KK in MP with UTG min-bet

I've been spending a lot of time thinking about a hand from last night which I horribly mis-played post-flop. I've chalked that up to "monkey-mind", but I've been thinking about my pre-flop raise.

.25/.50 NL - 9-handed table with mostly tight/passive's and 2 LAG's. For background, my normal opening raise is $1.75 - $2.25 (3.5 - 4.5 times the blinds). Also, UTG started the hand with $24, most of the table is playing $15-$50, and I have everyone covered.

UTG is TP and min-bets. My read is he either misclicked or has a really good hand (AA-QQ or possibly/unlikely AKs). I'm UTG+2 and have KK, so I'm raising. I don't want to raise too much since there is a strong chance UTG has AA so I want to keep the pot small. Also, if he did mis-click I want to leave the pot small enough to get a bit of action behind me. The trick is that I don't want to raise too small to encourage garbage calls and make the hand more difficult post-flop.

Considering the UTG min-bet and a bunch of players yet to act, how much do you raise here?

Comments

  • I like your read here. A min-raise in EP is almost always a monster hand. The least likely is QQ IMO.

    I would likely pop it to $2.75 or even $3 in an attempt to isolate.

    If I get reraised I would be willing to lay it down and if he calls I can play in position.

    Interesting. I'd love to hear out it turns out.
  • I make it your max bet given your read. Pop it $2.25 and see what happens. That is the high end of your range and doesn't give away any info on your hand. Popping it more gives away the strength of your hand if UTG is attentive.
  • AcidJoe wrote: »
    Popping it more gives away the strength of your hand if UTG is attentive.
    I was wondering if I should raise more than my normal opening raise since in this case it's technically a re-raise (I hate min raises). I actually popped it to $3.50 total (so a $2.50 re-raise), just wondering what others would do against a scary min-bet in front.
  • $3.50-$4 total sounds good. Why is getting away from this hand preflop even going through your mind?
  • SirWatts wrote: »
    Why is getting away from this hand preflop even going through your mind?
    Barring a misclick, my read (QQ-AA or AKs) means I'll need to get away from this hand quite often, so makes sense to keep it in mind while deciding to build big vs. small pot.
  • beanie42 wrote: »
    I was wondering if I should raise more than my normal opening raise since in this case it's technically a re-raise (I hate min raises). I actually popped it to $3.50 total (so a $2.50 re-raise), just wondering what others would do against a scary min-bet in front.

    A pot sized raised is perfect. So, .75 + 1 + 1 (your call) = pot. So raise to 2.75 + 1 or 3.75 -- perhaps an even 4 is also good depending on how loose they are. You really want to isolate or take the pot down. Would be really yucky playing a pot with min raiser + others behind you == recipe for disaster.

    As I'm making my raise I want to consider how much this commits me to the pot/hand. I think you can get away from the hand if min raiser then raises all in, as you're pretty deep --- if you feel you're very sure about his range of hands that min raise -- re-raise all in, which is one hand AA.

    But at this limit, in this type of game, I'm not overly worried about AA. My main concern is to get the pot heads up against min raiser and managing the pot size according to the flop texture.

    Cheers
    Lou
  • I'm pretty sure folding KK preflop ever in a .25/.5 game is a terrible idea.
  • beanie42 wrote: »
    Barring a misclick, my read (QQ-AA or AKs) means I'll need to get away from this hand quite often, so makes sense to keep it in mind while deciding to build big vs. small pot.

    i would like to point out that 2/3 hands you put him on (this doesn't include KK because that's unlikely) you are dominating 2/3 hands you put him on, folding here is ridiculous...
  • If it wasn't clear, my goal isn't to fold pre-flop but instead to control the pot size since I will need to fold if the UTG plays back at me hard or if the flop is ugly.
    SirWatts wrote: »
    I'm pretty sure folding KK preflop ever in a .25/.5 game is a terrible idea.
    I did have a pretty good read on him, and if I put a player on AA I don't think folding is wrong at any limits (unless your advice is ignore your reads at low-limits)
    specialK wrote: »
    you are dominating 2/3 hands you put him on, folding here is ridiculous...
    I don't actually think they are weighted equally - QQ and AK are possible but not as likely as AA or the other KK.
  • I disagree with the "never fold KK"...

