I'm in mid position and find AA playing full-ring 5NL (Remember the bankroll!), I raise, get 2 callers. Flop comes 94J rainbow. I bet, my oppts fold. I take a small pot.

I'm in mid position and find AA playing full-ring 5NL (Remember the bankroll!), I raise, get 2 callers. Board doesn't matter, we get it all in by the turn. He hits his straight or flush draw on the end.

Now this isn't a bad beat story, or my expressing frustration at being drawn out on. It's part of the game, the beat doesn't bother me.

It seems like with the most powerful hands in the game, you either win a small pot or lose a big one.

I don't have a huge hand sample (just over 1k in hands) but the hand I've lost the most money with so far is KK's.

Any strategies, tips or ideas on how I can make more off my big hands? I don't mind losing a big pot as long as when I got it all-in I was ahead, so I don't think I can alter the losing side of things much.

Be willing to fold big hands.

Overpairs want all the money in preflop, or enough that it's not profitable to setmine against them. If you get resistance to your flop bet, you must be willing to dump a 1-pair hand.

fyp!

There will be enough times that the flop comes Q52 or K93 or something like that and someone will try to get all their chips in with QT or KJ ect.. to make this balance out. Specially at these levels.

1k hands is absolutely nothing. Trust me, over 20K hands or so, AA and KK will be right up there at the top of your most profitable hands along with other pocket pairs most likely.

I know the sample is small but when you are working on a limited BR, losing 6% of your roll to KK just makes you wonder if there's something more you can do.

Put your money in as the favorite, that's all ya can do.

Big pocket pairs win big pots too imho..... If you are only winning small and losing big then you are soooo poorly playing them that all you do is lose, when you should be winning .

I think the real point that people are missing here is that although big PPs should be a significant amount your winnings, they aren't meant to be winning big pots on the river (unless they improve to trips). In general this means that you should be playing these hands fast and get a lot money involved preflop and on the flop. If you are given resistance all the way to the river you are very likely beat.

I remember seeing a post where a guy asked where your winnings where comming from and people consistently reported that they were winning the most with big pocket pairs, but they were mainly winning a lot of small to medium sized pots, and not the big pots.

Fold AA and KK pre flop and it will never happen.

Seriously, if you are getting your money in good and then getting outdrawn thats ok - the tide must turn. If you are playing them weak, letting lots of people see the flop with you then you need to play them a little harder. I love it if I can get all my chips in pre flop with AA - I hate getting all my chips in once the flop has hit and I havn't improved.

Normally in a .01/.02 game I raise to .10 5x BB, I'll get max 2 callers. It seems like 50% of the time I bet the flop, I get a .42 pot because they insta-fold. The other 50% I'll get as much money in as I can and lose $3.00.

If I try to go bigger pre-flop I give away my hand will take down .06-.08 in folded blinds/calls.

That sounds fine, if not a little too large. I prefer a standard 3XBB. If there has been limpers or raisers before me then I will stick in a re-raise. After the flop I am generally not looking to shove it all in unless I am confident I still have the best hand. Perhaps you need to look at your post flop play. Best to post actual hands for people to have a look at. Also, unless you have stats to back up what you are saying then there may be a little selective memory going on here. It is so easy to just remember the beats and forget the wins.

You don't want to go bigger if nobody has entered the pot yet.

Do you play your big pp's differently than your other hands? If so, you could be giving away too much information, and when villians fold, it's because they have no hand & no draw against what you're obviously representing. Is your pf betting the same at 5nl? 5xbb consistantly, regardless of your holdings? How is your bet sizing on the flop, based on the texture of the board?

And 1k hands really is a small sample.

Agreed on the sample size.

I almost always go 5x bb for any raise I make. I tried 3xBB but would never get a fold. I find this number works to drive some of the weaker holdings out of the pot.

On the Flop: If I'm holding AK and the board is exceptionally dry I may check, but otherwise it's usually a 2/3 - 3/4 pot size bet on the flop. I might go pot sized if there are multiple draws (flush or solid straightening cards).

I'll post a few of the hands for advice and see if there are some horrible leaks in my post-flop play.

Sometimes there's just nothing you can do. I remember starting a new database when one of mine became too large, and over the first 3k hands or so I was losing with full houses. That's just not possible in the long run, it's a statistical quirk. You may be going through the same thing. Post your individual hands in the appropriate forums if you feel like there's an interesting decision. If there's something you're doing wrong consistently, that will show up in the responses and you can plug the leak.

This is backwards. You should cbet the dry boards and be more inclined to check the wet ones.

BTW I think 5x bb bets at $2NL is fine. That is what Ive always done. Just do it every hand you raise with not just AA and KK.

Errr... yeah I meant it the other way round.. sorry bout that!