Looking down at a great poker hand:
The cards come out, and you anxiously peek at your first card.
It's a king. So far so good. You slowly squeeze out the other card
to discover... another king! You try to hide your excitement but
on the inside, you're already anticipating scooping a nice sized
pot. What's the best way to proceed, though? How should you play
your kings in no limit Texas
Holdem?
Surprisingly, people seem much more comfortable playing kings
than playing aces. There is no famous saying “with kings, you
will win a small pot or lose a big one,” as with aces. While
most players certainly would be happy to get all their chips in
before the flop with kings, they are usually not as desperate to
do so as they are with aces. This is primarily because people feel
that it is possible, if not easy, to get away from kings when you
are beaten. However, most of the time, you should play this hand
assuming you are best until something in the flop or the behavior
of your opponents indicates otherwise.
Whether to limp
in with kings:
Just limping in with kings, or any big pair, is usually a mistake,
although you always want to mix up your play and not do the same
thing every time. Your hand is most likely to be the best right
now, and the least likely of the hands you are up against to
improve most of the time. Those conditions make it an optimal
time to bet.
You should try to bet an amount that will get you a call from
strong hands that you dominate, like AK or QQ, but will get rid
of hands
like 67 or K5 suited, that if they hit, will be will disguised
and likely cost you a lot of chips. If you are acting early in
the hand, you might try a check raise, although the danger is
that it will be checked around and you will have no idea where
you are
in the hand.
Detecting poker opponents with aces:
If you bet before the flop and someone makes a large re-raise,
or there is a call and a re-raise or two re-raises, you may
be up against aces. There are too many other possibilities
for you
to fold your hand in this situation. However, re-raising all-in
may not be the best play. Against a large re-raise or multiple
raises, you may want to call if it will still leave you with
a significant percentage of your stack. Now if an ace flops,
you
can get away from the hand, whereas if you went all-in pre-flop
against A A or A K or A Q, you would lose your whole stack
to an ace high board. If the flop doesn't feature an ace, it's
probably
time to put the rest of your chips in, and if you are up against
aces, well, that's poker.
As with all poker decisions, much depends on the betting patterns
of your opponents and the circumstances surrounding the hand.
If you play your pocket kings correctly, integrating these
factors and those mentioned above, you stand a good chance
of increasing
your bankroll. |
