K♥J♣ on a Paired Board, what do you do here?
DECISION POINT: In a live $1-2 game, three opponents limp and you raise from the Button with K♥J♣. The MP1 player and Cutoff call. Your opponents check the A♥A♣J♠ flop and action is on you. What do you do here?
PRO ANSWER: We should often check behind in this spot with this hand, or alternatively, c-bet small. This flop structure does not require a large c-bet size since there are huge portions of Villain's range that cannot call any bet.
For example, all suited connector hands like 78s will fold to any bet. A c-bet of $20 works just as well as a c-bet of $40 against most hands that will check-fold this flop. Therefore c-betting $20 instead of $40 will perform better with our range.
Paired Ace-Ace-X flops typically allow for very small c-bet sizing in the 20%-33% of pot range. C-betting 100% of the time for a small amount ($15-$20) is a reasonable default strategy in this spot.
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However, against tougher opponents as we build more nuance into our c-betting strategy, we should build a balanced check-back range that would include some marginal made hands like this KJ and some strong hands like AJ and AA that have the board locked and like to slowplay. This is especially true multiway.
Checking is the best play.
How would you play it?
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