players limp, bb raises to 10. Another player in middle position calls. I call in the sb with K/Qo

The flop comes; nine-Queen-six rainbow

I lead for 15. bb calls. Middle position player folds.

The turn is a seven diamond. So there's two diamonds on board now.

Pot is $60. He has position.

I was debating checking at this point, but instead I let out for 35. He calls. Villain is aggressive, capable of bluffing.

The river was a three. Non-diamond. So no flush can be completed.

I probably have about 105 left. Villain has me covered. I checked the river, and he bets $65.

I tank I think it through. Eventually fold

A BB raising range crushes KQo most of the time. You provided no reads so we're going to go off of that. Fold pre as played. You should of actually raised yourself.

Also why do you have a limp/call lead line in your arsenal with TP? It's so friggin fishy. Even more reason you should be folding pre-flop, you don't know how to play postflop.

Funny part of the hand, Villain is aggressive, capable of bluffing, leads into him on flop.

I dont know really where to start with this hand.
Preflop am more than happy to fold as KQo is a tough hand to play/get value from oop
On the flop i would rarely donk out here, it doesnt really do much good. For a few reasons
1) you are oop so what was your plan if he raises?
2) if your reads is that villian is capable of bluffing then this will make him fold and save him money if he wants to Bluff with worst then give him the chance too.
3) donking just looks fishy in general

After the he calls it still leaves you in the dark.
The board is pretty dry so there is a few hands in his range that just crushes you.

Turn is almost the same problem as the flop bet while it is a little bigger than 1/2 he isnt going to fold anything that he had on the flop bar complete air.

River I dont mind the check as none of the draws get there (unless he called for gutter on flop)??? I dont really know as your reads are pretty weak on him.
I would be more inclined to check/call but even then not feeling great about it.
The only hand that we beat are not going to bet the river for value so I guess if you think he will bluff then call but folding isnt that bad either

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Thanks for the advice everyone. I understand it was really dumb to call being out of position and with a mediocre hand like a K/Qo. Even limp calling. This was the last hand before I left so I guess I just wanted to take it down. Play for six hours fairly tight. Felt the need to post this one because these are the kind of mistakes that I cannot keep making as a beginner. I should have 100% folded pre-.

What are the ranges you guys suggest to lead in a limped pot from the small blind/big blind?

Villain came from another table. With a $400 or so stack. Quickly lost half trying to bluff someone who hit her set of threes on the turn. He ended up just being open-ended.

The only other hand I had with him was when I had pocket Queens on the big blind. He led for seven under the gun. Someone called in middle position. I raised to 15. Both called. Should I be raising more here?

The flop came, King +2 under cards which I don't exactly remember. But it was rainbow. It was then that I checked and he led for 30. The person in middle position called. As did I. Then I jammed the turn and they both folded.

Still asking myself why I let out on the K/Qo hand. Even calling the $10 raise. I should've clearly just checked the flop. And see how much he led for. But then I would've probably just folded. So yes still fold pre-for future reference

Well if you mentioned that you seen villian do this before than checking is going to work out a lot better for you in the long run againstthese type of villians.

As for the QQ hand
Raise more pre you practically min raised the guy and with a caller they are never folding there hand.
ask yourself this when raising or do any action for that matter "what am i trying to achieve"

Would like a raise to 25-30 but i dont really know the table dynamics but if they are calling this then just keep raising.
As for the check raises on the flop you are just really bluffing and hoping they dont have a Kx and will fold and against 2 players will get you in trouble a lot


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I would raise pre with KQo, probably just complete with KQss as there is a lot of value in keeping those fishies limping with their terrible suited hands in.

As played, dont like the lead at all, but now that you are here, I think you have to click call vs an aggressive villain.

Rounding a little, the pot is $30 to the flop, $60 to the turn, and $130 to the river, so he is really only betting half-pot. You need to be good 25% of the time to make a call profitable. KQ is a pretty strong hand on this board with no flush possible and no reasonable two pairs or straights. He does have AA/KK/AQ that beat you, though, maybe some slow-played sets.

