What is everyone's experience with KQ(o)? As for me, it has cost me some money over the past week. I will focus on the negative as I have forgotten anything positive I am really starting to regard this hand as a trap hand. Bobby Baldwin is the only author I can think that has grouped this hand in the trap hand category and now I know why.
Last Sat.: final table in a tourney and totally misplayed the hand. Knocked out 9th. I won't even go over the hand because I'm embarassed about the way I played it.
Last night: Almost doubled my initial buy-in and was getting ready to cash out. I say to myself...'one more round of blinds and I'm gone'. Next BB hand brings me KQ(o). UTG raises which doesn't mean too much as he was a weak raiser. A few people stay in and I call. The only thing I remember about the flop is that I was left with 2 overcards and 3 to a flush(hearts). Actions not too heavy so I stay in for one more card. Turn brings a J of hearts. So, I stay in for the card 5 and hit heart #4. Bet out, get raised, call, and meet A9(o) at showdown. The Ace was a heart and 2nd best doesn't win the pot.
The very next hand: KQ(o) again in the SB. A player who just entered the game raised from the middle and I called like a dumb ass w/o knowing how he played. I hit my K on the flop, bet, and he calls. We were heads up by the turn which is another blank. Well, not really, it left a 3 4 5 on the board. I bet, get called. River is a 2, I check, he bets, and I call full well knowing he most likely had the Ace...AK(o) to be exact. So, he had me beat the whole way.
I finshed up for the night, but these 2 hands really ate into my profit for evening. Actually, maybe it was just things evening out since I was up more than I should have been.
Anyway, I'm really starting to think that KQ(o) usually leaves you with 2nd best. Any thoughts?
I totally agree with you, KQo sucks when someone raises. I'll almost never call 2 bets cold with it unless I know the raiser is really weak in which case I might re-raise. If I hit my flop decently (i.e. top pair on a rainbow board) my strategy is to become aggressive if there was no raise pre-flop and passive if there was one. I've found that checking and calling with KQ and top pair is often a better play against a preflop raiser and only a couple players. Someone with something like JJ or TT may bet all the way with only one non-ace overcard out, or someone with AK (with a Q on flop) or AQ (with a K on flop) may bet all the way. In this way, you win more when your hand holds up and lose less when it's no good. Against a lot of players, it may be best to bet into the raiser so that he raises and knocks people out, then you can play passively with less worry abouy draw-outs.
As for your hand where you made the K-high flush, I don't agree with you staying past the flop. I'm not sure what limits you play, but from my experience at $10-20 and under, unless you have at least a gutshot on the flop to go with two overcards, dump it, particularly with more a couple people in the pot. Drawing with the one card runner-runner flush chance will cost you a lot of money (especially with KQ) not only because it's a longshot to hit but also because it won't always be good, particularly when opponents play any ace.
The problem with KQ is that it can win a lot of pots, but they are not good ones unless you suckout a Broadway or hit top two. But they can get you caught up in big heads up situations,drawing rail-thin. So they tend to win small and lose big in bad odds situations.
Ya, in hindsite this was pretty dumb. Playing overcards is one area of my play that needs some work. I am definitely going to focus on this in the very near future. Thanks for the feedback.
King Queen off are good if you have the psychological edge with them. If you don't don't play them on a raise unless you get odds to draw for straight. Too many times you will get dominated by Ace King or KK or AA to be worth your while mano a mano........
Pokertracker helped me prove what I've always suspected, that KQo is one of my weakest hands. I still play KQ to some extent, but after seeing the results on pokertracker where KQo ended up being my number one losing hand, I'm going to ditch it out of my starting hand selection.
Of course this doesn't mean KQo sucks, but for me personally it does, maybe I push it too hard and that's what giving me these results but I am not a fan of KQo at all.
The raiser utg may have been a weak raiser but what about those "few people" who cold called his raise? Were they all weak players? I think you should have folded KQo. KQo is fine in the right circumstances but these weren't right.
Ahhh... the KQ offsuit. Also known as the 'Kournikova'... because it looks good but never wins. hah hah.
Yep, KQos just busted me out of a tournie (actually it was losing a 50/50 followed quickly by losing an AJs to a JTos straight on the river that really did the damage).
Relatively short stacked at about 2200 blinds coming round to me (600) so I thought KQos was as good as any to make a stand.
SB called my all-in and so did the BB (bugger). Flop came 6 K 7 I think so I had hope. Took their opportunity to check, turn 9, check, check, river 8. (big bugger)
SB turns over AQos and BB turns over T2s! From memory he wasn't loaded with chips (UltimateBet hand history feature is crap for getting info back) but I guess for an extra 1600 felt he had to call.
With a hand like KQ, I'm hoping to hit a perfect flop, top two pair, straight draw, or top pair in a short handed game. If I don't get that, I'm out on any resistance unless the flop is garbage and I can draw for top pair cheaply (assuming I feel it can win). I will only do this in an unraised pot where if I do hit a hand like top pair, I can bet out, or call down with a fair amount of confidence that my hand is probably good. If the pot is raised pre flop, you have to consider what cards you may be up against. I play low stakes no limit, so a raiser could have any ace, but they could also have a legitimate hand. Hands like AK,AQ, and KK will be your most trouble. If you flop anything less than top two pair, you have no idea where you stand.
Good feedback from all. You substantiated what I was getting at...KQ (suited or not) needs to be played carefully.
Here are my stats from poker tracker:
KQ(s): played 14 times - 28.57 win % - currently down $11.30
KQ(o): played 33 times - 30.30 win % - currently up $6.22
drum roll...for a net loss with KQ.
I will be looking into this (as well as other hands) as a leak point in my game.
