KK vs KQ: how bad can it get?

This is the aces-against-ace-king cooler one floor down. The kings hold the third king, so king-queen cannot even dream of pairing its top card; it is drawing at three queens and some straight glue. Ninety percent against ten. The spot arrives innocently: king-queen calls a raise, the board comes king-high, and the money goes in with top pair against a set. Preflop all-ins here are rarer, but when they happen it is usually a short stack with king-queen suited running into the top of the deck. There is no fix, only the comfort that holding the kings side of it pays for a lot of bad beats.

Quick tip: Top pair with king-queen on a king-high board is strong right up until a kings-heavy opponent will not stop raising. Sets live there.

All numbers are all-in preflop equity vs one opponent, computed by the Poker Shark equity engine from the full 169 by 169 hand matrix, weighted across suited and offsuit combos.