Last night I bought into a $100 no limit game at Hollywood Park. I cashed out $320 so I had a decent night. But one of my "folds" troubles me because the player I folded to later busted out on a bluff.
I am in early position. Big Blind is $3 and the table is relatively tight at this point, but I am the short stack. This table had been going awhile and some of the players had $600 to $800 in front of them. I just had, at this point, about $130.
I get my hole cards and I have pocket kings, and that's a damn good starting hand as we all know. I raise to $9 which is 3X the big blind and I get one caller. Everyone else folds.
The flop comes 10-5-2 and since I am first to act I bet $5 as a feeler bet hoping that the other player would raise and I would come over the top with an all-in. But he just calls. On the turn there is another ten. And that makes me very worried. The other player easily could have called my initial raise with Ace-ten or King-ten or Queen-ten so now I am on the defensive.
So I bet $5 again and he goes all-in. I folded my kings. He might have been bluffing. Or maybe he had it.
I think I played the hand incorrectly:
1. I should have made a bigger raise pre flop and I might have eliminated all callers and just have gotten the blinds. Better to get the blinds than to lose money.
2. On the flop with only one ten showing, I should have pushed then and taken my chances.
How would you have played KK in early position as a short stack, and was I wrong to fold my KK ??