Quote Originally Posted by aneratergos
Newbie question here: What do you mean by "value bet?"
You have a pretty good hand (higher than the 2nd highest card on the board), but not a great one (as you lose to any Q). A value bet is a rather small bet, that is likely to be called by an OK weaker hand, like A9 in that situation. If you get raised, you have to lay it down, as its likely a pair of Qs or better.

Ok, I see your point about the re-raise with my bad kicker. My question is at what point (how big of a kicker) should I call the raise? If I'm AK at that point to I re-raise and if so, how much (given the stack as they were and assume decent players at the table)?
Even with your kicker, you can call that minimum raise on the turn, but you have to be worried about your kicker. After calling, you can see how he plays it on the river. Lets say the guy had a much bigger stack, and at the river he bets the pot. It hurts, but you should fold, unless you have a read on him that suggests he'd do this with a weak hand on a bluff.

How you'd play AK in that situation is a whole different matter, and it'd change depending on how you think they'd react to a raise, etc. Personally, I'd typically just call with AK on the turn. You know that the raiser likely has a K, so you definitely don't want to scare him from overbetting his trip kings lower kicker on the river, and the guy that opened on the turn can stay in too. But if you do that, you also have to assume that the guy that opened may be on a draw, so you should watch out for a possible straight or flush on the river. Not that you should assume you're beat if one of those hits, but you shouldn't be overbetting or raising big if he bets big. Or he could just have a jack. More reading would be needed on the river in this case as well.

After that, at the river (consider a random river, or that you don't know his cards now), lets say the guy that opened on the turn checks to the guy that raised on the turn. He's sitting there with trip kings, and no one reraised him, so he's likely to think that he has the only king, and make a sizeable bet here. Here's where I'd reraise, which'd certainly scare out the 3rd player. The guy with the other K is now pot commited, and calls, and you likely win a nice pot. In the real hand though, he would've hit a boat on the river, but this really wouldn't have been avoidable even if you raised on the turn. The typical player wouldn't fold his hand at the turn to any bet.

So by playing it slow, you're increasing your risk factor a bit, mostly by letting the guy with the possible draw get a cheap card, but you increase the amount you win greatly. If you raise big on the turn, he probably would put you on (or at least be very worried about you having) a K with a better kicker, and then go into check call mode if the river doesn't help him.

Not that you have to play AK like that. Its more of a style / personal preference thing, and if I'd already made a play like that, maybe I'd raise huge on the turn next time to throw them off. The main point is that you should suspect that you are beat on the turn with K6, and therefore shouldn't be reraising. With AK you should think that you likely have the best hand, and how you choose to try and maximize your profit is up to you.

Second, I'm not sure I understand your statement at the end about that bet on the flop being devestating against a big stack. Could elaborate some for me?
The flop wasn't devestating. The flop was a great flop for your hand. But after he raises another bet on the turn, you should be putting him on a K, and a likely higher kicker since yours is so low. If the guy had a bigger stack, your raise could've been "devestating", as it could've either made you feel pot commited with a hand that you basically know is beat if your called (or at very best is a split), or it would've just been a waste of chips if you then fold to a big bet on the river. Plus, you're letting him know that you have a K as well, so if he has a great kicker or a boat by the river, he really should make you pay. The best you can hope for by the river is a split, because you're just playing your K. The river 9 is your last kicker.