Middle position 20bb KQ raise or fold?

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thatgreekdude

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I'd probably open KQ.
 
JPoling

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technically that is LP isnt it? One before CO 9-handed. Yea I would of opened with it. Or limp, but nah mostly raise in that spot if I am gonna play it.
 
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RamdeeBen

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Yeah this is a late position more than middle and folding doesn't seem right at all here, seems pretty bad.

This is definitely an open here. Have to add though I think limping is bad too.
 
Jacki Burkhart

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I would raise to 250 then re-assess on flop.

KQ is not a great hand for calling raises, but it is a GREAT hand for opening. the distinction is quite important.

I'll frequently fold KQo in the earliest positions, but then after that, I'm never open folding it. If my image is tight I may even open with KQo UTG.

What is KQ in big trouble against? Just AK, AQ, AA, KK, QQ. Only in trouble against the top 5% of hands. flipping against a lot of other hands and dominating a few more. add all that up and it equals: Open for a raise from almost all positions :)
 
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SwiftHax

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Limping with a hand like KQ is never good. You will get bluffed off the hand often and if you do decide to call someone else's raise, you don't know where you're at.

You can easily be dominated and get your pair outkicked, so always raise as you're getting informacion as well as fold equity. EP I will fold KQo, but KQs is an automatic open in most situations.
 
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rw11687

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Bet that! Folded to you, CO+1, you have to bet that.
 
FanatsLV

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if nobody before you not raise jet than can raise if somebody before you already raise than just call or fold this is your decision
 
suby_rafael

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Once everyone folds to you and you hold a hand like KQ at a late position such as hijack it is an easy open in most scenarios. Folding here would be very knitty indeed. If someone had already raised at early position then i would have layed that down but since everyone folded then i would raise here.
 
DonV73

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Folding here would be very knitty indeed

Then call me a nit, because I definately would fold KQo in this spot :p

Imo offsuit it's a way overrated hand. One of those typical hands which can really get you in trouble. What will you do if someone behinds you reraises you or when someone shoves on you with a short stack? what if someone calls and you hit a str8 draw, or K high on the flop and villain start betting, what do you do? I think you will get yourself in trouble more time than that it does not.
 
BearPlay

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I'm pretty nitty too. I can see where DonV73 is coming from, but opening here with KQo seems like the best move, dependent upon no reads otherwise.
 
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WiZZiM

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ya, raise it... it only gets you into trouble if you let it get you into trouble don. You are only thinking about the scenarios that are bad, instead of looking at the whole picture.

if someone shoves on us, just fold.

If we hit a straight draw, then c-bet, or jam over a donk bet.
If we hit king high, we have the best hand, so get your stack in.

Keep in mind, it's a $1 tournament, they don't always have hands that are better than yours. Try to look at the big picture and stop letting your risk averse mindset make decisions for you.

Oh, it's also a "time" tournament, meaning the blinds go up rapidly, no time to be folding spots because you might get a better one.
 
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A2345Razz

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Then call me a nit, because I definately would fold KQo in this spot :p

Imo offsuit it's a way overrated hand. One of those typical hands which can really get you in trouble. What will you do if someone behinds you reraises you or when someone shoves on you with a short stack? what if someone calls and you hit a str8 draw, or K high on the flop and villain start betting, what do you do? I think you will get yourself in trouble more time than that it does not.

You are a nit...

If you're only opening 99+ and AJ+ or something here, you are very VERY exploitable.

I mean.....everyone has HUDs these days; you aren't gooing to get action playing lke this....
 
Salvete777

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I hate KQ. One of the "worst of good hands".
In your situation i would choose fold. Only 20bb's and if someone re-raise you, then you almost should go all-in and KQ isn't cards with witch you want do this move. If you have BB or SB then yes, maybe you should raise, but not from middle.
 
A2345Razz

A2345Razz

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I hate KQ. One of the "worst of good hands".
In your situation i would choose fold. Only 20bb's and if someone re-raise you, then you almost should go all-in and KQ isn't cards with witch you want do this move. If you have BB or SB then yes, maybe you should raise, but not from middle.


You can easily raise fold with 20bb and a 3b to your open.....not always, as there are always exceptions (you raise BTN and habitual 3betttor pounds you from blinds with dynamic already) but it isn't hard to fold and continue with a very similar stack situation @ 18BB.
 
rdm4k

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all fold to y of course it is an open. Due to shallow stack I'd prefer 2x size instead of bigger.
In the THE the late position is the worthiest position to play where y may play a wider range with profitability. Said that, KQs lp, all fold to you is a std open
 
A2345Razz

A2345Razz

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I hate KQ. One of the "worst of good hands".
In your situation i would choose fold. Only 20bb's and if someone re-raise you, then you almost should go all-in and KQ isn't cards with witch you want do this move. If you have BB or SB then yes, maybe you should raise, but not from middle.


You can easily raise fold with 20bb and a 3b to your open.....not always, as there are always exceptions (you raise BTN and habitual 3betttor pounds you from blinds with dynamic already) but it isn't hard to fold and continue with a very similar stack situation @ 18BB.
 
Jacki Burkhart

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Worst of the good hands is still a good hand.

I'd call KQ best of the good hands and I'd call AQ worst of the premium hands.

We need to play our good hands in tournaments, or risk blinding out.

I mean, yeah somebody can have a better hand when we have a good hand but that is always a possibility; we cannot let that change our resolve.

Also most hands that dominate you will 3bet you so it's not too hard to play. That's why I like to raise with it, but not call a raise with it. If you call a raise with it you might be dominated. If they call your raise with it they probably do not have AK, AQ, QQ, KK, or AA as thru probably should have 3bet you. Maybe AQ will flat call, so 1 hand in the range that beats you will flat. Fairly easy to play KQ as the aggressor....
 
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Tgen

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i minraise open this from any position with 20bb.
 
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thatgreekdude

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we open KQ because we dominate the blinds defending range? there going to 3bet with better and flat with worse, win win.
 
aa88wildbill

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Depending on who would play, most of time just fold. You got 20 big blinds still plenty of time to choose your spot.
 
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Swickster007

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I would probably call or fold depending on if they were suited or not. Raise if the players are real tight or only a few players.
 
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