Help me play KK preflop

[char]

Villain has a deep stack (over four buyins, although I can only play him for one buyin) and has been bullying the table recently with raises and reraises.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em, $0.02 BB (6 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

Button ($17.98)
SB ($2.81)
Villain ($22.97)
UTG ($2.63)
Hero ($4.88)
CO ($1.97)

Preflop: Hero is MP with K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img].
UTG calls $0.02, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $0.08</font>, <font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Villain raises to $0.20</font>, UTG folds, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $0.50</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Villain raises to $0.80</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $2.42</font>, Villain calls $1.20.

1. Can someone explain the preflop betting to me? When he raises to $0.20 he could be trying to steal the pot as usual (maybe he doesn't notice how tight I'm playing). When I reraise to $0.50, he must realize I have something, but why does he reraise so little? If he had a small pocket pair he would call and play for set value. If he had a large pocket pair or AK he would make a large reraise, inviting me to go all-in. Why would he put in another $0.30 and reopen the betting?

2. How is my bet sizing in this hand? I'm obviously trying to get all-in preflop. Should I have moved all-in on my last bet, or would that cause him to fold too many hands I can beat? I was surprised when he called instead of reraising, but it's not a bad outcome for me. If an ace comes on the flop and he moves in, I have an easy call getting 2-1 pot odds. If three low cards come on the flop and I move in, the same odds encourage him to call with a medium pocket pair.

[Heavens_Myst]

first raise should have been: hero raises to $.09
second raise should have been: hero raises to $.70

as played i dont mind the 2.42 raise, you still have $2 behind and its hard to go from $.80 to $4 without overbetting, but this guy should already know what hand you're representing, so I guess the 2.42 raise is fine, obv get it in on the flop

if you would have raised a bit more the first two times you could have gotten it all in preflop tho

[char]

I see what you mean, any hand that would call $0.30 more would also call $0.50 more. I'll be a little more aggressive next time and try to get it in preflop.

[gedanken]

This is messy bet sizes, but basically fine and normal. Lots of low stakes players love minbets for reasons that vary with the player a lot, and the situation a little. I like to keep notes on this, since for most players it means they have a weak hand and they're hoping you'll fold, but for some it means they have a monster they want you to bet for them.

I can't imagine the difference between .08 and .09, what? You can make it .10 because of the limper, or not, it's not that big a deal.

You're second raise is smallish, as mentioned, but I actually don't hate it. If you think villian could 3-bet from the BB as a bluff, almost any 4-bet will do the job. Once he reraises (even this silly .30), I think you can safely shove, because he's said he has a hand he'll play. $2.4 is a normal 3x raise, and good to get us pot committed.

Contrary to appearances, most LAGs are not looking for expensive confrontations with nothing. They're looking to take cheap shots at getting a big hand, then letting their image do the heavy lifting to get a call. He's got a hand here.

I'm glad you're not asking if you can fold your kings! Now that he's got the table playing back at him, JJ+ is enough for him to be going all in pre, probably worse.

[pzhon]

[ QUOTE ]
I would have folded it...but thats me

[/ QUOTE ]
That would be horrible. "Villain ... has been bullying the table recently with raises and reraises." Do not give a maniac the same credit you would give a tight, passive, unimaginative player who keeps reraising. There are very few times when you can correctly fold KK preflop (though there are many times to stop raising), and this is not one of them.

[Arjonius]

First off, there's probably no difference between opening for .08 and .09. It only matters when the difference in your bet size will cause one or more opponents to act differently. In this case, the penny difference seems unlikely to do so. Also, at micro-stakes, it's not uncommon to see people call 3x or 4x with very mediocre hands; they don't mind because the amount of money is puny. So at any given table, one thing you should do early is figure out what the opening bet size is that will make a difference.

Also, don't count on micro-stakes players having an image of you or anyone else until they've shown that they do. Most people aware enough to track opponents' play patterns are good enough to win at higher levels, so they're not playing .01/.02.

[batair]

on your 2nd raise i would of made it 70 to 80c to go,if he raised after that just push preflop, people like this almost never fold in the penny ring.