    He later told me he had AA, and I believe him.

    Mark

    FullTiltPoker Game #1399707572: Table Pergola (6 max) - $0.25/$0.50 - No Limit Hold'em - 22:06:43 ET - 2006/12/12
    Seat 1: Mephistio88 ($49.50)
    Seat 2: objectDVR ($122.90) --> Crazy aggressive
    Seat 3: DrTyore ($49.05) --> Hero
    Seat 4: Trendkill 79 ($42.05) --> Squeeky tight
    Seat 5: ang2000006 ($13.80)
    Seat 6: zicoTJ ($47.75)
    zicoTJ posts the small blind of $0.25
    Mephistio88 posts the big blind of $0.50
    The button is in seat #5
    *** HOLE CARDS ***
    Dealt to DrTyore [Kc Kd]
    objectDVR raises to $1
    DrTyore raises to $3
    Trendkill 79 raises to $42.05, and is all in
    ang2000006 folds
    zicoTJ folds
    Mephistio88 folds
    objectDVR folds
    DrTyore: Ugh
    DrTyore has 15 seconds left to act
    DrTyore folds
    Uncalled bet of $39.05 returned to Trendkill 79
    Trendkill 79 mucks
    Trendkill 79 wins the pot ($7.75)
    *** SUMMARY ***
    Total pot $7.75 | Rake $0
    Seat 1: Mephistio88 (big blind) folded before the Flop
    Seat 2: objectDVR folded before the Flop
    Seat 3: DrTyore folded before the Flop
    Seat 4: Trendkill 79 collected ($7.75), mucked
    Seat 5: ang2000006 (button) didn't bet (folded)
    Seat 6: zicoTJ (small blind) folded before the Flop
  • DrTyore, Don't forget if the player has a clue, he's aware of the image he's giving you. Why play squeaky tight and then make that move? Doesn't add up.
  • DrTyore wrote: »
    He later told me he had AA, and I believe him.
    Did he respect you in the morning? And yes, I definitely had a set at Bristol...

    So Beanie, if you put him on QQ-AA or AKs, you were a 52% fav. It would be hard for me to get away from that hand, even facing a re-re-raise pre-flop.
  • Make it around $4 to go. You're obviously going broke if he has AA. You're seeing monsters though. You have KK against a shortstack and you're trying to keep the pot small? Huh?
  • The OP was how much should I raise, NOT should I fold. However, this seems to have been lost, but the question it raises is interesting. Thanks to those who answered my original question on bet size.

    Kyle and Greg have both pointed out that against the range QQ-AA,AKs I win 52%. This is technically true, since there are 6 QQ, 1 KK, 6 AA, and 2 AKs, so I'm ahead 8/15. However, I don't weight the range equally, since it doesn't seem to make much sense.

    This player has shown himself to be fairly tight and unimaginative. Raising UTG is why I gave him credit for such a big hand. However, he hasn't made a min-raise before, and I can't see him doing that with most hands other than Aces. Assuming he would actually minraise with a hand other than AA only 25% of the time, the likelihood would increase to him having aces 73% of the time. Even with a min-raise 50% of the time
    he'd have aces 57%.

    How would others do this sort of analysis, or do you not take into account that some hands are more likely than others in a given range? I'm not trying to see MUBS, however I am trying to do my best to read my opponents better.
  • Right. So go to 4 bucks. If he puts in a big re-raise you don't have implied odds post-flop so you have to decide if he really has AA. In general I would be cautious about AA but so many donks are doing the min-raise things these days they could have anything.

    Remember, the 3rd raise is 95% AA but the 4th one is 99.99% AA but a smooth call is YIKES!
  • pkrfce9 wrote: »
    Remember, the 3rd raise is 95% AA but the 4th one is 99.99% AA but a smooth call is YIKES!

    This should be printed on T-shirts and bumper stickers.
  • In cash game, preflop, I will almost never fold KK. I don't care if the tightest player in the world pushes back at me.


    It would have to be an extradonary set of events to lay down KK preflop in a cashgame.


    Jay
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