Global Poker, PLO $0.25-$0.50, 6-player max

UTG: 300 bb
HJ: 300 bb
CO: 100 bb
BTN: 100 bb
SB Villain: 75 bb
BB Hero: 60 bb

Hero has K K A 6

Preflop: (1.5 bb in pot, 6 players)
fold, fold, fold BTN raises to 3.5x bb, SB calls, [COLOR]Hero raises to 14x bb[/COLOR], BTN folds, SB calls

Flop: (31 bb in pot, 2 players) T A 6
SB checks, Hero bets 20 bb, SB calls

Turn: (71bb in pot, 2 players) T A 6 T
Effective stacks: 35bb

BTN checks, Hero bets 35bb (putting SB all-in)...



My thought process:

Preflop > KK with suited A in the small blind against a Button raise is a 3-bet from what I've read. Big pairs out of position is something I don't like, but I don't want to play scared either, especially with the opportunity to squeeze the small blind.

Flop > I don't love the flop. Top and bottom pair with few outs to improve my hand feels weak. My opponent checking doesn't narrow their range. Top two pair, middle or bottom set, and pair + flush/straight draws all seem well within my opponent's range.

I don't know what villain call means. They have some piece of the board, and they could be dominating me, or I have a non-overwhelming edge.

Turn > T counterfeits my two-pair, and T97x or T98x seem possible given flop call. But with villain having a stack only 1/2 the pot I guess it's worth betting top-pair top-kicker to defend against flush and straight draws.

In general I think I worry about getting trapped in PLO with mediocre hands. Opponents checking from out of position doesn't allow me to narrow their hands between draws or made hands. Am I wrong in this thinking?

Whole thing seems pretty standard. You really can't worry about the top of your opponent's range OTT when the SPR is so low.

Essentially, you're overestimating your opponents' abilities to protect their passively-played ranges. Most of your opponents will play fairly face-up. Admittedly, on this hand in particular, your preflop raise (3bet or not) will scream "AA!!!!!" to a lot of players so even AT, TT, and 66 may be cautious. But it basically doesn't matter; this is how you play this combo on this board.

From your posts in general, you seem to be slightly overanxious to be overly precise about what your opponents have. It's good that you're thinking about what they have (many learning PLO players don't), but to put it in terms that I believe I already have once already: you're kind of bordering on impractical "soul read" territory.

PLO ranges are big and complex (and, among recs in games like these, very idiosyncratic). Don't worry about wrangling ALL of the details (they're pretty unwieldy); the slightly broader contours will serve you fine.

Just pot the flop i think. Turn is fine as played.

And would always bet the flop unless we are against a fishy villain ex. a villla who almost always stabs when checked too in 3! pots. Then we xr instead.

Your hand blocks most of villain natural betting range, so we don't want to check since villain should checkback a lot. We are happy to win now and be pot-commited when we don't.

Re possible over-anxiousness I'll keep that in mind. Could be partially a result of sometimes playing too big for my bankroll, partially inexperience with cash games. I've always felt way more comfortable in tournaments for some reason. And maybe I'm falling victim to overestimating the frequency of certain hands, specifically when I've lost my whole stack with unimproved big pairs.

Playing PLO underrolled (even just for your comfort level; risk of ruin is a different, also important question) is a bad idea. You need to be prepared to use a lot of chips in one hand to make the best play.

So, basically, get comfortable or move down.

I'm not anywhere risk of ruin, just playing short for what I have in poker site account, which still isn't good practice.

30 buy-ins seems like a good amount?

I think 40 BIs is aggressive.