Pokcet Kings Shorthanded

[bruce]

How strong a hand is KKxx in three handed play?

Here's a scenario:
Three handed 1/2 game. Button brings it in for 7. He has around $90 left. I have KKxx with him covered. How aggressively do I play my hand? Big blind will probably fold if I reraise.

Bruce

[Troll_Inc]

What are chances your opponent has AAxx?

You are a huge dog:
http://twodimes.net/h/?z=1762611

Other than that KK is strong against anything else (I assume just like AA is vs other hands).

I've played quite a bit HU SNGS and some shorthanded PLO, and I have to say it seems like most of the time you jab back and forth winning small pots. The big wins come when your opponent catches a good hand (but you catch a better hand), and either your opponent can't get away from his hand or your previous play has set up a situation where he doesn't/can't belive that you might be winning. So I don't think it makes much sense to analyze individual hands from shorthanded games in a vacuum.

So I probably just call and hope to use previous information to outplay him on the flop.

[TheRempel]

Unless he consistently overplays hands like QQxx then just call. You're out of position.

[RickyG]

[ QUOTE ]
Unless he consistently overplays hands like QQxx then just call. You're out of position.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. With KKxx you want to flop a king and cheap = good. If you are getting action with just an overpair you are probably behind. If you had a quality KK hand then a case could be made for reraising.

[Lafortezza]

bruce,
What are the sidecards and suits of your KKxx?

[RoundTower]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
Unless he consistently overplays hands like QQxx then just call. You're out of position.

[/ QUOTE ]

I agree. With KKxx you want to flop a king and cheap = good. If you are getting action with just an overpair you are probably behind. If you had a quality KK hand then a case could be made for reraising.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is an aggressive 3 handed game, you can't nut peddle and set mine successfully here. If your opponent is raising any four on the button then you should be reraising with a good KK a high % of the time. If he is more tight/passive preflop you don't want to go building a big pot when he probably has a premium hand.

[Troll_Inc]

[ QUOTE ]
Unless he consistently overplays hands like QQxx then just call. You're out of position.

[/ QUOTE ]

If the OP thinks that villain will fold to a raise (and you will be OOP of position post-flop), then doesn't that make an argument for a preflop re-raise?

[TheRempel]

Read the post again. The BB will fold if he reraises, not the button, who was the original raiser.

[redsoxsalty]

I agree with RoundTower that this is not the place to set mine, and also that a lot depends on your read.

Assuming no reads, I reraise preflop. You're three-handed, and need to demonstrate that you can't be bullied. Since the BB will fold, the only hand you're worried about is AAxx. If he has it, so be it. With AAxx, he will almost certainly reraise your raise, and if you do have a read on him as tight-passive, I would probably fold. I wouldn't put it past him to raise with something worse than KKxx, since QQxx can look pretty good 3-handed. If he just calls your reraise, you should assume you're ahead. In general, reraising gives you a better sense of how strong your KKxx is at that moment, which is more important than how strong it is in general.

edit: reorganized the post to try and do a better job conveying my thoughts. i'm tired.

[TheRempel]

You are still thinking about this like KK is somehow a huge favorite over a random hand. It's not, and OOP you're gonna be donating money a large percentage of the time. The only time you're in great shape is when your opponent has a pair that's not AA or if you get lucky and he has KQ89 to your KKQ9. There are lots of hands I'll reraise with OOP shorthanded, some of them well coordinated kings, but making a habit of reraising big pairs out of position will simply be throwing money away.