How To Play Pocket Kings

Pocket Kings Pocket kings are the second best starting hand in Texas Holdem. There is no other starting hand in hold’em except pocket aces that are stronger pre-flop. However, just like ‘pocket rockets’, the ‘cowboys’ can also get you into trouble at the tables.

Pocket Kings have one fundamental flaw when compared to pocket aces: the possibility of an opponent making a higher pair. A pair of kings is the second highest pair in poker, but just because they are in the pocket it doesn’t make them any stronger.

You must be aware that KK is a very vulnerable hand as any ace that appears on the board could easily pair with an opponent’s holecard to give them the higher pair than you. Even if your opponents do not have an ace in the hole, the mere presence of the card on the board can be enough to scare you away from betting as heavily and extracting maximum profit from the particular hand. There is roughly a 20% chance that an ace will fall on any flop, which is more often than you would think.

For these reasons it is important to bet or raise in most situations with pocket kings pre-flop. Similarly to pocket aces, you do not want to be in a multi-way pot when seeing the flop, otherwise you will be giving your opponents a greater opportunity to take the pot away from you, so you will want to be seeing a flop with a maximum 2 opponents only. In addition to this you want to bet an amount that will help you determine the strength of your opponent’s hands. It is important that you attempt to find out whether or not they could possibly holding an ace when they call so that you can make better judgements when the flop comes down. This is a key point, as when raising with pocket kings:

You want to raise enough to weed out the weaker hands, and enough to know that your opponents will have at least an ace to call you.

This means that you can give yourself a greater ability to put your opponent on a hand, and giving yourself a better opportunity to fold to significant signs of strength if the ace does hit the board.

Post-flop play with pocket kings can be sub divided into two situations.

A flop without an ace
A flop with an ace

Flop Without an Ace

This situation is far more pleasant than the second, but it does not mean you are home and dry yet. If you do not make a set you still only have that one pair. Pocket kings are not designed to win too much money post flop unless you are up against weak players that cannot let go of top pair, so if you receive a lot of action against a decent player, you can be sure that they have you beat.

In general you want to play this kind of flop in a similar way to the way you would play pocket aces on the flop, by betting and raising. However there is a specific play that you should consider when holding kings, or any over-pair for that matter:

When playing against a decent player you want to get money from them if they hit a hand like top pair, but have the ability to get away from the hand if they flop two pair, a set, or stronger. For this reason the check-raise can prove to be a useful move when in early position.

If you were to bet when first to act, your opponent is likely to raise you with either top pair or a stronger hand. In one situation you are ahead, but in the other you are behind. It is likely that they will re-raise with top-pair to snap off a potential continuation bet that you might be making. This means that you will have put money into the pot to call and see the next card and will be unsure of where you stand when the next card falls.

Now in the alternate situation where you check in first position with the intention to check-raise, your opponent is likely to once again bet with either top pair or stronger, along with a mediocre hand like middle pair to try and take the pot down. There is also the added possibility that your opponent will try and run a bluff.

As you can see you have given your opponent more opportunities to put money into the pot with a worse hand than yours by checking first, rather than limiting what your opponent would have put in the pot by betting in first position. In addition you have shown a lot of strength so if your opponent does make another play back at you, you can be sure that your kings are not ahead in this hand. This play offers you the opportunity to take down a decent size pot and extract as much information as possible from your opponents in the process. The more knowledge you have about your opponent’s hand, the better plays you can make.

This particular play has the one problem of opponents checking behind you, giving themselves a free card for the turn and the opportunity to outdraw you. Therefore the mentioned play should be used if you have a good understanding of your opponent, and believe that there is a chance that will bet after you have checked.

Flop With an Ace

This is obviously the less favourable position on the flop, because if your opponent holds an ace then he has already got you beat. As already mentioned the presence of an ace on the board is enough to prevent you from obtaining any substantial amount from your opponent if you do hold the best hand because the ace will slow your betting down.

This means that your main objective on this flop is to determine whether or not your opponent does indeed hold the ace. This can be done by betting in such a manner that will give you as much information as possible depending on what action your opponent takes. Unfortunately there are no definitive plays to help determine your opponent’s hand, so you will have to rely on your knowledge about your opponent to influence what plays you think you should make.

Always be prepared to let your hand go, but do not confine yourself to folding every time an ace appears. Use your skill to evaluate whether they have you beat or not on each particular hand.

Evaluation

Many beginner players find it hard to let go of pocket kings even with an ace on the board. The fact that they hold the second best starting hand clouds their mind to the fact that they are easily beaten, and continue to see the hand through and end up losing a decent amount of chips to their opponent that did indeed pair his ace.

With aces and kings, it is best to remember that there are many hands that can beat you after the flop, because if you do not hit a set, you only have one pair at the end of the day. Try to look more toward the ways in which you can lose, instead of the ways in which you can win, without obscuring your mind too much with negativity.

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