AK OOP - Live hand from local casino.

[FullyBoat]

Just sat down at a live 1/2 NL table.

I've played in this game before and the play is usually very loose and overall the quality is not great.

I fold for the first 4-5 hands and then pick up Ac Kh under the gun. I make it $10 to go and get 2 calls in MP and the button also calls. My stack is at ~160 at this point and the 3 others in the hand have me covered.

Flop is Kc 4c 2h

I bet $20.
2 folds and then the button, min-raises to $40. I've never played with him and have virtually no read.

What is our play here?

[SykoraG]

This is a tough situation. If you want a low variance approach you should fold. His min raise COULD mean a ton of things, thus including:
set - King x - Club draw

Generally though at B&M's (with the poor quality and play that goes around), I will reraise this and be happy to get it all in. Expect to see alot of variance though with this approach (only way to build a stack too).

[deal]

1st try and sit with 100BB at least.

U've got TPTK, backdoor nut flush and wheel draws. So even against a set you are not in terrible shape yet. The button could easily be reading your < half pot bet as weak and testing you out with a worse king, or a draw - I think the flush draw is less likely though (you hold the nut card, at lower limit live games people tend to just call with draws).

Either you are way ahead of his king and dont want to scare him off, or behind a set but with outs - so I like calling here and seeing what develops on the turn and how he acts. If I read any weakness on the turn I'm check raising him all in.

[C4LL4W4Y]

Yeah in live 1/2 games this is KJ and KQ very often. Sucks it had to be one of your first hands, in that you had no idea what type of player he was. I probably get it AI though, considering the horrific standard of play in live casinos.

[deal]

FWIW folding here seems utterly ridiculous to me.

[maccamack]

I push for $130. This is often a worse king, just as often a flush draw and least often a set.

[deal]

[ QUOTE ]
I push for $130. This is often a worse king, just as often a flush draw and least often a set.

[/ QUOTE ]

What do you think of giving the lead to the raiser and stacking him on the turn? I just think a weak king can get away pretty easily if we shove on the flop. Check raising the turn gives us the best chance of getting him committed.

[maccamack]

I don't want to give him any cards cheap - hence getting as much as possible in the middle now, whilst I am almost certain I'm ahead. If the turn is a J,Q or 10 I am worried that he now has two pair and if the turn is a club I not happy either.

[deal]

I take your point, but if he is on a king he has three outs, and will almost certainly bet again on the turn if he misses them, thinking he is ahead and protecting against the flush draw. If we shove any half decent player is going to be able to put you on AA / KK / AK / KQ at worst and fold. He has only min raised and is not showing much strength, his bet looks like a feeler more than anything.

As I said above I don't give him a flush draw here, but we hold the nut card anyway. And then there is the (albeit slim) chance that we are behind - making me happy to keep the pot under control for the time being and re-evaluating on the turn, aiming to get it all in with a check raise under most circumstances.

Just my thoughts, lets debate!

[Fiksdal]

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1/2 NL

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My stack is at ~160

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Is it hard to add chips live or something?

Anyway, IMO this can be a lot of the weaker kings, or clubs I guess. People play a lot loser live cuz they can't multi table and the hands take a lot more time. Someone with KJ are gonna really like their hand preflop (zomg two picture cards, I've had junk for the last 30 minutes!), and think they have a monster on the flop.

I shove for value here.

[maccamack]

Your line is not bad - but i think we see him check the turn way to often. A call shows a good amount of strength too. IMO he only bets the turn when he can beat one pair. So he gets two cards to draw out on you. However, the b3b line, leaves him with the decision as to whether you actually have it, or you're on a draw yourself. Besides that, my experience of live poker is that these guys never let top pair go, regardless of kicker....

I think the problem with the hand, is the weak flop bet. It needed to be at least $30. Meaning the push over the min raise was only another min raise - lol.

[deal]

I'm still not certain we are in front here - we are just assuming he is terrible and will raise with top pair no kicker (which I have certainly seen live from some players). It's really a read dependant situation and we have no read - tricky. If the standard at this table is usually low then I guess sticking it in is fine. I'd still go with my line though, confident I can get away if behind and maximise value if not.