Top pair, lousy kicker

[StevieJS]

I would like to know the rest of the hand history... Greg, if you don't want to display it here, can you PM it to me?

[Niccivan]

Sweet. How much faith do we have the kings here with that 3 kicker?

I'm with Jen's initial thought about calling here. He could very well have a higher kicker than you, or he could have 2nd pair or a draw or lord knows what. You placed a feeler bet out there. I personally like feeler bets. It gives me good info about players sometimes. If someone re-raises your feeler bet and you actually get to see the hand to the end, you get a good read on the re-raiser himself. Was he bluffing? Semi bluffing? Some people think feeler bets look "weak" and try to take advantage of that. In the smaller limits such as this game, people will bluff their asses off because if they get caught, it's not a lot of money.

[FlopIt2Me]

Even though you are getting 7:1 preflop I would fold. What are you hoping to hit with K3o? The only strong hands you can hit w/ K3o are 2 pair or trips, which are unlikely. Anything else you are gonna be in a tough spot (as you were post flop here). Plus you have to play every street out of position. It's just a situation you'd like to avoid if possible.

As played I would fold on the flop. He could have had a flush draw, maybe even an open ender, but he could also have a bigger King, 2 pair, or a set. There are just too many hands that will give us trouble here. We can find a much better spot to get our money in later.

[KManDeuce]

Even though you are getting 7:1 preflop I would fold. What are you hoping to hit with K3o? The only strong hands you can hit w/ K3o are 2 pair or trips, which are unlikely. Anything else you are gonna be in a tough spot (as you were post flop here). Plus you have to play every street out of position. It's just a situation you'd like to avoid if possible.

As played I would fold on the flop. He could have had a flush draw, maybe even an open ender, but he could also have a bigger King, 2 pair, or a set. There are just too many hands that will give us trouble here. We can find a much better spot to get our money in later.

I know this is almost exactly the stuff I said, but for the sake of discussion I thought I'd mention two things.

1) Let's not forget about the guy that cold-called our bet He's problematic, too.

2) In a cash game there isn't (shouldn't be) any such concept as "better spot later." There's only here and now and what makes us the most money. "Later spots" are for tournaments.

[LadyWrestler]

I know this is almost exactly the stuff I said, but for the sake of discussion I thought I'd mention two things.

1) Let's not forget about the guy that cold-called our bet He's problematic, too.

2) In a cash game there isn't (shouldn't be) any such concept as "better spot later." There's only here and now and what makes us the most money. "Later spots" are for tournaments.

In a way, you're right...but...large pots is where lots of money is won or lost in cash games. I would want a better spot for a large pot than kings with a 3 kicker. That may sound tounamentish, but there is some crossover strategy at times. Question: Is tournamentish even a word? The other question to ask about this hand: Is K3 profitable, from the small blind, when getting 7-1 to enter the pot against 3 players?

[Terribad]

Fold preflop. Even if you're getting 7:1 odds on your money. Well, you're only only getting 7:1 odds with your SB call if you knew BB was going to check his options. So, at the point of completing the SB, you're only getting 5:1 on your call. Also, the SB is such a tough spot to be in since you're playing OOP the rest of the hand. And completing the SB with really bad hands is just too spewy. The odds of you flopping great (2 pair/Trips) with K3 is probably about ~2% and ~1%. And even if you flop trip K's, you could still find yourself way behind a better K. In fact, the most likely scenario is you'll either win a small pot with trip K's or you'll lose a big pot against a better K. Unless you hit your boat somewhere on your way to the river. So, you're more likely to lose money call here (even with 5:1/7:1 odds) than you'll win in the long run.

As played: Check the flop. The probe bet you put out is just a bit too spewy in this spot, especially OOP and against 3 other players. Sure, you flop TP/WK but at this point you're either way behind or just slightly ahead and most of the time you're getting called/raised by a better hand. Even if your opponent is raising on a semi-bluff (Straight/Flush/RF draws on flop) or with a weaker hand (mid PP)it's going to be very hard for you to continue the hand aggressively-which allows drawing hands to hit for cheap. You're hand has really little showdown value as it is and putting out a .20 pot doesn't really do much at all except put you in predicament when you are called/raised. So, check the flop and try to get to show down cheap.

[wabbit]

Here's another option...unless you folded four or five in a row just before this hand and you are it it now cuz you are in the SB and you just want to mix it up...why not fold your very weak king pre-flop and save half a blind?