Poker Fans

Doyle Brunson on Pocket Kings

Doyle Brunson is a legend and one of the most aggressive players in the game. According to Brunson, the key to winning at Texas Hold’em is to put your opponent to a decision for all their chips and that’s exactly what Brunson tries to do with pocket kings.

Brunson says that the goal is to get all your chips in the pot preflop when you have pocket kings. Here’s how he recommends doing it:

Early/Mid Position

Brunson recommends limping with KK in early and mid position when no one has raised the pot. The goal is to entice enough limpers that someone in late position will put in a big raise to try to capture all the “dead money” on the table. When you get this kind of raise, you can re-raise and hopefully commit your opponent to the pot and get them to go all-in.

Mid/Late Position

Brunson recommends raising with KK in late position. This move gets added value from limpers and thins the field. You don’t want to call and see a multi-way pot when you’re in late position. An ace will come on the flop 23% of the time and if you don’t show any aggression, you’ll miss your chance to take down this pot even if the ace falls.

If the pot is raised, Brunson recommends putting in a small re-raise to entice your opponent to come over the top of you with an even bigger re-raise that commits them to the pot.