Adam,

In some of your previous posts on this site, you have written about how there are effectively only two premium hands in NL, AA and KK, and that you frequently see people overplaying AK, espeically these days. I also seem to recall you saying fairly recently that if you have KK and your opponent has AA, you are going to lose your cash, regardless. I can also recall, and apologies if this is incorrect, you saying that in certain tournament situations, you must be prepared to lay down any hand, including AA.

Would you suggest that is only the very best players who will have such confidence in their reads to be able to lay down KK pre-flop, based entirely on a read, in a cash game situation? And what about in a tournament situation, very early in a tournament? I seem to recall that someone threw away KK heads up at the final of the Big One in the WSOP in the early 90s. Do you believe that for those of us who are not at this level, we should never throw away KK preflop, unless, for example, to do so would be to automatically go up the cash rankings in a tourney? I note from the (extremly helpful) charts you posted elsewhere that if you are heads up even with QQ it is 110-1 against him having a bigger pair.

I have a specific reason for posing this question. In a home game freezeout NL tournament I play in, with a mix of loose players, from passive to aggressive, I found myself in the first round, with pocket kings, against a guy whom I was positive had aces- I told him he had them before he turned them up but, sadly, after I had called.

So my question, I suppose, is will you weaken the rest of your game by effectively playing in fear of massive but unlikely hands if you make that kind of lay down? Could thinking like this make you end up 'playing scared' of monsters in the closet, or hole, that aren't really there? Similarly, would you ever think for a good but not expert player you should never be laying down, for example, middle or bottom set on an uncoordinated board?

Of course, the simple answer would be, I suspect, 'it depends on your read of the player and the situation', but I for one would very much appreciate your thoughts on this.

I think i overplay KK badly in cash games. I have been burnt on 3 or 4 occasions when I've been almost sure my opponent had AA but still have called off my stack (mostly due to being at party and thus being pot committed by my re-raise) and partly due to my reads being a little inadequate at times. I think you have to be able to muck KK in cash games, but in the vast majority of cases you have to play for your stack. I have personally only folded KK once preflop in a cash game. My opponent did indeed have an ace, but the flop brought KJx and the other all-in guy (who had JJ) took the pot. Although I would never ever recommend doing so in this situation, I told the table I'd folded KK, although no-one believed me.

I think against solid opponents who won't move in preflop with QQ or AK, you sometimes have to be prepared to muck KK when the stacks are deep. My two penneth anyhow.

Monk
xxxxx

Ok, I'm sorry, but this question is too involved, for a complete answer here.

Suffice it to say that I said "will usually go broke" in AA vrs KK situations.

The main issue here, is WHAT KIND of tournament, what KIND of no limit game.


What I meant was : online tournaments, and online or BM max buy games.


At the bellagio, when I had a 4K stack, I'm NOT going broke, on KK

At the world series, day three with a 350K stack, and blinds at 1-2000

I'm NOT going broke with KK

But, online in a 55 buck tournametn, where they WILL go all in with MUCH less than AA, you are usually going to have to call, unless you have a big stack, and/or have specific information.




for a totally complete answer, I'd suggest my new 2 hour lesson, 69 bucks.

Adam,

As you probably know by now, I have a lot of respect for your advice and expertise. Unfortunately, I simply don't have the cash to pay for lessons just now, but may well come back to you later about this.

Your point about the nature of the tournament, and your stack size in proportion to the blinds and the rest of the field, are well made.

Thanks again.

Alright, I don't mean to come off as money-grubbing. But, really, this is a question, that should get 1 to 2 hours, for an accurate response.

Remember,. I only charge for two reasons

(1) I don't have any money
(2) so many are asking now, I have to.


If I was a rich, successful player, I would be more willing to teach for free, but I'm just a depressed person, who has nothing.\

And, I'm one with HIGH INTEGRITY.

The last student I had, I won 700 with the money I made

BUT I OWED a friend, so I cashed it all out, and paid.

Anyway, if you'll pm your number, i suppose we can have a free 20 minute call


(note: everyone else, don't get jealous about this)

I would also consider lessons if the people at party poker weren't sucking me out left and right the past two weeks to give me the biggest losing streak I've had EVER multiplied by 3.

Ok, since this site is advertised here, I won't say anything bad about party. They have their good points.

But, there ARE other sites out there. Try something else, I am.


I'm getting a pokerstars account set up. This way, someone wanting a lesson, but not being able to afford my three hour, can have as little as one hour, since you can transfer smaller amounts, on stars.


Try pokerstars, or even certain others.

I was thinking of trying other sites. I'm not complaining about it but its the only one i play at and I'm on a bad run lately. Some due to my mistakes, some just bad luck, and some of it would be draw outs. If I do pokerstars, I would definately consider the hour lesson.

I pretty much broke even for 3 months at Party. My first week at other smallers sites I was up a grand.

Right now I am playing Full Tilt, BoDog and PokerStars. PokerStars for being a very large site in the lower limits is much easier to beat then Party. At least the players at Stars know how to fold a hand after the flop misses.