Your hand KKT
Action to you: Players A and B fold. Player C raises to $200. Player D folds. The pot is $350.
Question: Do you raise, and if so, how much?
Answer: You want to raise here, obviously, but you don't want to raise too much. You want him to call so you can make some money. I'd recommend a raise to about $600. If he calls and an ace comes on the flop, well, that's the way it goes sometimes. But you don't want to chase out some medium pair here.
Action: You actually raise $800. The big blind folds. Player C puts you all-in for your remaining $580.
Question: What do you do?
Answer: You're delighted, and you call.
A lot of players will tell you stories about the times they folded kings because they knew their opponent was raising with aces. Here's my story. About a year ago, a tight player in the big blind raised me. I actually thought he had aces. I was in early position with a pair of kings. I made a modest raise and he reraised me. I thought a long time and called. The flop came three small cards, and he bet a modest amount and I called. He actually had the aces.
I almost threw the hand away, but I couldn't do it. Just not savvy enough. Even bets and raises that seem to indicate great strength can have a variety of explanations, from moderately strong hands to outright bluffs. And here's a little secret from the world of top-class poker. Nobody else is that savvy either, no matter what they tell you.
Action: You call. Your opponent shows you which holds up-
About one time in 24, when you hold kings at a full table, someone at the table will be holding aces. If you try to figure out exactly when that occurs, you'll end up folding a lot of hands when you're actually facing queens, or ace-king, or something even weaker. So don't bother. Just play your kings like you have the best hand, and you'll do better in the long run. (Note that when you raise with your kings, get called by one or two players, and then an ace flops, is a very different situation.)
The simple truth is that everyone remembers the times that their kings were beaten by aces, but they forget all the other times that they were afraid the other guy had aces, but he turned over jacks or queens instead. You have only a limited amount of time in tournaments to make money before the blinds devour you, so put the whip to your genuinely good hands, and let them carry you home.
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