Played Recklessly for a Certain Hand

In one of my games, I am not sure if I played recklessly for a certain hand. It was actually the last hand of our 2/4 NL. I’ve been dealt Kd2d in the big blind. Eventually everyone called the big-blind and the flop came 8cKc8d.

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.