Cowboys

Pocket kings is a great starting hand. I will raise, 3bet and cap this preflop from any position. Of course the Achilles of this hand is when an Ace appears on the board, or rarely when an opponent has AA. Many players including myself find it hard to let go of premium starting hands TT-KK when there are multiple players seeing the flop and an overcard appears on the board.


PokerStars 0.02/0.04 Hold'em (10 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from http://www.flopturnriver.com

Preflop: Hero is BB with Kd, Ks. UTG posts a blind of $0.03.
UTG (poster) checks, UTG+1 raises, UTG+2 calls, 4 folds, Button calls, 1 fold, Hero 3-bets, UTG folds, UTG+1 caps, UTG+2 calls, Button calls, Hero calls.

--> Excellent, 4 people calling a capped preflop and I have Cowboys.

Flop: (18 SB) 3s, 4h, 4c (4 players)
Hero checks, UTG+1 checks, UTG+2 checks, Button bets, Hero raises, UTG+1 calls, UTG+2 folds, Button calls.

--> Fortunately no Ace on the flop. I think I'm in the lead. Somebody could have a 4, at this level that is not impossible. AA is also possible. Someone actually folds to my checkraise.

Turn: (12 BB) 8s (3 players)
Hero bets, UTG+1 folds, Button calls.

--> Turn changes nothing I'm guessing. So I bet it out.

River: (14 BB) As (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets, Hero calls.

--> Ace on the river, bleh. I'm quite possibly beat since some people at this level will call all the way to the river with just an Ace, but no way I'm folding for one bet to see his cards at showdown. If there is at least a 1/14 chance he's bluffing the Ace then it is profitable for me to call here. Luckily for me by the time the Ace appeared there were just two of us left in the pot. It demonstrates the importance of playing KK aggressively preflop and on the flop to try to drive out people who have just an Ace.

Final Pot: 16 BB

Results below:
Hero has [Kd Ks] (two pair, kings and fours).
Button shows [7h 7d] (two pair, Sevens and Fours).
Outcome: Hero wins 16 BB.