Pocket Kings

There are not many feelings at the poker table that beat looking down and seeing pocket Kings. But your joy can quickly turn to despair as it is very possible to play even a powerful hand like this badly and see a significant amount of a session’s profits wiped out as a result.

RAISING WITH KINGS

The most obvious strategy when you pick up cowboys is to raise with them. Indeed, it’s a very sound strategy and one I highly recommend. After all, there are a lot of playable hands that can still crack your Kings. The more of them you eliminate pre-flop, the better your chances of winning with this hand. Let’s look at a few examples.

EXAMPLE 1

	Calling with pocket Kings is a strategy that I would not recommend to most players

You are in early position. If you are going to raise from this position make sure it’s a substantial raise. Don’t put a bet out there of three or four times the big blind. Let your raise be heard. I would raise out at least five/six times the big blind. Because if the raise is too small and one or two players call you, you are guaranteed to go to the flop with five or six players as the rest of them will be getting ample pot odds to make the call. You need to discourage action from hands like A-5, A-9, 2-2 and 3-3. So you raise out six times the big blind and the button – a solid player who has not got involved in too many hands – calls. This player has a solid hand and position.

THE FLOP IS Q♠-8♠-7♦
You place a continuation bet of 3/4 the pot. Your opponent could be playing one of the following hands: A-A, A-Q, Q-Q, 8-8, 7-7. You need to find out which it is, but it may take more than one bet to do so. All but one of these hands can cripple you so it’s time to find out where we stand. You bet, your opponent thinks about it for a minute and then makes a small raise, just over the minimum. It’s a solid play on his part, as he needs to

know where he stands in the hand. You re-raise. Your opponent folds. The button was playing A♥-Q♥ and was facing the same predicament as you. If you are facing an overpair or a set, you want to find out there and then. Don’t be afraid to re-raise in this situation. It could be more costly if you choose not to and are behind in the hand.

EXAMPLE 2

You are in late position at an aggressive table. The player under the gun has limped in, as has one other player. With the possibility of five players going to the flop you need to isolate a player now. You place a large bet of one and a half times the pot. Both the blinds fold. The UTG player calls, the others decide to fold. Two to the flop.

THE FLOP IS Q♥-9♠-7♠
The UTG player bets out half the pot, you immediately raise. UTG calls

THE TURN IS J♣
The UTG player checks. You bet out one and a half times the pot. Your bet has to be large enough to discourage a call with a possible straight draw that developed and a flush draw. Your opponent calls.

THE RIVER IS 7♦
Your opponent checks. You place out a value bet of about 1/3 the pot. Your opponent calls. You win the pot as your opponent was playing J♠-10♠. He was open-ended on the flop with a flush draw and picked up second pair on the turn.

KEYPOINT

Raise with Kings pre-flop. Remember, the average winning hand in hold’em is two pair. Even though you have a very powerful starting hand, it is still only a pair

CALLING WITH KINGS

This is a very difficult and advanced strategy. It’s not one that I recommend for most players. Let’s look at two specific examples where we might simply call pre-flop with Kings.

EXAMPLE 1

You have been at the table for some time. The opponent you are up against is a calling station. He has raised pre-flop from early position. It’s a move he has made several times this evening and has not shown down much as a result. He will instantly call your raise regardless of his hand. He has been very aggressive post-flop when he has hit. You are ahead in the session and want to limit your investment in the hand.

If you simply call here and your opponent bets out on a flop that poses no danger to you, you could utilise the same capital you would spend raising pre-flop to find out where you stand later. You choose to call.

THE FLOP IS 10♥-3♦-4♠
A harmless board, even up against this player. It’s very unlikely that even he would have two pair on this board, However, you could be up against a set. Your opponent puts out a small continuation bet of about half the pot. You raise the pot. Your opponent calls.

THE TURN IS 9♠
Your opponent checks. You once again bet the pot, forcing your opponent to fold. He was playing J♦-10♦. Even though he flopped top pair, his hand did not improve on the turn and he got away from the hand.

EXAMPLE 2

You are in early position and have two very aggressive opponents at the table acting in late position. They will raise any unraised hand. You have a solid table image and limp under the gun. A player in middle position limps and the aggressive player from the cut-off raises. The second very aggressive player is on the big blind and re-raises the pot. The action is now on you. You could raise, but both of these opponents are ‘Ace Happy’ and have no problem pushing all-in with hands like A-Q or A-J. It’s late in the session and you have already locked down a significant profit.

You obviously want to play this hand, but you do not want to commit a significant amount of chips pre-flop so you simply call the raise and see what the texture of the flop is before you have to commit any further funds to this hand. You make the call and the cut-off calls.

THE FLOP IS A♠-9♣-6♦
The Ace was a very bad card for you. The big blind checks. If you were heads- up, I would recommend that you need to find out where you stand in the hand. But in a three-way pot, you check. The cut-off places a pot-sized bet. The big blind goes into the tank and then pushes all-in. You fold. The cut-off calls. The big blind shows down A-K and the cut-off A-9. The A-9 holds up and wins the pot.

KEYPOINT

If you’re thinking of calling with Kings pre-flop, you must have an iron-clad read on your opponents and be willing to sacrifice the hand if need be

FOLDING KINGS

This is by far my favourite part of the segment as it is the one section that requires the greatest amount of discipline and clarity. You can clearly consider yourself an accomplished cash game player when you can ascribe to the lessons in this section.

1. KNOWING YOU’RE BEAT

You are in late position on the button with pocket Kings. The player under the gun limps. This does not pose a great deal of danger to you as he has been doing this a lot. The next player – a rock who has played very few hands – also limps. One other player limps and the action folds around to you. You raise the pot. Everyone folds, including UTG player, but the tight player who limped, re-raises. The last player left folds to you.

You choose to raise again to see where you stand. The tight player re-raises again, you fold. There are only two hands this type of player would re-raise with out of position and you are holding one of them. Chances are he is holding the other and has you completely dominated. Get away from the hand.

2. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

Cash game poker is a lot like investing in the market. Before you sit down at the table you have to know how much you are willing to lose in that session and how much you are seeking to win. Let’s assume for the sake of discussion you sit down with $5,000. You are willing to rebuy once if need be and your goal is to double up your initial $5,000 stake.

You have been at the table for 14 hours and you’re getting tired. You have been running good and are up $9,400. In a particular hand, you are in late position with pocket Kings. There is a raise from an aggressive player in early position and two callers. The action gets to you, and you choose to re-raise with your cowboys. The aggressive player pushes all-in. He has your $14,400 covered. The other players fold around to you. What do you do?

My first question to you is: what are you still doing at the table? Especially when your goal was to double up, and you have clearly surpassed that. I know you have been running good and as a result decided to keep playing. That’s understandable. But your endurance can’t last forever. Now you are being asked to not only put all of your profits for the session at risk, but also $5,000 of your bankroll on one hand.

I know your first instinct is to call. But, let’s try and leave our emotions and desires aside. You need to lay this hand down and instead lock down a very nice profit for a well-played session. If you are able to do that, congratulations – I take my hat off to you. That’s the mark of a ‘true’ professional.