Pocket kings, and some no chop situations

Played some poker this weekend at the Aria, Red Rock, and even Excalibur.  1/3 and 1/2 NL.  Overall I made some pretty big mistakes and I'm not super happy with my play overall, but I did end up winning over $200.

Aria

Hand 1 : I raise to 8 with KK (Aria 1/3 NL).  Get 3 callers.  Flop comes 6-5-3 with 2 spades.  Checks to me, I bet out 17.  Guy raises to 50.  He is on the button.  He has about 200 total (including the 50) and is racked up and about to move to another table.  I thought folding was too weak, and calling might put me in a spot where I didn't know where I was.  Overall it was an uncomfortable situation for me and I thought for a while.  Eventually I ended up raising him to 105, he went all-in and I insta-called (which was probably pretty stupid, I didn't really think about it at all).  He had 6-5 and I doubled him up.  Pretty brutal way to start the weekend's poker.  I just sat down and played this hand in my first orbit.  In retrospect, I think that even though folding seems REALLY weak here, since it is such an uncomfortable situation I think I can just fold.  I am probably folding the best hand sometimes if he has a smaller overpair, but his stack size puts me in a weird spot where if I call, it's going to be hard for me to get away from it.  And in general, I don't think people are raising very light at 1/2 or 1/3, so a fold here wouldn't have been terrible.  Alternatively I could have min-raised (to 80 or whatever) and if he pushed all in over the top I think I could fold a lot easier.  But by just folding I'm only losing the 17 I put in on the flop and it just seems like since the pot was so small, who cares if I fold the best hand there sometimes.

Hand 2 : I am in the big blind with K-Qs and check.  Red Rock 1/2 NL.  Flop comes Q-9-x with 2 spades.  I check, and it checks around.  Probably about 6 people in.  Turn is a king, giving me top two.  I bet 12.  Guy directly to my left makes it 30.  I know he's playing pretty tight.  Folds to me, I call.  River is the ace of spades.  I check.  He bets 25.  On the turn I already thought if the flush hits and he bets again, I should just fold because he obviously has a strong hand at that point, if he's not afraid of the flush.  But it was only $25 (that's how I justified it) and I called, and he had J-10 for the straight.  Was this just a cooler?  I don't know.  I feel like I could probably fold the turn a lot of the time.  If a tight guy had just A-K or turned smaller two pair, they might raise but a lot of the time I think they are just calling.

Hand 3 : Red Rock 1/2 NL.  I'm under the gun with K-K (and a little over $300) and limp.  Lately I've been thinking about playing my big pairs a lot slower out of position.  First of all, people tend to fold a lot if you just open raise from early position.  I'm definitely losing some value by not raising, but at the same time, people are MUCH more likely to make huge mistakes after the flop than they are preflop.  So by under-repping my hand I might be able to check-call 3 streets against a weaker top pair, or flop an invisible set, who knows.  Anyway, it's something I'm trying out.  Couple other people limp and the button makes it 8.  I just call.  There's nobody trapped in the middle that called his raise, and limp-reraising just looks super strong and defines my hand too much.  The other two guys call.  Flop is great for me, 10-2-2.  It checks to the raiser and he bets 30.  I raise to 75.  He calls.  Turn is an 8.  I bet 105.  He goes all-in (has me covered) and I call.  River is a 9.  He turns over Q-Q and my kings win a huge pot.  I felt pretty confident on the flop when he didn't reraise me.  His turn raise in my opinion was just one of those "well, its going all in anyway, so whatever" type of raises since I only had probably less than $150 behind after my $105 bet.

Hand 4 : Red Rock 1/2 NL.  I raise to 8 in late position with K-K.  Guy in the blind calls, big blind raises to 24.  He has been playing pretty crazy.  I just call, and so does the blind.  Flop comes K-9-7.  Now it checks to me.  I bet $22.  Blind calls, and the crazy guy min-raises to $44.  I reraise to $172.  He calls.  Pot is fucking huge at this point.  Turn comes a 5.  He checks and I go all-in for the rest, $184.  He folds.  I guess I could have bet like $125 instead and maybe he could have talked himself into calling or saying fuck it and putting me all-in.  The pot was so big though I really didn't want anyone to call, and at that point you're getting pretty good odds even with a flush draw.  Preflop = 75, and on the flop 360 went in.  So on the river I bet 180 into 430 or so, giving him 180 : (430 + 180) odds, or 3.4:1 odds.  So really I shouldn't bet any less than I did anyway, or calling with a flush draw would have been mathematically correct anyway.

Excalibur

Hand 5 : Excalibur $1/$2.  Under the gun with K-K, limp.  Few people call and the button makes it $16.  I thought about reraising but I figured I could get a lot more money in the pot by just calling and letting everyone else call.  I call, 2 or 3 other people call too.  Flop is 10-8-x.  I bet out $20 or $25, hoping to get a bunch of people stuck in the middle.  Guy next to me goes all-in for $80 or so.  Folds back to me, I call.  He has J-9.  Turn and river are a jack and nine.  Ughhhhhhhh

Hand 6 : Excalibur $1/$2 NL.  I raise to 6 with A-10 offsuit after a couple people limp.  Couple people call my raise, and this guy (pictured at right) limp-reraises all-in for $56 more.  He just lost a big pot and was steaming IMO.  So I call.  Board runs out and I don't pair up.  Luckily he didn't either and he had pushed all-in with 9-8 offsuit, so my A-10 held up.

Then I had a couple really interesting hands where I was in the big blind and did not chop.  :-)

Hand 7 : Folds around to the small blind.  I say I don't chop.  He calls 2 (Aria $1/$3 NL).  I look down at A-A.  Raise to 13, he calls.  Flop is A-5-4.  He bets out $15.  I call.  I figure I flopped the SUPER nuts and don't want to run him off yet.  Turn is a 3.  He bets out $35.  I don't love it, but I don't think I'm ever folding this hand here.  He might have a strong second best hand (set, A-K).  Plus people love to just spew money in blind vs blind situations because they're going to "teach you a lesson" for not chopping.  So I call.  River, 8.  He bets $50.  I don't love it but I call.  He has Q-2 offsuit.  Bet the flop with the gutshot, hit it.  :P

Hand 8 : Aria $1/$3 NL again.  Folds to the small blind, I say I don't chop.  He calls.  I look down at J-J and raise to $13.  He reraises to $30.  He has only like $75 or so total, and I push him all-in.  He insta-calls with A-A.  Turn, jack.  Fuck you.  Haha.  Ship it.

The weekend was a little frustrating.  I had some hands I should have played better, and they cost me a lot of money.  Overall though I won a couple hundred bucks and it's nice to get a win finally, so that was great.  Probably will play more during the week.