MTT play with KK hole cards.

[TheSaiman]

OK, this is something I have been trying to determine for a while now.

Lets say it is the early stage of a micro MTT. I get KK dealt to me pre-flop in a late position (on the button). At a 10 person table there are 2 calls before me and I raise 3x the big blind. One person calls, the second person re-raises 2x my initial bet. My gut reaction is to assume that I am dealing with 2 other people with top 10 hands and that I am not going to be able to to much to push them away apart from following up with an all-in push. I push all-in, person 1 folds and person 2 calls and shows AA.

Based on the scenario above, if I get KK and somebody has AA, it instantly means I am going to be either crippled or knocked out of the tournament. Without flaming me, what am I doing wrong and what can I do to save some of my stack from this sort of devastatingly bad luck?

I think the mistake is raising 3x the bb preflop. If it's a tournament, you start with... 1500 chips or so and blinds are 5/10 or 10/20. 3x being $30 to $60. Isn't a lot. I believe in live tourneys about 5x bb is standard. In Dan Harrington's series he says for on-line, raise about 7x the bb.

[gefishy]

Interesting stuff so far. I seem to be getting the general consensus that I am just way to concerned about the what-if and also that I need to start exerting more strength in my poker play. I have almost always used a 3xBB standard mostly because it was one of the first poker-related tips I ever received.

Thanks for the advice guys, keep it coming and good luck out there

[jerseytime]

with kk its ok what you do pre, limp, min raige utg, re raise, its hte flop that matters. all you have to do is avoid an ace.

[gsxr5221]

with kk its ok what you do pre, limp, min raige utg, re raise, its hte flop that matters. all you have to do is avoid an ace.

I don't know how many times I've been heads up against pocket AA with my pocket kings...I usually know it too before the flop comes

[jerseytime]

i dont think iu ever would fold kk . I have folded qq a few times preflop. I have obv fold ak. But i have never folded kk or aa reflop

[Prawney]

Didnt really read all all the replies. If its early stahes you are playing pretty deep so dont really need to shove pre. Especially if you consider that your opponets arent going to fold A10-AK, which happens from time to time. It may be better off to flat it and see a flop. As you are playing deep if its not a scary board and its raised to you, You can re raise and see where you stand. Plus the great scenario of a K high flop you are getting paid by AA. Then theres also the way that AK-A10 will fold on a non A flop. Whereas if you get all in pre that A might come on turn or river.

You said it was early stages so by no means are you in any need for a double up. I cant fault you for going all in pre with KK as you are only beaten by 1 hand. But i find it a common problem, myself included that you almost are sure by the betting you are up against AA but still in some sense do a spite shove or spite call only to see your read was correct. Dont get me wrong folding KK preflop is never a profitable play. But just because you have KK doesnt mean you have to get it all in pre.

[Tiarra]

As has been stated, your initial raise is your problem here. Unless you are one of these ever-min-raisers, which are inevitably losing players in the micros, then your smallest raise should be 3BB + 1 BB per limper. And that is the smallest. I tend to do 4BB until I am sure that it isn't a table of chasers. After that, everything is standard. He re-raised you min, because he wants you to stay in the hand while getting more money in. You have to fear his min re-raise could be AA, in which case you still have a 20% chance (your theory of being crippled or out is only 80% correct, as you will still win 20% of the time with KK vs AA). You go all-in which is always a good play with KK if you think you will get called. Seriously, usually you are a winner here, don't fret too much. As you move up stakes, I like Prawney's approach of flatting and seeing what the flop shows, but when there is no Ace which is highly likely since your opponent has 2 already, you are still going to lose a big part of your stack. It's not about how you played it or how you could have played it differently (although that might have helped here), it's about the fact that you were dealt KK when somebody else had AA. It happens and you are probably gonna lose money when it does.

[gefishy]

Something tells me I should have been posting more questions here so I can improve my play. Thanks again! I need to learn how to play poker...

[Drywallman3]

Something tells me I should have been posting more questions here so I can improve my play. Thanks again! I need to learn how to play poker...

LOL you did well last night just shy of final table!! Advice is always a good way to improve, nice thread

[trev050377]

guys mtt are great on hero so many freerolls all day long go join if u can