I considered the small blind having lost about 9 buy-ins bets around half the pot, therefore I immediately opted to call. Same thing with my friend, he opted to call while everyone else at the table folded.

Turn came and brought a Jd. Then, small blind went all-in with the shortest stack. Afterwards, we all agreed to play pre-flop though I considered some stuff for a while.

Later on, I had 2 pair, KK88 and J kicker with a possibility to have a flush draw eventually. Thinking of this, I longed for him to fold if I would call the all in of the small blind.

I did call at the later part. Then, the last guy opted to call. Well, at that instance, I thought I’m in big trouble and the river has nothing good to offer. But still with hope, I opted to bet the remainder of my stack. As I’ve expected, he opted to call my all-in and flips, only to unveil 7h8s. Surprisingly, small blind turned out to be Kh10h.

Well, he won the biggest pot and of course I was distressed and degraded afterwards. Now as I look back to what happened, I’m in doubt. I don’t know if I played properly and strategically. Any comment or corrections as to how I played that night?

Thank you. Any comment or correction will be much appreciated!

Dylan

Dylan,

You got to see the flop for free, so that is a plus. While you did flop two pair, you kicker was never really that good. I honestly would have a very hard time calling bets on the flop with no kicker. When the short stack moved all in, you couldn’t have figured to be ahead of him due to a weak kicker.

Yes you had a flush draw, on the turn, but when the river came a blank you pushed hoping to make him fold. I see your logic, but the downside to this is that if he called you, you were beat, and you were.

Personally, I would have folded on the flop.

In your opinion, do you think it is wise to go all-in or call all-in with all my stack? Or just fold and patiently wait for a better hand to come instead?

Well, I hate calling all-in preflop and certainly I prefer to wait for the flop, then afterwards make a decision based on the result. Any advice please?

Thank you.

All the best,
Toffee

Toffee,

If I am facing an all-in bet preflop, I am calling with K-K. There is only one hand that is ahead preflop, and if your opponent has A-A, then bless them. There are very few times that I would ever consider folding K-K preflop to a raise or an all-in bet.

Moving all-in depends on several factors including how big the other player’s stack is, what the chances are that they will fold, and what I have seen them show down. Chances are I am going to push the hand pretty hard preflop.

In regards to calling all-in preflop, I understand your concern but when you have a big hand preflop, you need to push your advantages and try to take advantage of big hands when you get them. Yes, you will be outdrawn and lose on occasion, but the same is true if you held aces.

It all started when the player to my right walk in by which at that instance I was in 4th position and had AJ off. I used to overcome situations like this but I don’t know what happened as on that night most of the table seem to be very weakly to me. I had won a number of hands in a row, eventually building my stack from a $160 buy in to roughly $450.

Afterwards, I decided to raise to $12. Someone I knew back then, who is an extremely loose player, raises me the minimum to $22. Then, the Player to my right calls the 22. Well, I had just taken a large pot and called the extra $10.

After which, the flop came A,9,3 rainbow. Quite to my surprise, the player to my right leads out and bets $50. I pondered on about things for about 5 mins and afterwards arrived into an assumption that he limped with actually a weak ace. As a result, I raised him to $150. At the table, the other player folded and the player to my right moved all in. Later on, it was only another $25 or so to call, therefore, I called him believing I am outwitted. You know what? I was actually outwitted. Eventually, he had AK.

Do you think I played the hand smartly? Over-all, do you think I played well?

Thanks for your time.

Blake

Blake,

You were in a situation where someone limped in to two raises with a drawing hand. You were the aggressor and someone else raised. The player with A-K called two raises cold. That was a somewhat marginal play by him.

When the player bet out on the rainbow flop, you said that you put him on a weak ace. How weak of an ace did you put him on? Was it something like A-5? If so, I can see you putting on the pressure. Personally, I think I would likely have put him on a weak ace as well, or maybe even a big pair such as kings or queens. When he moved all in, I would have assumed I was behind, as was the case.

Based on what you said your read on the opponent was, I don’t think you played the hand poorly. Your read was wrong and it cost you. However, that will happen a lot in poker. Don’t stress yourself out over one hand. Learn from it and profit from the lesson you learned.