Strat to make more on this deal?

limits .50/1$ im delt Ako and raise to 3.5$ i get reraised to 6 even so its another 2.5$ to call there are three people in the hand. The flop KT4 rainbow I check, so does everyone else, the river is a rag so i bet 5$ and get one called the river is a J and i bet another 5$ and get one caller, i won with my kings but how else could i have played this?

Why didn't you raise with TPTK on the flop? Were you scared that someone had KK or AA? Neither is especially likely since you have one of each, though both are possible. I'd have raised - probably half the pot or so, on the flop. I don't know that it'd make you more money, but it well could and it also serves to protect your hand from straight/flush draws, if any exist. Plus if the players do turn out to be calling stations, you set them up to feel a need to call all of your raises to the river.

- Jeffrey

To summarize that: If you probably have the best hand on the flop, make your opponents pay to see cards. Don't let them have the possibility of improvement for free.

I just reread it and saw that you only had one caller on the river. Assume everyone else had some sort of draw. At those limits, I'm sure there are people who would make the mistake of calling your flop raise against the odds. They didn't call on the river because they (like you) knew at that point that they had nothing. Raise when they still think they have a chance and more people are likely to call.

- Jeffrey

Top pair top kicker is a hand you need to protect when there's a reasonable strt draw on the board... I would bet out pot-sized on the flop.

- sed

I'm betting the pot on the flop. You'd usually take it down right there, but it's a much safer bet than checking.