Wanted to get thoughts on this hand. Not just my play but how others played this hand:

EP- Fairly loose, not overly aggressive. Sitting on about $400

LP- a donk. calling station, clueless but friendly. Has $ 160

Button: - hero, probably has a tight appearance ( not many playable hands)
Also sitting on about $400

The hand:

EP raises to $10. Donk calls and hero, holding KK, raises to $40. Blinds fold and EP and donk both call. Thoughts on this raise ?


Flop comes A-Q-7 rainbow. EP checks, donk bets $50. I'm considering isolating but I don't know what EP might do behind me. I opt to call. EP calls.

Turn is another Q. EP checks again, donk bets another $50. I fold. EP raises donk all in, gets called , river is a blank and donk shows A-6. EP shows 7-7 for full house.

Thoughts on EP calling initial re-raise ? ( I would have folded there) . I see this a lot at 1-2. People will call decent raises with small pairs and if they're playing against me, they usually hit

I guess this is pretty standard 1-2 NL crappy play. Would you have played hero's hand the same way ?

EP played his hand totally fine. Do you really not understand why? This is basic poker fundamentals.

You were asking EP to call $30 with a pocket pair, $50 already in the pot, and another $370 behind (plus whatever the donkey put in). If an ace had not come on the flop, he probably would have gotten a lot of money from you--enough to justify the price of his call.

I think perhaps you could have found a fold on the flop here before putting in the extra $50.

Callmevernon pretty much summed it up.
But, I think you played your hand pretty well.
You lost the minimum. Your pre flop raise wasn't that bad, in my opinion, but you could have made it a little larger, say 70, if you wanted less callers.

so, at what point would you fold those pocket 7's ? How big of a raise would it take to make playing a smallish pair not worthwhile ? And is it the same for all small pairs ?

Pre flop, the only uncertainty for the EP player is whether the $160 stack shoves over a call. If he knows the donk will just flat, then he's counting on 8-3 direct odds.

Flop - I'd fold to the donk bet.

I think if you had raised to $60, then you're in the territory where he definitely shouldn't have called. At that point it would be $50 to him--a full 1/8 of the starting stacks.

If it were me personally, I would have probably folded even if it were a bit less than that. But only $30 would have been a clear call for me, especially with a donkey in the hand who would have given me an extra way to extract value even if I didn't get your money--which, in this hand, is almost exactly what happened.

Other's may have differing opinions but from my experience, 60 and over will usually do the trick.
It all depends of course on how many people limped/ called a raise already and depends on the villains as well.
Some may argue, 70 is way too much for 1/2 and they're actually correct, only from the standpoint that you're pretty much advertising that you definitely have a big pair, making yourself an easy target.
Of course, your raise to 40, which is pretty standard sizing, also says the same thing.
2 things would have probably happened if you did raise to 70, either
You would have gotten both to fold or you would've lost your whole stack.
So, maybe 40 is the better play after all.

It sucks for you that EP flopped a set, but you have to understand that you want him to call with 77. If you raise more and he folds, you raised too much. Be happy he called pre and don't focus on the results.

FWIW I think a lead by the donk on this flop screams that he has an ace. That coupled with the fact that another villain is in the hand makes this a fold for me on the flop.

+1