Not Your Average Kings Vs. Aces

PokerStars No-Limit Hold’em, $10.00 BB (6 handed) – Poker-Stars Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

CO ($2077.75)
Button ($1181)
Hero (SB) ($2208)
BB ($1000)
UTG ($1015)
MP ($1491)

Preflop: Hero is SB with K, K
1 fold, MP bets $30, 2 folds, Hero raises to $111, 1 fold, MP calls $81

Flop: ($232) 6, 4, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $140, Hero calls $140

Turn: ($512) 6 (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $330, Hero calls $330

River: ($1172) Q (2 players)
Hero checks, MP bets $910 (All-In), Hero calls $910

Total pot: $2992 | Rake: $3

Results:
Hero had K, K (two pair, Kings and sixes).
MP had A, A (two pair, Aces and sixes).
Outcome: MP won $2989

I don’t usually mind stacking off with Kings under Aces, but I have to say, he played this extremely well. It’s not the most obvious spot in the world to go for three streets of value with AA, but it’s a very good one. He got full value from a very slightly second-best hand in a spot where most players would not have.

8 thoughts on “Not Your Average Kings Vs. Aces”

  2. Did you wonder if he had pocket 6s, 5s or 4s? I would call re-raise sometimes with just low pockets and fold if i don’t hit a case. I would keep in my mind that the re raiser has AA or KK. Your thoughts? This is my first response on your site!

    Sean

    • Thanks for the questions, Sean and Jordan. I certainly don’t expect to be good here 100% of the time, but I was expecting him to have a pretty thin value range for bet-bet-betting. Sets are certainly possible, and a straight or flopped two pair are also not out of the question. Still, I think a lot of the time he bets three streets he’s bluffing. I mean, if he’s calling a 3-bet with 87, making a flopped straight possible, he’s probably also calling with QJ, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him player the latter this way as well.

      If I bet the flop, I think he’s folding a lot of second best hands and also rarely bluffing (not that I necessarily want to stack off if he calls or raised a flop bet anyway). I don’t know whether my line should change if I know he can value bet more thinly here, but based on my assumptions at the time, I’m pretty happy with how I played this.

      Thanks for the comments, and please keep reading and responding!

  4. Isn’t your hand pretty face up? Did he have reason to think you could three-bet the SB with 55? Love the site and your writing style.

    • Our hand is face up as a non-monster, but were sorta at the top of our range once we c/c flop with KK.

      Qx is a card people are going to bluff / value-bet thin if they get to the river with Qx or a missed draw, so I can’t really see folding.

      That being said, he has to fire turn a pretty high % with semi-bluffs/air for river call to be good, i’d think.

      Once we c/c flop our hand is normally 88-JJ in villains eyes. If he’s the type to 3 barrel us off our perceived weak range, i think c/c river is mandatory. If he’s going to give up on turn once we call flop w/ air, river is probably closer to a fold.

      My .02c

      • Good question, John, and good answer, Chris (and thanks for the compliments). I feel like my hand is sufficiently transparent as not a monster, and his value range sufficiently thin, that I need to call down once he bets the flop. That’s not to say that I’m hoping he goes bet-bet-bet once I check the flop.

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