Awkward QQ preflop spot 1/3

I guess I'd raise to $75 and snap-call a shove.

If just called, with an SPR of <1, it would have to be a really bad flop to prevent me from putting in the rest.

You could just shove.

Or you could make it 75 and shove all flops with no A/K.

I think I prefer the former.

The only problem with shoving with the 3-bet is that it greatly increases the likelihood that he folds rather than continues with hands like 77-JJ, AQ/AJ, etc. I think shoving is only good if the Villain is too nitty to call the AI with AK.

I think V will often stack off with most pairs he is raising 8x with. There is a psychological impact of H’s effective stack being 60bb. In fact, if H raises to 75 or 80, V probably realizes H is committed anyway.

Again, I think either play is fine.

I probably ship and lose. I like $75 raise less then call or ship. But I’m not folding QQ here.

We have QUEENS at 1/3 with 200$ in front of us .... there is no decision here

shove now. you will get called by AK, JJ, TT, and maybe AQs.

with your stack id playing shove or fold pre vs a raise.

with a $300 stack you can 3b reasonable size.

Thanks for replies:

It just seemed strange to shove 200 to win 25, but also awkward to 3bet here due to my stack size. I did end up shoving, just wanted to see what others thought/

I wouldn’t consider it “shoving 200 to win 25”. You can consider this a value/equity denial bet. You can certainly get called by worse. Sometimes you are flipping with AK. And if he folds a hand like AT it’s not a terrible outcome. Winning 9bb uncontested is never a bad outcome.

FWIW, I purposely sit at this stack in my 1/3 NL game.

I think at this stack size we're committed preflop with QQ and if we run into better then nice hand sir. I'd have no problem with a shove if there was a caller or two to the raise (where we can rep AK which is what I often have). But against someone described as a decent experienced player, I'm just not convinced a preflop shove gets called by worse often enough (with no other dead money to win / look like we're going after). So I'd make a more enticing 3bet to $75, sigh call a shove, and commit on any non-horrendous flop.

GcluelessshortstackingnoobG

Don’t forget that when we shove and he folds, we win $32 instantly. Thats almost 11 bb. Thats a lot of +EV

I used to do that, but now I take chips from my pocket to maintain at least 120xBB. I usually play all pps and want to get a decent amount in with a set. You want to be even deeper with Axs, partly playing for flush over flush. It also lets you get paid better when you 3! a big pair like here.

I shove and I shove with AK too. AA 3bet to $75.

I probably make it 80. It is indeed awkward. Just feel that shoving probably folds out everything except JJ+/AK - while not a bad thing, it just means that you're generally not in great shape when called and I'd rather get other hands to have a hard time making a decision. Of course if you go to 80 then you face a renewed awkward decision on Axx or Kxx flops.

What do you make of the 8x raise over one limper?

I'm going to point out that when you are on your last buyin for this session and playing shorter stacked, you don't have the respect of the table.

Yeah, I used to buyin short as mentioned, and people will call down light, because donks who get short stacked will push to gamble, and low stakes players don't like to fold even to a push. When you have lost a lot and are short stacked, it looks like you want to gamble to double up or go home.

Also, you sort of have reverse implied odds if you 3! smaller and get called. An ace has about 30%, a pp or suited connector at at least 20%.

I used to play at a topped up 100bbs. But there are pros and cons to every method, and I feel for me / my skillz set there are more pros than cons to purposely sitting at a topped up 66bbs.

As long as OP is making a purposeful choice to sit at what he's sitting at, it's very defensible, imo.

GcluelessNLnoobG

Usually, "Blinds, go away from my offsuit trash. (That I can happily fold if either blind wakes up with something.)" Occasionally it's, "I want fat value for my premium." H should know which it is by this point in the session.

I doubt it'd be useful, but does clicking it back have any merit?

Really easy shove here your basically a tier up from micro stacked, it'll be seen as a blind steal and you'll get one or two callers at best. You bet 75$ me and any other thinking player is going to fold because you have a monster. I would be much more inclined to call with big Ax or Ax suited vs a semi-micro stacked all in.

Yeah, some amateurs even would see the shove as weaker than putting in 37% of your stack. I would shove with AA.

call, hit a set of queen, win the money

secondary plan, call, see what he does, fold to a stack commiting bet from villain, fold to a regular bet from villain if A or K on the board, shove on villain if he bets 34$ or less, 35$ or more is a cry fold on most boards

this plan has been kindly given to you by a professional, the reason being that, villain has been profiled as playing on the line, and now he bets bigger than usual, you said you respect the table, that is precisely a situation to give this player even more respect

giving your playstyle is weird and off, for one, you havent did anything yet, so that instinctively wants me to give you an advice like "people are generally not specifically targetting you as much as you think", with the consequential advice that comes from that line of thoughts "diminsh your frequency of hero calls and thin plays, they arent ****ing with you as much as you think they are"

its also off because your playstyle dont really matter... its just your playstyle, whats far more important is your image

hero is lag (who cares)
hero is seen as a lag (now thats useful)

note that its two different concepts too, and you could very well be playing a tight game, yet they think you're lag because the situations since the last hour have made it look like so, so its much more grounded in reality

also giving yourself a playstyle is bad, its so limiting, sometimes i lag, sometimes I tag, sometimes im passive... I guess its not too damaging to tell a beginner to adopt a playstyle, but its better to grow out of it, adapt to the situations, and their playstyles, which are usually less flexible than your own, and therefor more profitable

anyway, im just gonna guess you played it harder than I mentionned above, and he showed you a bigger pair in the end, eh, queens are good, theyre not that good

Sticking $200 in vs a raise of $25 looks incredibly strong, more so if villain thinks you're solid/tight. He may fold everything but the top of his range. Of course if he calls with 99+, AQ+ and whatever else, then just shove. With these reads, I'm sticking in a 3bet of like $70 to get calls from weaker stuff and setup a SPR of basically 1... then shove any flop without an A or K.

The part in bold is exactly why you should jam.

You can't possibly have the respect of the table, or even the guy who's a decent player and sitting with $700, if you're sitting with $200 after hours in a 1/3 game. You probably look like you're tilted and desperation-jamming all sorts of trash here.