Get Thee to Titan

Many thanks for the comments on the limp re-raise with KK/AA post. I'll concede that there could be some value in it from a mixing-up-your-play perspective, if you regularly play with the same opponents or are channeling Miss Cleo and somehow know the table you're on won't break for an hour or two. But I need more convincing that it's a useful tool if you're in a loose, aggressive game.

I understand the theory but pretty much any scenario I can conjur up (aggressive players in late position taking a shot at stealing the blinds/limps with a marginal hand, aggressive players in late position pushing hard with AK or a mid pocket pair, etc.) that could be taken advantage of with a limp re-raise can also be taken advantage of with a standard raise a majority of the time. Yes, you pick up some EV from enticing players with marginal hands to take a shot, as they'd have simply folded if you'd make a standard raise. But you're also sacrificing some EV by essentially turning your aces or kings face-up on the table, as the limp re-raise makes their flop decision much easier (assuming they even call the re-raise, which is far from a given).

If they're aggressive/foolish enough to lump all of their money in with something like JJ pre-flop (or on a seemingly safe flop), they're going to find a way to lump it all in, regardless of whether you limp re-raise or make a standard raise, get re-raised, raise them again, and get all of the money in the middle. If they're trying to steal with a marginal hand or playing AK fast, you could make a good argument that the absolute last thing you'd want to do is limp-reraise, choosing instead to simply smooth call and encourage them to keep firing on the flop.

I don't think limp re-raising with KK/AA is necessarily horrible, I just don't see that it has any added utility over a standard raise, or at least not enough utility to offset its obvious transparent drawbacks.

Only had time to squeeze in about thirty minutes of poker time last night at Titan, but managed to finish +$500 and change donking around at $1/2 NL. Here's your donkey hand of the day (all the way around, myself included) as evidence of the what to expect on Titan:

Titan Poker Lemur Hand o' The Day

Standard $1/2 NL game, no reads or info on opponents. I just bought in and am posting my BB for the first time and am dealt KQo.

UTG raises to $8. MP calls $8, CO calls $8, button calls $8, SB folds, and I call, ready and willing to dump my hand unless I flop really big. Pot is $40 or so.

Flop is Kh 8s 7s. I check, UTG bets $15. MP calls, CO calls, and button calls. I'd really, really like to fold here but I'm too much of a lemur to dump my top pair decent kicker here, getting ~7 to 1 on my money, peeling one more off and bailing if things don't improve on the turn. Plus I have to account for the Titan effect, which means that you're actually 10% more likely to win any given pot you're involved in than you normally would be. I call. Pot is $115.

Turn is 8h, puttng Kh 8s 7s 8h on the board. I check, UTG donks out for $10, and MP goes all-in for his last $30. CO calls. Button calls. I scratch my donkey ears for a bit, hee haw some, and see a $215 pot, with just $30 to call. Other than the pre-flop raiser UTG, the only person that's shown strength or much interest is all-in, and there are some flush/straight draws out there that people could be on. I should still likely fold, as I'm not closing the action and UTG could have donked out with a big hand and be waiting to re-raise, but damn, them's good odds and a nice pot that no one is showing much interest in. I finally make the lemur call, and breathe a sigh of relief when UTG just calls, as I'd have had to insta-fold to any raise from him there, setting the $30 I just called off afire.

River is 10s. I check, UTG checks, CO checks, and button checks. I sit there hee hawing some more as the $265 pot somehow slides my ways. And what powerhouse hands did everyone have, that couldn't overcome my mighty KQo on that board?

UTG: A10o
MP: K5o
CO: 910h
Button: 33

Hee-haw...