Good QQ laydown?

[ElSapo]

Fairly agressive 2/4 game on Party, but no one is a maniac that I can see. Two limpers, and I raise in the CO with QQ. Button insta-three-bets. He'd clicked the auto-raise button.

All fold back to me, I call.

Flop is JJ2, I check-call.
Turn is a K, I check-fold.

Weak or smart?

[arkady]

After the K falls, look ok to me. I might have raised on the flop - but who knows. Or I might call down seeing that its aggressive and he might have TT/AQs - but who knows.

[Aces McGee]

Hey El Sapo

Saw your picture in the paper yesterday. Better luck next time. Go with Reopened Wound into King Arthur's gambit at the World Championships.

I dunno about this one. If he's aggressive, and he's auto-raising, then his 3 bet doesnt have to mean AA-JJ or AK. He could have TT or 99, or even lower. He could have AQ or AT. With any of those hands, it wouldn't be unreasonable for him to take a shot on the flop and turn.

I might raise and fold to a 3 bet here. I might call him down.

But I don't know that I'd muck.

-McGee

[chio]

c/r the flop

were you checking calling the flop hoping to c/r the turn? i hope so, the K really changed your plans that much? i don't think i can fold heads up here without much of a read, button could raise with 66-TT or AQ

[Noodles]

if the game is fairly aggressive and the guy insta-3 bets,maybe he is giving the impression of having a better card than he holds.
I would have to see this to the end,i would probably have bet the flop,see what he does,cant see poiint in check-calling.
Wouldnt an agressive player play 88-JJ this way?

[BusterStacks]

I think I would play it more aggressively.

[BusterStacks]

I think I would play it more aggressively.

[J.R.]

I like capping here in an aggressive game, although the auto-raise tell is usually fairly accurate when the player hasn't been an obviuous LAG up to this point.

Whetehr or not to bet the flop is probabaly close, but its my preference, regardless of the preflop action, as a flop bet makes the big bet streets easier for me to play.

[ElSapo]

Hi J.R.

I considered capping, and though I don't normally do it with QQ I considered it here.

On the flop, I think there's a case for check-call, bet and I also considered check-raising.

The auto-raise seemed legit to me. One poster said the button could do this with pairs down to 66, but frankly I don't think this was the case. And the best I can hope for, honestly, would be TT or AQ after the turn.

I hate calling him down here, especially once that king hits. There really aren't a lot of simple three-bet hands I beat here.

If the king had not hit, I was considering check-raising the turn but I also think this has the potential to create a huge mess, if and when I get three-bet.

I'm lost on the hand. I think I laid down a second-best, but I can't be sure and I can't decide the right line to see a showdown that maximizes wins and minimizes losses.

This one is bugging me.

[ElSapo]

I just didn't see TT/AQ being out there often enough, especially not with the auto-raise after limpers.

[ElSapo]

Hey Aces, thanks. Yeah, out in the first round despite getting fame and no fortune through the Post. Alas. We're hoping for a better showing in Toronto in October.

[J.R.]

I think the turn laydown is fine, buy would prefer to have shown more strength than just raising two limpers preflop and going in to check/call/fold mode. I really like to throw in a postflop bet or raise before I lay down a hand as good as QQ, but that's just me and the way my mind works. Once I start to second quess and get into what-ifs I start making bad calls later on, and that's no good for me.

Imagine the turn is a blank, how does that change things? I suppose a flop bet or raise would help that decison, and although there is a case for letting a hoped for AK AQ or TT bet away, this style of play doesn't work well for me.

Either way, even if the table was aggressive the auto-raise is usually AA or KK, especially at 2-4. If this person was aggressive enough to auto-raise with hands you are ahead of on the turn, that level of aggression (and perhaps frequent use of the auto-raise button) would have already been apparent, so I don't think you gave up too much in this spot, as your are beat the great majority of the time. Don't let it bug you too bad.

[ElSapo]

On a completely unrelated note, I'm happy that my frog avatar is back. I missed the little dude but was too lazy to hunt down the picture for a while.