Call the river. There aren't a bunch of worse hands that bet here, but there doesn't have to be very many as there aren't many hands which beat you either. JT/QJ/AdKd/AdJd etc. can be in his range. You shouldn't have gotten to the river this way, though. You could have check/called all the way down with this hand on this run-out, and you end up putting about the same amount of money in, but you keep more bluffs in his range.

Completing or raising are fine pre-flop, but fold to the raise.

What was your reasoning for leading the turn in the QQ hand?

You are correct, the pot was 130 by the river. Then he bet 65. Giving me about 4 to 1 pot odds-assuming I did this math quickly my head live. I'm pretty sure he had a higher kicker. Reflecting at other times when I seen him fold. I am almost 95% sure he had it. I think it was just my ego that wanted to hero call on the river. Not to mention how I played the hand terribly.

In regards to the QQ hand, the villain to my left only raise to seven. But that doesn't show strength to me. Sure he could be slow playing KK/AA to get a few callers. But you don't want to get in multiway pots with these hands right? So it's three players to the flop. Now there's a King on the board, and I check. So villain one on my left bets 30. I know he thinks me and the other player are weak. So I expected that kind of sizing. I'm more worried about villain number two in middle position. Now this player, I have seen him make some questionable plays. He's also been pushed around by more aggressive players out of pots. But when I check/call the bet, they have to start thinking or at least one of them about what can I have. What the hell would I check/call with? Could I be trapping them? I wouldn't expect villain one to have K/K. He would probably just check it and let me and the other player do our own damage to ourselves. Now I also pay attention to body language. When the turn came, I snap shoved. I looked at villain one right to his eyes, and he folded very quick. Now villain number two I was more worried about, but he didn't have much left anyways. Thinking back on it I'm pretty sure I made him fold the better hand. Maybe he put me on aces. Plus he seemed hesitant when he even made the $15 call pre-flop. Like it almost hurt him to put eight more dollars. Obviously this worked this time, but don't expect me to be doing this often. I don't think I can add too much bluffing to my game right now, seeing as I need to use position to my advantage more rather than against me. And develop a stronger post flop game. For the players that like to stare at you before calling your raise or bet, I have found looking at them straight in the eye to be a strong move. But maybe that's just me.

I would keep reading these forums and asking questions. You're eager to learn and improve and that's a wonderful trait.

The hand in OP, I'm calling river. You got there in a weird way, but there are too many hands you beat to fold. Like others are saying, with a bunch or weak limpers to you, raising KQ in sb is standard. Gives you initiative and thins the field. Once bb raises, KQ is usually a fold, unless bb is a spewy aggro.

Ap, c/c, c/c, c/c is a good line. Against aggro, loose players, letting them bet is usually the best idea. Sometimes I lead sets, but tp is a hand you want to play small pots with. After he calls the flop, I probably check call. You don't want to be raised and have to fold.

Re: qq hand. Definitely raise bigger pf. Like 30 or 35. Ap, if you are going to bluff, I would just check raise on the flop. But I wouldn't do it too often after a bet and a caller.

Re: live tells. The staring thing is actually a sign of weakness. Usually when players are strong they don't want to scare the other players in folding. When someone looks at me after they make a bet, I usually can tell they are weak. It's like they are very curious what I'm going to do. They are in danger so they are watching. When players are strong I find they usually act uninterested, sipping water, leaning back, looking away.

I use this tell several times a session usually. As the players get better, they might start giving off reverse tells, but if you observe closely, you'll see the urge to watch you is still there when people are weak.

So my advice is always question what you think is the truth. Ask people what they think of hands. Being open to learning and improving and other's sometimes harsh criticism is the best way to start taking more profitable lines.

Also, know that everyone has a different style. Some people play tighter and some people like to take more flops and turns. Some people like to makes plays and some people like to wait for good cards. Stick to good cards in good position and then once you start winning at a good rate, start opening up your game gradually by adding a few hands here and there. Start looking for more ways to take away pots and building an aggressive image so people stay out of your way, but somehow put all their chips in the middle when they have a strong, second best hand.