$400 NL HE Full Ring: How to deal with pocket kings when an ace comes on the flop

[peppe94]

Hi everyone. I play every day in a 2/3 game and when they deal me pocket kings I usually open to 15$ or 20 $. When someone raises before me I usually 3 bet or 4 bet depending on how many people enter in the pot. Sometimes I’ve one caller. When there is an ace on the flop I lost so much money in the past because my continuation bet was getting called or if I checked call until the river my opponent was showing me an ace at the showdown. Recently I’m giving up much more often pocket pairs when an overcard appears. So I was wondering how do you usually deal in these situations when you have pocket kings or queens and an overcard appears on the board?

 

[pentazepam]

I usually check the flop in the old-school way since not many turn cards can change if we are behind or ahead. The kings are now a medium-strength hand and is usually worth just one additional bet or call.

Obviously, I also have to check some aces here so people do not start to bluff as soon as I check.

BUT the new GTO-solver school probably range bet the flop but bet very small almost 100% of the time since it hits your 3-bet/4-bet range. But tries to keep the pot small after that.

Here are some tips:

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upswingpoker.com

 

[puzzlefish]

Usually just shed a tear and move on 😭

In all seriousness, it's going to depend on your opponents and the board texture. I am okay with a small cbet and then slow down on the turn if the texture of the board is not in my favour. Treat kings as just a pair. If your opponent is sticking around, consider if there are any draws on the board that they could be chasing or if it's pretty obvious that they should only be coming along with an ace. (Very few exceptions, like if your villain is known to come along with middle and bottom pairs....)

If you can get to the turn and river for cheap, you can still possibly hit some draws or hit a set. It's not all bad. But it has to be played based on what else is on the board other than the ace.

 

[kdmeteor]

I mean, you now have a very marginal hand that doesn't need any protection, so checking makes a lot of sense. It depends on the range of opponents, but if they called your open from the BN, say, I think the default play is check-call or check-fold depending on the opponent. If the opponent is very straight-forward and won't bet the flop without the Ace, just check-fold.

Folding KK here isn't anything unusual and shouldn't be difficult; again, it's just a middle pair, not a strong hand.

 

[fundiver199]

As others have said, KK dont need much protection on a A high board, so it makes a ton of sense to check the flop for pot control and to induce bluffs or get light value later. Maybe there is a bit more merit to betting, if several draws are available like A98 2-tone, but on dry boards like A94 rainbow its very much a way ahead way behind situation, and the hand is definitely not good enough to go after 3 streets of value.

So If we are in position, we check back, and now we are already at the turn, where we will typicall look to call a bet from the opponent or bet if checked to again. If we are out of position, then we check and hope, they check behind, and if not then we typically check-call at least one bet. And then we just make some decisions on the later streets, as we would with any other hand.

As in all situations, where the board run out in an unfavourable way, the most important point is to accept, what happened, and adjust accordingly. AsAc is the nuts on AhJh4s. But if the final board is AhJh4s-Th-Qh, then the hand has pretty much gone up in flames, and the best, we can hope for, is, that it goes check-check, and we are still good.

 

[millya5]

Great topic .

I call this situation a trap . I often lose .