$3/5

Stacks Hero~$530, Villain $1000+

History: Villain plays well, aggressive and plays position very well. Will raise the limpers and seems to know where he is post flop and has been scooping up all the dead money w/no showdowns.

Villain raised me in position twice and took down small pots after I c/fold the flop. Villain did it again and I CR his C-bet to take a pot.

Hand: 3 players limp to me in the SB with KK. I never ever ever take this line, but I just completed to Villain in the BB. Villain raised to $40 and it folds around to me and I 3 bet to $120. Villain looks at my stack and shoves-I call and win the big pot.

Result: not a brag-I had reason to take that line and it worked...yay for me.

Is it important to take a line like this with big hands? Is it worth the gamble to win that big pot when a lot of the time you know you will probably have to muck it depending on the board texture. Villain said "boy you must think I'm raising 90% out of the BB". When you have a little history with a good player do you have to take strange lines like this once in a while? looking for feedback...if you think I'm an idiot for the play-say so but give rationale.

I think this is a brilliant move in the SB if two factors are present:
1) The BB is actively raising often
2) You are a good post flop player; superior to your opponents if the play backfires.

The other day my buddy limped KK OTB cuz he saw the BB liked his hand and was getting chips ready. BB makes it $16 pre and he re raises to 60. BB flats and board comes out Q high and he ships it in for $130 more and villain snaps. Villain showed KQ and said "I put you on AK"

(and I'm thinking why would he call pre then? )

Well I thought if he raised and I 3 bet it would induce a shove. With the history and Villain a thinking player I thought there was a chance the play would work. How could he ever put me on a huge hand limping a 5 way pot in the SB. However Villain was not a maniac....but if he had 88+ to AJ I knew he would raise.

From your discription of villain/play, he does not seem good to me. I have never payed off a limp re-raise. Its just lol to me, but if you say he was good ill take your word for it. Another point I would like to make, I thought this hand was going to be interesting, maybe a limp call with kings. But its just a lrr, no line here no thought process. I like the limp pre, hate the re-raise. Would have like to seen, a limp call and let villain hang himself postflop.

agree with this as long as its HU

If it was a different player I would have flatted the raise. I already played back at him twice in a short span. He raised to $40....he never showed his hand but I think he had JJ. If he had AQ (AK very unlikely as I made a set of K's on the river) I would have gotten 1 street of value. I was looking for thoughts about when you guys limp with big hands in multi way pots OOP...(obv not often)

i think this play is fine if A) you know you will get paid off and B) you wont overvalue your hand postflop if BB doesnt raise even though your hand is way underrepped.

Uh, I'm probably raising KK from the SB 99.9% unless the BB is an absolute maniac that I'm almost certain will raise. But yes, I have made plays like this before both successfully and unsuccessfully. TBH limping KK from the SB is kinda bad.

*grunch
U are repping so big by limp/3betting I think u got lucky and he was right behind u pre. Raising 8 BB to scoop all the "dead $" and 4bet shoving are two very different things.

agree with this. risky move that paid off, but i don't like this play in the SB with a multi-way pot. would rather raise PF to isolate and hopefully build the pot rather than banking on villain aggressively raising / risking getting sucked out on the turn / flop. although i'm sure it felt nice to get paid with this line...just wouldn't make a habit of it.

Grunch.
Nothing wrong with this if you know the bb is raising with a huge range. You just need to be able to lay it down postflop on gross boards multiway.

I take this line on the bn or in the blinds vs active straddlers. Occassionaly I will flat their raise if I close the action heads up. But you have to feel comfortable playing postflop. Let them gang themselves. Guts like this will often push push push until they face resistance.

Sorry for typos. On phone. Hang themselves* and guys not guts

This is a back-patting session / brag. Sorry. If you are asking "do you ever make a strange play for metagame/deception," of course you do. Strategy questions and posts are about optimal lines and decisions. Your play is not optimal, obviously, but it worked this time. Part of poker is being deceptive, and part of that is playing hands differently and not going for the optimal line every time. Sometimes it will pay you off on that particular hand, sometimes it will cost you and then pay you off later.

Lastly, you obviously had a read that BB was going to raise, or at least would a high percentage of time. With that read, the play is not that weird or crazy. Nice hand.