aa & kk miseries

[studioxxvi 0]

Hello all, I hope I'm not the only one with this problem. For those of you who have never read a post by me, I'll just quickly give you some background info. I am fortunately a winning player - great studier of the game, read the books, and believe I do know the game well; but I do know when to be humble about asking for advice :)Here goes: The problem I'm having is that I'll have 2 days of good poker, no bad beats, good cards, good play. THEN, I'll follow that with 2 days of horrible beats, tonnes of them!! I mean, the past 2 days, I've had AA and KK 10 times (yes, I get dealt my fair share) . 8 out of those 10 times I've ran into someone hitting a set on the flop. 8 times! But, this is just the last 2 days - this pattern happens often. I'll have 2 days of AA and KK holding up, and then 2 days of them not standing a hope in hell. You might ask how I play them? Well, put it this way, I'd much rather win the blinds than lose $50. Point being, I always raise pre with big PP's.An example: last night I was playing 1/2NL on Royal Vegas; I get AA in late position. There have been 3 limpers and it's me to act. I raise it to $14. Blinds fold, guy in early-ish position calls, the rest fold. Flop comes Q38 rainbow. He checks, I bet the pot, ~$35, and get called. T comes rag, I bet $50, and get raised to $100 ($50 to call). I call. I stick my stack in because obviously there wasn't much left of it at that point and get called. He turns over a set of 3s. Now, I've been thinking about it and I believe most of my bad beats come from when I hold AA or KK. I'm beginning to think I am one of those many players who gets taken in by the big guns and cannot fold them when I'm beat. I have no problem folding 2 pair, no problem folding straights and sets, but folding AA or KK - impossible unless it is so blatantly obvious that I'm beat i.e. a flushing board, or when there's a straight out there, possible two pair cause someone has played a suited connector. But, ESPECIALLY when I ALWAYS make it expensive to see the flop! That guy raised me on the T, should I have known he had the goods? How can you anticipate someone called a $14 raise in 1/2NL with a pair of 3s. That is just awful play. I mean, how should I make the distinction between my opponent actually hitting big, or just making a move on me? I do spend a lot of time thinking about my game and I believe it to be rare that I lose money playing poor poker on my part. I'm too tight for one, but I never lose money from making a loose call or something of the like. You won't find me calling a pre-flop raise, for example, with KJ off because I know even if I do hit, I'm nearly always second best unless I hit big. Just a highly unprofitable hand. I believe I lose 90% of my money holding AA or KK against someone who has flopped a set.I think if I can minimize my losses when holding AA or KK, I'll be an even more profitable player. Does anyone have any advice on knowing when to muck rockets or cowboys?Thanks and I really look forward to hearing what everyone has to say. studioxxvi

[Matt Miner 0]

i lost a big pot w/ KK after another K flopped to someone holding K2 yesterday. don't ask me how.

[Awful 0]

i lost a big pot w/ KK after another K flopped to someone holding K2 yesterday. don't ask me how.

Quads?Flush?3-4-5-6?A-3-4-5?Gotta torture you over that one :-)

[Matt Miner 0]

but anyway i think if you paid more attention you'd realize that you win far, far more money with AA and KK than with any other hands. it's just that when you lose a pot with a monster you notice it more than when you lose with 22 or 56s. don't sweat it. you want to be in games where you're aces get cracked by some bozo who calls four bets with 72s and flops a flush or where you lose with KK to the same bozo who calls you all the way down with A2o and spikes an ace on the river.

[Matt Miner 0]

he was suited and backdoored a flush even though i capped the flop and bet the turn.

[Matt Miner 0]

ooops nevermind.

[Matt Miner 0]

i don't necessarily fault the call on the turn, i just don't understand why he was playing K2 in the first place (there was heavy action preflop) or why he called four bets on the flop with just one pair, no kicker.

[Matt Miner 0]

K2x22 probably would have made for a better story.

[spintwisted 0]

I go through the exact same thing playing on royal vegas... I'll have a few great days in a row and then have a horrible few days due to the stuff you spoke about and then going on tilt from it... it's really rough to get through but I'm trying my hardest... I've probably been at the tables suffering with you at times lol

[SabaAba 0]

There was a thread on this before calling with small pp. I'm sorry, but I am a firm believer that in NL, I would call $14 with 33. You say you would rather win the blinds than lose $50, well then, when you have AA or KK, do what I do, I go all in preflop no questions asked. Just like you I feel like in NL, I almost never win with AA, so now I just go allin preflop and if someone wants to call $200 preflop with two outer and no implied odds, go right ahead, but there is no way you can fold the AA thinking he hit set. I tell you, I too would rather win $3-$5 with AA then lose $200. The next time you get AA go all in preflop, you will be surprised how many times people call you. I did this yesterday and some guy called me with KK. The board came 3 diamonds and the river another diamond. I know that the only way I win this pot is all in. Someone with a diamond would have called otherwise and beaten us both. (Neither of us had the diamond). Just my preference, but again, if I'm him with 33, I call $14, the implied odds are so good that any pocket pair I would call with. Look for the thread that talks about this, I think the title was "I love small PPs"Good luck

[Dane 0]

Man wait til you get QQ, those are no ladies cuz they (Censored) me in the (Censor) twice tonight and twice last night.

[Ebonwoulfe 0]

Yeah, it's easy to get blinded by the supposed power of AA or KK. Sometimes, I actually manage to call BECAUSE I know I'm sucked out on and I am very very pissed.Of course, it's after times like those that I realize that giving the player that sucked out on me MORE chips is a poor way to get even.I've come to this conclusion about AA or KK. If someone calls your flop bet and raises on the turn, there's very few times you're winning here without a big hand. AA or KK is just top pair or an overpair. Take a second to think about what the table looks like to your opponent.That's a trick with calling with a low PP. Implied odds are through the roof. Take a note that this is a player who will play a PP for a raise and look for the implied odds.I like how Mr. Hand puts it in his article... think of the conversation your chips are having.You (preflop): I have a big handHim: Alright, I have some sort of hand too. Let's see how it turns outYou (flop): I still think I'm winning with my overpairHim: I have a piece of this flop, or a decent draw to call your bet. Let's see the turnYou (turn): I still like my hand, you should get out of the potHim: I think I want to stick around. In fact, now it's time for YOU to put money in the pot. I know you have a big hand, but mine is bigger.Bah... my conversation translation sucks.