Pocket Aces - KKK flop - Whats the best play?

DubTony

I played in a pub tournament last week and with 12 (I think) players left I drew AA in the Big Blind. My image was tight aggressive. With blinds at 2,000 / 4,000 I raised after two limpers to 12,000 making the pot 22,000. I got one caller who'd joined the table a few hands earlier. Stacks were even at 41,000 each after the bets went in.

I don't have a read on my opponent other than he'd been in all hands since joining the table. (Can't say any more as I was a bit overwhelmed to have made it that far. )

This hand has been haunting me all week, as I feel I played it "strangely".

The flop came KKK. I was first to act.

What should have been my best play?

RoundTower

Raise more preflop. Doesn't really matter if you bet or check here, it should all be going in eventually.

Norwich Fan Rob

raise more pre flop, check the flop, u cant pass, tough if he has a king, otherwise he is behind, and very unlikely he can overtake you, let him try and fill up or bet a lower house.

Goodluck2me

check it down hit your two aces and then put it all in take his money and all of the bad beat pot!

fuzzbox

Bet.

sunzz

Im betting this, Im suspecting your donkey has a lower house in this scenario.

Norwich Fan Rob

if he has a lower house, he will bet anyway, dont see the point in leading at this on the flop, all he will do is fold a worse hand.

Lafortezza

Check and give him a free turn card, if you bet he will likely fold any non-pair hand. You want him to hit.

brianmc

put money in pot

sunzz

I dont see him calling a 12 k raise with anything less than a premium hand/pp so I don't think he will lay this down to a bet on the flop. I'd also be trying to build the pot here to.

Waylander

I think a check may be the best play here. You dont want him to fold, if he has the K I'd have resigned myself to paying him off, so I would give him the opportunity to think he is the aggressor.

DubTony

NorwichFanRob wrote:

if he has a lower house, he will bet anyway, dont see the point in leading at this on the flop, all he will do is fold a worse hand.

sunzz wrote:

I dont see him calling a 12 k raise with anything less than a premium hand/pp so I don't think he will lay this down to a bet on the flop. I'd also be trying to build the pot here to.

lafortezza wrote:

Check and give him a free turn card, if you bet he will likely fold any non-pair hand. You want him to hit.

All these thought crossed my mind but there was one major factor that kept niggling at me. Having never played in a pub game I was amazed at how bad the standard was with people calling all ins on any street (even the river) with an A high. At the earlier tables any time anyone made a big bet, it was viewed as a bluff, or trying to steal and always got a call (or maybe they didn't want to look like they'd been forced off the hand).

There was only one card in the deck to be scared of so I felt that a crazy, mad, "I'm stealing the pot" type play might just get a call. If he had the King, so be it. Hoping he'd figure I was stealing, and knowing that most of these guys holding an ace or any pair would "keep me honest", I pushed.

He thought for little more than a second and called with A4. That set me up nicely to get blinded away on a card dead final table.

I realise that it wasn't the best way to play it but for the situation I felt it had a chance.

Thanks for the opinions lads.

kincsem

Kneel down at the side of the table and pray out loud for runner, runner AA.