Kings turn ugly...

Well, my play of them does anyway!

KK led me into deep trouble twice in the last two days. I love this hand, but it’s not a no-brainer.

By far the most serious beating I’ve taken on a single hand.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (8 handed) converter

UTG ($309.90)
UTG+1 ($42.25)
MP1 ($94)
Hero ($272.15)
CO ($198)
Button ($227.15)
SB ($378.50)
BB ($352)

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with K:club:, K:spade:.
UTG folds, UTG+1 folds, MP1 folds, Hero raises to $6, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, BB raises to $18, Hero raises to $34, BB raises to $70, Hero raises to $286, BB raises to $404, Hero calls $14.15 (All-In).

Flop: ($707.15) 7:heart:, J:spade:, 9:club: (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: ($707.15) Q:diamond: (2 players, 1 all-in)

Obvious mistake was going all-in after his re-re-raise. Hadn’t played enough hands with this guy to go that far with him, but I think you gotta fold if you think he’s a solid player, or if you don’t know that he’s not.

But I do think raising was better than calling.


Next time I get KK, I turn into a calling station.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (9 handed) converter

Button ($228.40)
SB ($166.95)
BB ($288.75)
UTG ($280.75)
UTG+1 ($49)
MP1 ($77.80)
MP2 ($30.25)
MP3 ($224.60)
Hero ($115.40)

Preflop: Hero is CO with K:diamond:, K:spade:.
UTG calls $2, UTG+1 folds, MP1 calls $2, MP2 raises to $8, MP3 raises to $18, Hero raises to $28, Button folds, SB folds, BB folds, UTG folds, MP1 folds, MP2 raises to $30.25, MP3 calls $12.25, Hero calls $2.25.

Flop: ($97.75) 6:heart:, 8:diamond:, 2:spade: (3 players)
MP3 bets $10, Hero calls $10.

Turn: ($117.75) 5:heart: (3 players)
MP3 bets $38, Hero calls $38.

River: ($193.75) 2:club: (3 players)
MP3 bets $40, Hero calls $37.15 (All-In).

Final Pot: $270.90

Results in white below:
MP2 shows As Qd (one pair, twos).
MP3 shows 8c 8s (full house, eights full of twos).
Hero shows Kd Ks (two pair, kings and twos).
Outcome: MP3 wins $270.89.

I figured him for a big pair after his pre-flop bet. Had I not just run into the AA buzz-saw, I definitely push when given the chance after MP2’s re-re-raise. He’s out of money, and no real additional threat. MP3 is a known good player, but his call is weak (but not at weak as mine!), indicating he’s beat at that point. A push takes him out, wins me a nice pot, and more importantly saves me the rest of my stack.



Starting the long trek back to make KK a winner…

Still reeling a little bit from the last two times I had KK. I make a somewhat weak bet against the heart flush draw. I think all-in would have been a better play.


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $1 BB (9 handed) converter

Hero ($371.15)
UTG ($121.10)
UTG+1 ($71.30)
MP1 ($34.95)
MP2 ($79.90)
MP3 ($69.05)
CO ($198.20)
Button ($77)
SB ($27.60)

Preflop: Hero is BB with K:diamond:, K:heart:.
UTG folds, UTG+1 raises to $6, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $6, MP3 raises to $10, CO folds, Button folds, SB folds, Hero raises to $20, UTG+1 folds, MP2 folds, MP3 calls $10.

Flop: ($54) 3:heart:, 8:heart:, 2:club: (2 players)
Hero bets $25, MP3 raises to $49.05, Hero calls $24.05.

Turn: ($152.10) 5:spade: (2 players)

River: ($152.10) 8:diamond: (2 players)

Final Pot: $152.10

Results in white below:
Hero shows Kd Kh (two pair, kings and eights).
MP3 shows Jd Jc (two pair, jacks and eights).
Outcome: Hero wins $152.10.

Preach it brother Heatman.

Just yesterday I got down to the final 2 of a SnG and it lasted a lot longer than it should have.

I got a pretty good chip lead and was delt KK. The flop came with all unders and I pushed and went all-in. They called and they hit runner-runner to complete a flush.

I grinded my way back to about even and was delt KK again. We both went all-in and I lost to pocket Aces.

I'm not mad that I went down to rockets. But that backdoor flush kinda chapped me.

Pocket Kings should be pretty strong, especially heads up. But mine were cracked twice.

I think you got burned by the first hand and misapplied that lesson.


The money was deep (270x the BB) and your were up against another deep stack (probably a good player.) If ever there was a time to laydown kings... However, for stacks at around 100x the BB and under, you got to try to get in all your money pre-flop and take the hit when your hand is no good.