Poker Strategy -- Carter King on Queens and Scary Boards

*Carter “ckingusc” King is widely known for his tournament success, with his biggest score to date being a win in the 2008 PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker main event for more than $1.2 million. When he’s not competing in the biggest tournaments in the world, he’s grinding cash games.

The Game

Location: Bellagio
Stakes: $10-$20
Game: No-limit hold’em

Stack Sizes

Villain — $2,400
Carter King — $6,500

Review of the Hand

Preflop Action: Villain limps under the gun. King raises on the button to $100 with pocket queens. The small blind calls and Villain reraises to $400. The pot is now $920.

Kristy Arnett: What did you think about your opponent’s limp-raise?

Carter King: This is the third time I’d seen this player limp-raise. I feel like most people, when they limp-raise, they don’t have anything. They just want to limp under the gun with whatever they want to play like small pairs, suited connectors— stuff like that. Then they get isolated from a late position raiser. With a call from a weak player in the blinds, it looks like free money to him so he reraised.

KA: Why did you decide to just call?

CK: I decided to just call because I think that he almost never has a legitimate hand here so it’s a good spot. Also, he only had $2,000 behind so it’d be really easy for him to commit himself postflop with bluffs. I’m hoping to induce that.

Flop Action: The flop comes A-K-2. Villain checks and King checks. The pot is still $920.

CK: When he doesn’t bet the flop, I feel even more strongly about my read. It is possible that he could have a king here or be checking with showdown value, but for the most part, I don’t think he limp raises a lot of kings. I think he would just limp-call those hands because he’d have a lot of domination issues if he gets played back at. When players limp-raise it’s with small pairs— well, not even those because a lot of players would limp-call to try and flop a set— so more with suited connectors and random junk, and then of course, with premium hands.

My first inclination when he checked was, “Why is he not betting this board to represent a hand?” But then, I think he was a little freaked out by my call. I think if he’s making a preflop play there, he’s expecting it to work most of the time.

Turn Action: The turn is a 6. The board now reads A-K-2-6 rainbow. Villain bets $580 and King calls. The pot is now $2,080.

KA: Did you think about raising the turn?

CK: No, if I raise here, I’m turning my hand into a bluff. My plan here is also to call any river bets or shoves because I’m sticking with my initial read. He’s been play-happy and even if the board is a little scary, I still feel like I have the best hand.

River Action: The river is a K. The board now reads A-K-2-6-K. Villain goes all in for $1,420. King calls and shows pocket Queens. King wins the pot of $4,920.

CK: Even though the board doesn’t necessarily look good, for me, it’s still a pretty good board for him to bluff. That’s why I played “trappy” with my queens even on that board. When the king comes on the river, it makes it so much less likely he has kings or ace-king. The only hand I’m really worried about is aces, so if his hand is either aces or a bunch of random bluffs, I fair pretty well against that range.

KA: Can you talk about the concept of playing your hand slow on this scary board and the value in it?

CK: If he’s only doing this with really strong hands or really weak hands, and he’s got a super polarized range, I want to make the most profit for me, so I want him to bluff when he’s got nothing, and if he’s value-betting me, then I’m going to get stacked anyway. At least this way, I’m giving him the chance to bluff off some chips.

KA: Do you think that players mentally give up on the hand when they have pocket queens and see a board like this?

CK: Absolutely. I used to do that because obviously when you have pocket queens, the last thing you want to see is an ace or a king, let alone both of them. Then again, they could be good cards because those cards might convince him to semi-bluff. You just have to keep your head in those moments and be logical about it. I’m going to stick with my initial read, even if the board comes scary like that.

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