[Buzz]

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I would never have thought of raising here, but now I'm going to re-think the whole thing.

[/ QUOTE ]Mack - Each of your three opponents also has three opponents, including you. With a pair of kings on the board, an opponent without a king should figure at least one of the three of you has a king (or quads) about 55%. So that leaves nobody with a king about 45%. I don't think many of my Omaha-8 opponents know those numbers but lots of opponents (knowing the numbers or not) will bet a KK9 flop without a king, hoping that no opponent has a king. And lots of opponents (who are without a king) will call a suspected bluff after a KK9 flop.

You're right that you like them chasing without kings. (That's gravy when you improve to a full house). But at the same time, the kings need protection just in case they don't improve (and it's about 3 to 2 that they won't improve).

But although tens, jacks, and queens enable a straight, in this particular case they also improve Hero's hand to a full house, so that they might trap the player making the straight. ....And most of the danger of an opponent making a straight would come from somebody drawing between king and nine.

I don't know.... I still like the raise, but more as a value raise than to buy the button. Since two players have already put in one bet this round, they're likely to call the raise. Then although they're less likely to bet into Hero, they might (because of the size of the pot and their own investment) be more likely to stay in the pot for the next two rounds.

And I think you do get a better idea of where you stand by raising here. I always like to know where I stand.

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Hero did get to play his hand for free, which has been my pro-raising hobbyhorse on 2+2 for years.

[/ QUOTE ]Yes.

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My guess is that it all depends on who has the button.

[/ QUOTE ]I agree that it's opponent dependent.

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PS: Are you going to play the Orleans this summer?

[/ QUOTE ]Not sure what you mean. I'll respond by p.m.

Regards,

Buzz