Playing pocket Kings

[blueday]

There's been a bit of a discussion about how to play pocket kings and the best way to take that pot.

Some say 3x BB and some say all in after the flop (providing there's no ace).

Looking on the internet at some of the strategies, this is what I have found:

Example 1:
Pre-flop - treat them like aces but try to keep two or one player in the hand so betting the right amount is important.

Post-flop - play to maximize your opponents contributions to the pot unless of course an ace hits.  If you bet with an ace on the table and are raised - it's tough decision time for you.

Example 2:
Pre-flop - raise an amount that will help you determine the strength of your opponent's hand.  Don't overbet or you will have no opponents.  You need one or two opponents.

Post flop - bet and raise as much as possible to extract as many opponent chips as you can.  Play aggressively to stop your opponents drawing on flushes and straights.

Personally, I prefer example 2.  So many times I've lost to someone holding an ace rag and getting the ace on the river.  In my opinion, you have to stop the calling stations and stop them getting their dodgy aces on the river.

I'd like to hear from everyone how you play your kings pre and post flop.

Thanks in advance for your replies.

blue

[Rosebud]

Blue,I usually would do example 2 too and have gone down in flames when the other player has some rag hand and gets the straight or flush.

I have also gone all-in after the flop,when no ace is present and lost too...ggrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

I know that's poker but after something like that happens,I think about quitting...for about a blatant second or two!!!

[medtrans]

Aren't all examples about the same?  Should try to get a few callers to get as much money in the pot as you can.

My betting is not always the same (probably why blue is a better player than I am.)  I go by how many chips I have, how the other players have been playing, etc.  I would start out with at least 3x the blind maybe 4x.  Then go from there depending on how many callers I get and how many chips I have left.

No matter what if the goofs with 92 off call and the flop is a pair of 9s, I am dead in the water anyway.  Something almost like this happened to me last night with my pocket pair of queens.  What can you do??

medtrans

[kattboots]

Number 1 sounds like what Jos was advocating. Number 2 more like you blue.

I do some of each, but feel I am being timid (gets me in trouble all the time) and slow playing the kings when I lean too far in the #1 direction. But, as happened when I was more #2ish in the game we played together, going high at the outset, does discourage anyone sticking around to build up the pot.

That said, I think I prefer the bigger more aggressive bet approach in the poker environment today with the people who are all in on pocket 2's or Ace and a rag or 67 off for heaven's sake. They seem to invariably get the winning card on the river... leaving me frustrated and watching my chip stack shrink...

katt

[blueday]

Seems there are pros and cons for both examples. 

I don't think it can be set in stone as to what is the best way to play pocket kings as there are other factors to take into account i.e. your stack size, calling stations, flopped pairs and so on.

I still think the best approach is to get rid of the chasers and calling stations if you can, with a large bet pre-flop.  If everyone folds - well you won the blinds and any ante's that may be around too.  You could also have saved yourself a headache with the ace rag players.  With online poker as it is today, there are more fish than non-fish and it's a very different game to what it was many years ago when I first started.

blue

[medtrans]

Seems there are pros and cons for both examples. 

I don't think it can be set in stone as to what is the best way to play pocket kings as there are other factors to take into account i.e. your stack size, calling stations, flopped pairs and so on.

I still think the best approach is to get rid of the chasers and calling stations if you can, with a large bet pre-flop.  If everyone folds - well you won the blinds and any ante's that may be around too.  You could also have saved yourself a headache with the ace rag players.  With online poker as it is today, there are more fish than non-fish and it's a very different game to what it was many years ago when I first started.

blue

I think you are right blue.  I can't believe some of the players and the cards they stay with.  Unfortunately it usually works in their favor and the guy with the good cards is knocked out.

medtrans

[kattboots]

Hear, hear medtrans! That good hand knock out is so prevalent it just makes ya crazy! The big problem with it is that when it keeps working for these players they think they are good players and encourages them to keep doing it.

Any pocket pairs puts me into a quandary with stuff this way... today I had pocket 5's and of course got 2 all-in bets... so I folded my 5's... they had AK and KJ it turned out and the winning hand was JJ. The really awful part is that the flop contained 2 more 5's! What a payday that would have been for me! arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh

katt

[medtrans]

I know what you are saying katt.  I would have folded too because once you are out you are out.  My problem is that I get so upset when I see these things happening my patience wears thin and I start playing like the rest of them.   

So often I make it over an hour into a tourney and then lose my patience.  I gotta work on that.

medtrans

[kattboots]

I know exactly what you mean medtrans... at times I decide to heck with it and throw my chips in on any dang thing just to be done with the frustration. The other day I tried acting like the rest of them in a very cheap game and I got wiped out pretty quick... Why don't they? Actually I guess many of them do wipe out but not nearly enough to make them stop doing it!

katt

[blueday]

"...they think they are good players and encourages them to keep doing it."

So true Katt.  I think that is the main part of the problem.

Any pocket pairs puts me into a quandary with stuff this way... today I had pocket 5's and of course got 2 all-in bets... so I folded my 5's... they had AK and KJ it turned out and the winning hand was JJ. The really awful part is that the flop contained 2 more 5's! What a payday that would have been for me! arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggghhhhhhhhh

katt

Oh I definitely know the feeling here Katt.  So often I (correctly) throw the small pair away because of huge all in raises and then only to see that you would have had trips or quads had you stayed in the hand.  It's very frustrating but definitely the right thing to do to throw them away.

I think (personally) the hardest pair to play is Jacks.  It's not a great hand but it's not a bad hand - almost falls in the middle between low pocket pair and high pocket pair.  That said, I've noticed that a jack often hits the table either on the flop or turn/river to give you trips.

blue

[kattboots]

And to make it even worse... New players come along and see this is what the "more experienced  " players are doing! voila... another generation of all-inners infesting the game...

Pocket jacks or sometimes even queens are tough to call... Making a higher bet does not mean you will take the pot when the other players fold... oh no... it means at least one of them will go all-in on a nothing hand and get the pot at the river and you are down all those chips... gets disheartening.

katt

[blueday]

Such wise words Katt.

I agree about the queens. I'm not sure what  it is about queens but I always seem to lose with them.  Maybe I just don't have the confidence in them and it shows in my play.

blue