[wallenborn]

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Based on hero calling the C/R on the flop, what would've been the better way to play this for the villain? I see myself in these situations many times, and know I must understand these things to make me a better player.

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This comes up here every once in a while. How to play KK on an Ace high flop? The best way, i think, is: in absence of particular reads on hero, villain should check-call one street, planning to fold the turn if hero insists. This is considerably cheaper than a flop raise, and almost as accurate.

The logic behind is: villain called hero's preflop raise. He is likely to do that with a pocket pair, but a lot of villains do this with Ace-rag, too. So if hero has, say, QQ, he has to be wary of the Ace on the flop. By betting the turn after villain called the flop, hero signals: i can beat Ace-rag. So villain can fold his Kings.

Of course, as soon as they have reads on each other, things can change. "Hero double barrels with air", or "Villain peels flop with medium PPs", can drastically alter the strategy. But in absence of reads, the best default play with KK on Ace-high flop is: check-call one street.