How to Play of Pocket Kings

Pocket kings are among the most powerful starting hands in poker. By learning to play pocket kings correctly, you will be able to maximize the profit potential of this very powerful starting hand.

Deciding Whether to Raise Pre-flop with Pocket Kings

The style of play that I recommend in my poker strategy lessons is to be a tight aggressive player. Simply put, this means play the best starting hands and play them agressively. You should raise preflop when you have pocket kings more often than not. Pocket Kings are the second best starting hand only to pocket aces. You should raise because you likely have the best hand. Additionally, you may wish to narrow the field slightly. In addition, as is the case with premium and made hands, you want to begin the process of building the pot as early as possible to make your job of building a pot easier. Early raises will make your job of gaining pot commitment for you and your opposition easier.

Deciding How Much to Raise Pre-flop with Pocket Kings

There are several factors up for consideration when deciding how much to raise with pocket kings. You want to take into consideration your position and your stack size. You will additionally need to consider how many people have already entered the pot, how the players before you have entered the pot, as well as what kind of players have entered the pot. Be prepared to venture an educated guess as to how many players you expect to get a call from, as it is imperative to plan your hand prior to acting.

Before we decide how much to raise, we must consider the following:

What is the average preflop raise at this table?

What has my average raise looked like during the course of this session?

Is there a “live player” at the table and if so, how do I best get his attention in this hand?

What kind of players are at my table (tight, loose, passive, aggressive)?

With that in mind, if your average raise is higher than that of the table’s average raise and you have had little problems getting action when you raise, then generally target the higher end of your raise. In addition, if there is a player present who is “live” (on tilt, careless with his money), target this player when making your preflop move.

Our goal, generally speaking, is to raise as much as possible preflop with pocket kings while still getting action. When playing this hand out, let us assume we are playing $1/$2 no limit Texas Holdem, and we have the maximum buy-in of $200 in front of us.

Consider the Possible Flops and Post-flop Actions with Pocket Kings

Statistically, the most likely situation after the flop is that we flop an over pair. Because the most likely scenario is an over pair, our intentions are to make a continuation bet on the flop. Of course, considering we are tight aggressive poker players, we will be expected to make a continuation bet. More often than not, a check on a flop we have raised suggests we might be trapping after flopping a monster. We do not wish to raise such a flag. The flop can dictate how much we bet on the flop, but will not change the fact that the most correct action is to put in a continuation bet.

That being said, we will take the following actions based on the following scenarios:

Pocket Kings Scenario 1: Early Position

We are first to open the pot with our pocket kings. The average table raise has been anywhere from $6 to $10, and our average raise has been $8-12. Because we are out of position, we want to raise an amount on the higher end of the spectrum to charge a premium to the players for the right to play. We decide to go with the high end of the table average and raise to $10, which is five times the blinds. The cutoff, the button, and the big blind all call.

With a pot of $40, we take the flop - which comes King, Five, Ten. While we can all make a valid case for why we would love to go for a check raise here, we must keep in mind that our table image has been tight and aggressive. A check is a sign of danger for our opposition and we do not wish to risk a check behind. At the same time, we want to begin discreetly building a pot without alerting any other player to the fact that we have flopped a monster. On this flop, we want to make a continuation bet ranging anywhere from 50-75% of the pot, to continue the betting, to extract value and to build a big pot.

We decide to bet $30 here. In the event we get one caller, the pot will equal $70, two callers give us a $100 pot, and three callers bring the pot’s total to $130. If we are fortunate enough to be up against pocket aces, or a hand such as a set of tens we might get raised. Additionally, the button may well make a move on this flop, as he is surely predicting we are making a continuation bet.

We bet $30, and get calls from the button, and from the big blind. The turn card pairs the board with a second five. The big blind checks. Again, the first inclination is to check here, however if we are ever going to build a pot, we have to continue betting. The pot contains $100; we have $160 behind and would love to get it all-in come the river. The five did not scare us, as we now have a boat. A bet of 40% to 60% of the pot works best here, as it is a sizable bet, yet does little to discourage a fold in relation to the size of the pot. If a player calls here, they will most likely have to call the river bet as well. Additionally, if we cannot get a caller here, we will not likely get a caller on the river. With that in mind, we bet $40. Both players fold.

Pocket Kings Scenario 2: On the Button

Early position player raises to $8 preflop with 1 caller. While there are many things comfortable about just calling here, the fact is we are on the button. Just calling gives us little information. Even though we are in position and can justify just calling here, a reraise helps us better build the pot. Additionally, the button gives us the cover we need to disguise our hand strength by being in a stealing position. A tight aggressive player reraise here. We decide to bump it to $20. The original raiser calls.

Heads up with a ~$50 pot, the flop comes Jack-Ten-Three with two diamonds on the board. The early position player checks. We have flopped an over pair, which is the most likely of flops. The Early player could be checking because he flopped a monster, or he could be checking because he merely called our reraise. Either way, this player is expecting us to bet, and as a tight aggressive player, we are not yet prepared to disappoint. Our stack size is $180 and the pot is $50.

With the over pair and being in position, we can bet anywhere from 50% to 125% of the pot and justify it. We decide to bet $40 here, because if we get a call the pot will grow to $130, which will commit both of us to the pot, all but assuring that our entire stack will be in the center by the hand‘s end. Because we are committing ourselves with the $40 bet, should our opponent decide to raise here, we will have no problem moving all-in.

The player raises to $90. We need not wait any longer, so we move all-in. The player calls, revealing pocket queens. Our kings hold up and we take down the pot.

With a hand such as pocket king, we want to quickly get as much money into the pot as possible is that we are looking to get as much money into the pot as possible. By playing pocket kings aggressively from any position, we minimize the risk of getting our kings outdrawn or cracked by playing them incorrectly and we maximize the value of this superior starting hand.

Now that you have read how to play pocket kings it is time to put the lessons to use. You can do that by playing for free or real money in any of our recommended online poker rooms.