How to Play KK

[steveestewart]

You're just hittng a bad streak and seem afraid to play them.

This is very true. I guess I have been hitting a bad streak the last couple weeks and wanted to make sure I was doing the right thing. I have shoved once and got called with AA, so I guess this has put a little fear into this starting hand.

Thanks for the advice though. Getting beat multiple times with A rags got me wondering if there was value in calling raises.

I'm hoping I'll land 2 kings again, so i can try out some of this advice.

 

[Poker Orifice]

Yea, if an ace comes out on the flop I'm check calling if I have kings in that spot.

I'd rather have 32 offsuit!

LOL

What is this ^ supposed to infer? I don't understand the nature of your comment... please explain.

 

[Kasanova King]

What is this ^ supposed to infer? I don't understand the nature of your comment... please explain.

I think he means that he could easily lay down 32o.

 

[bobboss171]

In this situation of KK, I usually increase 3 times the big blind,
so I have a possible adversity if there is any on the flop, but also able
be competing with QQ, JJ, XX, etc ... therefore see excellent chance of winning this hand

 

[genozzolo]

I raise 3x or 4x when I get KK, then if flop its friendly based on the table , I do another small raise for not scare people, if its a room without aggressive players I rather call and let ppl think they got best hand, and then raise.

 

[Lofwyr]

I was going to raise a similar question, but I think this is a decent place to put it. In micro stakes (hell, just totally in general) how often do you think it's correct to fold kings? I guess we can remove satellite tournaments and the double-or-nothing types here.

I ask because in around 5k hands at 10NL there have been 2 instances where I considered folding K's preflop. In one of them I actually did (I know, let's not get into how how amazing that play is right now) and regretted it immediately after. In the other I shoved and ran into AA's. I'm wondering if treating a 4-bet+ from most small stakes players as AA's is reasonable or not?

As to how you play KK's, it's all situational ofc. But the hand is the 2nd nuts preflop...so in general you should tend to be more aggressive there to build a pot and limit the hands you're playing against. How you accomplish those things depends on position (EP limps can accomplish this with suitably aggro opposition...or can be suicide without it) and how others play.

 

[steveestewart]

I guess the biggest tip Ive got out of this so far is not playing scared with KKs and not worrying so much about an A falling. Statistically, its more bad luck if you lose this hand playing aggressive then probable. Playing scared never gets you anywhere with any hand, right?

 

[kardmania]

KK cracked my AA twice tonight

When playing with KK with opening bets of

2X
3x
4X
5X
and 6X BB from multiple postions and typically medain chipstack
resulted in no calls

All in bet did get called by AA

conclusion I don't know either

 

[slycbnew]

I guess the biggest tip Ive got out of this so far is not playing scared with KKs and not worrying so much about an A falling. Statistically, its more bad luck if you lose this hand playing aggressive then probable. Playing scared never gets you anywhere with any hand, right?

This is a good way to look at it. In poker, we're looking to get our money in as a favorite, not as a lock (well, you can play this way, but this type of play does not optimize returns, and usually results in tight/passive play, typically a losing style over the long term). Preflop, AA is the only hand we really fear (all Ax hands have 3 outs to beat us pf), and the chances of another player holding exactly AA when we're holding KK are slim (5% if I remember right).

This doesn't mean we necessarily turn our brains off postflop, but preflop it's a mistake to fold KK.