Hey all, here is a hand that REALLY bothers me. I'm wondering if you guys might play the same or if I my play was too weak.

I'm at a $100 max Fullt Tilt NL table with .5/1 blinds. No notes on the players in this hand.

I'm in UTG+1 and I pick up Kd-Kh. UTG makes it $3 to go and I reraise making it $9 to go. Folds to the CO, who calls. Folds back to UTG, who calls.

Pot: $27
Board: Qs-5c-8s

UTG checks, and I bet $25 into the $27 pot. This puts the LP player all in (He has $23 I think) and he folds. UTG calls.

Pot: Just under $80
Board: Qs-5c-8s-Qc

UTG checks. What do I do here? The problem is that my opponent has a very similar stack size to mine, I am just above $50 and he is just below $50. The pot is just under $80. If I make any kind of bet I am either all in or pot committing myself to a call if I'm raised. Plus, the top pair on board just paired, which looks pretty dangerous to me. I don't know how many of you have played on Full Tilt (though I know Ice has) but play on here is rediculously passive. There is a very real possibility that my opponent has check-called with TP here I think. I decided to check behind my opponent here, and see what happened on the river.

Pot: Just under $80
Board: Qs-5c-8s-Qc-7c

UTG bets 40, half the pot, leaving him just under $10 left in his stack. Why didn't he push all in? Is he trying to make the bet only half the pot because he wants a call? Is it weak because he didn't push all in? I really don't think the backdoor clubs here matter, I think my opponent either improved on the flop and turn or I am winning here. I decided to lay it down, but I'm pretty frustrated because it seems like I played my kings really weakly, so it made it hard to know where I was at, but at the same time if I had played them any stronger I would have been all in. What do you guys think? Is there a different way I could have played the hand that would have given me more information without me getting all my chips in and going to showdown? Or am I crazy for not doing that in the first place?

I probably wouldnt bet the full pot on the flop. There are no draws so you are either way ahead or way behind. You really want a call there. When you bet pot, you'll only get called by AQ or a set.

Since you DID bet pot and got called, I think you are dead when the 2nd queen hits.

If you bet 1/2 pot on the flp, theres a good chance you'll get raised by AQ (or sometimes even JJ or lower because they'll think you have AK). Of course this time that wouldve been bad to get raised and then reraise all in, but more times than not, thats what you want to do.

I just noticed that there is a flush draw so that would change my answer, but if there are no draws then I think you are better off betting 1/2 to 3/4 pot.

If the flop is Q85 and you bet pot, your not going to get a call unless the guy has top pair or better (or hes an idiot). If you bet half pot, alot of guys will call with TT thinking you have AK. I would probably raise you if I had TT.

Normally in hands like these youre either going to have one of two things
1. Overpair or TPTK
2. unimproved AK

If you always bet pot on the flop, but then check the turn in the times that you have unimproved AK, you'll never get paid off with your good hands and you lose everytime you have unimproved AK because you get called more often on the flop just so they can see if you bet the turn.