My first post here after lurking for a long time.

I would appreciate if I could get some suggestions.

I play a 20-40 limit home game and to be honest I lose more than I win in the game. I am looking to improve, so I want to post a few hands and try to get some education on how to improve.

This was the biggest pot of the night and I think I made a terrible mistake. In hindsight I can think of the play I should have made and can even think of a superior play, some of you would have made

10 handed. I am 3 off the button. I get K(d)K(h)
2 players call before me. I raise. 2 more players call. BB reraises. I raise again
and BB caps. Everyone else calls. So 6 people call a capped pot.
My read - BB most likely has AA or KK. The way the rest of the players play, then can have any two cards. Small pair, Ax, Suited connectors

Flop - 368(all diff suit). BB bets, 2 players call, I raise, Everyone else calls
Total Pot about $720

Turn - 2(diff suit) - Check to me. I bet, Everyone calls.
Total Pot - $960

River - A - BB checks. UTG bets. He is one of the few solid players. fold to me. I hate to see that Ace and fold

My question - Is that the right move?

I would appreciate any comments or suggestions.

Thanks

Well clearly there's no arguing the fact that you have to call on the river there. The action in the hand seems a bit strange, if utg is a solid player, what could he have limped with and called that many cold? He's more likely to have a set than an ace.

How exactly were you thinking of playing this differently?

Btw where is the game and how can I get a seat?

Two thoughts:

1) if UTG is solid as you say, then you were beat before the river. He likely flopped a set, can't really think he was still around with AK (or Ax, x=rag on board) if he is good.

2) I can't possibly see folding here getting 24-1 on my money. I think a better option is to raise and rep pocket As. Of course, if he's solid, the first part of my statement applies to him, and there's no way he's folding.

Tough spot, but I never fold there.

Thanks for the responses. Here are my thoughts
- Given the size of the pot, I obviously made a mistake, by not calling.
- If I was beat on the turn, I would have heard from someone. This is not a timid lineup. I know I would have been raised even with a 23(for bottom two pair) on the turn
- BB doesnt have AA. He didnt reraise on the flop and is not the one to slow play on the river
- There is no way Ace helped UTG. I think its a busted draw and he took a stab with such a large pot. If by some chance Ace made him a second pair, he would have checked and called, rather than come out betting

The easiest play would have been to call.

I can also see how someone who was a really good thinking player could have raised.

Raising this river card is not a good idea. Who is left behind you on the river when UTG bets? No one folds in a pot this big with any hand that has a reasonable chance of winning.

My reason for raising( and I know its all easy after the fact, but again I would think only a very good player could possibly make this play)
- If I am beat by the two players between me and the BB then raising wont help and I will lose $80 instead of $40
- If my read on BB is correct then he also has KK and very likely fold when someone who has been betting strong raises on the river when an Ace comes, giving me a better chance of winning the pot.

He limped utg and has done nothing but call call call so far, so i doubt he is all that solid. You are getting good odds on the call, but only you know if he is capable of betting a worse hand here. We can't tell you. In honor of Howard Beale, I will tell you that if folding here is going to make you dwell on the hand for the rest of the night, just call and move on with your life.

Cry and call getting 25:1 you may be best more than 4% of the time

dont re-raise unless you make it a practice of 3b! PF with small pairs

if so you still probably dont want to do it but you can think about it.

the pot is mega protected.

Call and feel good about it. Your hand is face up as an overpair, so anyone trying to get you out can only use an ace as a scare card. Don't let them. Sure you'll lose most of the time but this pot is huge. Snap call.

The other thing you can do earlier in the hand is Ed Miller it and call the flop intending to raise the turn. The pot is so bloated that a flop raise does less to protect your hand than a turn raise will.

yeah you're losing a lot but you need to call anyway.

a lot of times a guy holding something like 98s will think, "the pot's so big i have to call, so i may as well bet here on the off chance he finds a fold." not saying they should be thinking this, just that they can be and you should take that into account.

Result -

UTG bet the river, everyone folded, BB called and showed the other two KK and won the pot

In some cases I think this might work, but in this case I am not so sure about. The other aggressor in this hand was the BB. So even if OP calls on the flop, intending to raise the turn, assuming BB bets out, and he gets all the callers in between before OP can raise the turn, then all of those trapped in between who have already called one bet, are almost assuredly calling again.

Best case scenarios:
a) OP calls on flop, BB bets turn, callers in between, OP raises turn, BB 3-bets turns, callers drop out, OP calls turn and calls BB river bet.

b) OP raises flop, BB 3-bets, and then some of the callers drop out.

In any case, OP never should have folded the river, but you live and learn.

Another thing that can happen here is that villain has pocket queens or jacks, but suspects you are ahead, so he bluffs the ace. You were getting, what, 24:1 !!!!

BTW, it's customary at 2+2 not to post results as they can skew thinking.

Be careful not to be results oriented. You mentioned in another reply that you could see how someone who was really good would have raised the river. It's true that it would have been the perfect play, but without seeing the other kings you could not have made that play.

Funny how a raise is only good against KK and no other hand. We get zero extra value from anything we beat and lose another BB to everything that calls. It's a good example of bad results oriented thinking.