy to go broke with this hand especially when a lot of paint falls on the flop.
Scooby, how would you play out this hand after limping in and then facing your first decision post flop?
Depends on stack sizes, reads etc. But in general I'm not looking to play a big pot with TPGK against a good player in an unraised pot. Against a bad player, I'm looking to give him opportunities to make mistakes (draw without odds, call me with worse Q's, etc).