Playing 1-2 at Mohegan. Normal type table, a couple fish, a few nits. Hero is perceived (mostly correctly) as a nit- only been at the table a couple rounds and haven't played a hand. Started with a hundred, have just a bit under at the start of the hand.

Hero is small blind with KK. three limps to the cutoff who raises to $12. He has been one of the fishes at the table raising with junk, but doesn't go crazy and has folded to re-raises. No reads on the limpers other then they have been somewhat active so no reason to think they are limping monsters. Folds to me in the small blind.

If I re-raise (unless really small), I'm guessing around 80% of the time everyone folds and the hand is over and I win around $20. If I just call, a couple limpers probably call and I am 4 handed out of position. My plan then would be to check raise most safe flops as I am confident I would get a continuation bet and try to get it in.

Should I just be happy taking the $20 and raising my stack by 20% or are should we be getting greedy? Being a nit, I obviously need to get paid on my big hands or else profiting is a struggle. and I don't consider winning $20 getting paid. And yes, I am working on opening my game up.

How do we proceed?

I think you're shallow enough to where you can check-shove almost all none-Ace flops profitably and that would be the line I would take with your image and stack size. Sucks when an Ace flops but still I think its the best +EV play.

Just thinking about it, with your stack size I also could go for a min-raise preflop followed by a shove on the flop of most flops w/o an Ace. Not sure which is better

Flatting is generally bad in this sort of situation. If you flat when you check/raise the flop your usually either taking it down right there or losing your entire stack to a set/two pair. Going this way usually nets you an extra $50 or so when it works and costs you $100 when it doesn't, so it has to work a lot just be 0EV. I would be raising here 100% of the time.

If it hero knew it was likely going to be heads up post flop and we had position on villain, then flatting occasionally makes sense. OOP multiway it is almost always a bad idea unless your stack is so short your going to be pot committed on flop no matter what.

I would saying flatting in this spot would be very bad. You don't want to take your KK to flop 5 handed OOP. I would make a small raise to about $31-33 expect to get called by initial raiser and then shove any non Ace flop. If everyone folds, take your $20 profit and wait for a another spot when your in position.

Let's look at the math. If you call, you've got 50% equity in a $48 pot (2 other callers) for $24-$12 or a net equity +$12. If you raise, 80% of the time you have $20 and the other 20% you have more like 80% equity of a $84 pot for a net equity of +$22. Easy raise.

Man....., this is something from the fantasy books. How can you assume to be perceived as a nit if being only couple rounds at that table and not even playing one hand to that point? - That's a hell of scientific analysis on your part.

So, Mr Nit doesn't know how to play KK when oop?

Hmm but does this take into account additional value on future streets? It seems like this analysis assumes no betting post flop.

But if instead on a flop of Q102, one of these fish bets 2/3 pot ($35) with a Q, flush draw, or straight draw and OP goes all in, there seems to be additional value that the above math misses.

Sitting at only 50bb, I think you have to be thinking about doubling or even tripling up here. You are going to have a hard time doing anything staying at $100 or even $120.

I like a flat and letting it go to the flop 3-4 handed is fine. At your stack size, the hand will play itself post-flop.

On a related note, is $100 the max buyin? If not, you should at least come in with $200.

Let me try to come at this from a different angle.

OP, if you were facing this same situation and you had 86o, what would you do and why?

Raise and hope someone makes a bad mistake by continuing.

Man. That's a tight table.

I mean, the fish are usually in for a penny, in for a pound. I just can't say I've frequently seen a 1/2 table with a lot of limp/folding. At 1/2, you are almost always safe raising pre and getting probably more callers than you want. And equally safe bombing the flop. And that's what you have to do. Gotta make a big pile of money every time those kings hold up, to offset the number of times you get coolered. (And all the times you fold everybody out.) That's how the game is played.

Now, if they really are that tight, then no, they aren't going to pay you off when you have a big hand. So that shouldn't be your strategy, to wait around for a big hand. Don't try to out-nit the nits. You could start knocking them around with cbets, although you have to be CAREFUL. Don't bet into these guys if they appear to like their hand.

Or, and this is actually the better idea, leave and go to a different table. Even if you have to play (shudder) Omaha. IF the table is really that tight.

If villain can't fold to a small 3bet, I'd 3bet to $25. Otherwise, this is a clear flat and it's not even close. Don't play poker to "protect your hand", play for the highest +ev play by letting villains get their money in bad. Flatting is higher +ev but also much higher variance, meaning you will lose pot a lot but long term make more money by flatting.

You have the perfect stack size to flat. If everyone was 100+bb effective, you should definitely 3bet. They're all getting 10:1 in implied odds to stack you but are 20:1 underdog to flop two pairs+ with SCs. So you can shove any non A hi flops blinds, and they will still be -EV to call you due to their preflop error even if you flip your hand face up. On top of that if you flat and they all call, you will have less than two pot sized bets left and pot will be huge. So the vast majority of time, they will flop a pair and you can get it in as a big favorite against one or two villains, or they all whiff and you win a big pot. And if an ace flops, you can easily check fold as most people play straightforward against 4 players in raised pots.

Oh, and please don't CR flop. I'd just donk shove most non K non A flops. It helps narrow the field so you increase your equity share, and you're likely to get one caller at least anyways if they flop mid pair+. On top of that, betting doesn't give anyone free cards. Relying on PFR to cbet is really bad unless PFR has shown to cbet always.

Flatting here is absolutely awful, I cannot believe anyone advised you to flat.

First raise and take the pot down. If someone calls, then play poker.

Second, buy in for 100 bb or whatever the max is.

ok, we've read "just take the pot down now" twice in this thread.

We don't want people to fold when we raise, we want them to call. If we raise and everyone folds, then "taking the pot down" is a decent result, but having someone call with a worse hand is a much better result.

Min raise to $22.

This is exactly why I thought we needed a COTM on protection betting.

EDIT: Just to be clear, this is 100% NOT a spot where we want to raise for protection. The raise is for value.

I don't often min raise, but in this situation I would. Then I'd look to get it all in.