Well, I hate to beat this issue to death, but I still have some issues here. I'm really thinking of one guy in the game I play who like to raise a lot on pairs 66 and up, sometimes brutally, although I think generally, the big raise is coming on larger pairs.

It's fairly easy for me if he's short-stacked and I have KK. I'm just going to bet at least half of his stack or so.

But let's consider this one: We both have $500, and he raises to $50 UTG (blinds 2/5). I'm somewhere in MP with KK. Now, on the one hand, I want him to call with an inferior hand, and, on the other hand, there's the question of fishing out AA...

My real question is the proper raising quantity as well as how to play from there. I'm beginning to think something like $150 might be good, as I think he'll flat call on most pairs, and put me in with that much on AA. I don't really think he'd put me in on QQ, but he might (a $200 re-raise would be safer in that regard but risks not pulling along as many inferior hands as well as having me more or less pot-committed).

Now, if we've got a $300 pot going and both have $350 left, is there any real turning back here? I guess the way to do it is just move in to a check regardless. In this case, I actually WANT an A on the flop, becaise it indicates that he doesn't have AA, I think.

Anyhow, this seems to me to work, as he certainly can't profitably draw to the set on turn and river. On the other hand, he might bet into me at that point with QQ as overpair, and I don't want to end up folding in that case.

I guess for one thing, I need to watch how he plays these things in big stack more often (recently, he's been short-stacked). I'm almost beginning to think the $200 raise is better, with the intention of moving in on any flop whatsoever (including 3 to a suit where I don't have the right K?) if he just flat calls, and probably folding to an all-in re-raise (?). That seems to me to definitely deny him odds to call when he needs a set (he's putting in $150 for a chance at $500 and at least shouldn't be calling the flop without a set or AA).

What do you guys think? I do think the re-raise quantity here is the key to maximizing EV. With his big initial raise, you really just only have one decision left if you play the hand...

Its so hard to answer questions like these because a lot of poker is read dependent. Without any read on the player you must re-raise here with KK. I'ld most likly pop it to 200 and call if he pushes back over me, and move in on any flop if he just calls.

Well, this is a strategy against a very specific player, who's a regular at this 2/5 game.

He's over-aggressive with AK PF (and just finished betting out a huge stack with it unimproved and losing it) as well as PP down to about 66 or so.

I really don't think he'd move in with anything but AA against me PF to a big re-raise, but I very much think he's capable of calling $200 with AK or almost any of the medium to large pairs (although I think it's very mood-dependent with this player--I think he's only going to do it sometimes).

I know it's very hard to judge this without seeing someone play for a while, but I think I'm happy with the $200 re-raise against this guy (or 4 or so times his initial raise on KK--and obviously AA). It's just when his initial raise is big, it's very important, I think, to fulfill the following tasks:

1) Get him calling sometimes frivolously, with clear -EV for drawing to an A on AK or any set, even if he knows he can get my stack by outdrawing KK (with AK, he's in a bit of a bind, too, because I may equally have AA, so I don't know whether he'd go with that hand or not against me).

2) Identify AA within his range of raising hands.

I do think $200 would do the trick against this player when he makes it $50 PF. I'm pretty sure a flat call of that re-raise would mean he doesn't have AA, and an all-in re-raise means he does. He's over-aggressive with a lot of pairs (possibly a tournament player), and he has some strange theories about them (which I don't intend to correct). But he's not crazy, and he does know that when I bet big, I have a very serious hand.

I will say that one of the beauties of B&M is getting some pretty detailed reads on a lot of your opponents over time. And, since you'll also see them again regularly, it's also worth it to think through your counter-strategies in detail--laying down KK at times being one "issue," another being how exactly to play AK as well as 99-QQ. I think those are really the hands on which variations adjustable to opponents are the most interesting.