QQ hand

[Nottom]

Party $50 NL-SnG

Fairly early (second round, 15/30 blinds), 8 players left.

I'm in MP and look down to see QQ. I raise a limper and make it 150. Big stack behind me minraises to 270. Everyone folds and I call.

Flop is Jxx.
I check, he goes all-in. I have just over 1000 chips left.

Call or fold?

[Guy McSucker]

Would he shove all the chips in with three jacks? I think it's unlikely. One of the hand types he must consider for you is AK/AQ, so with three jacks he's going to check behind to let you catch up/bluff at it on the turn.

It seems to me that if you were ahead before the flop, you're still ahead now.
Not that this helps much.

Guy.

[J.R.]

Call. Miniraises are often AA or KK, but what should these hands be afraid of on a J high board. Sounds like AK AQ TT QQ or maybe AJs. The pot had like 550, why such an overbet? Some use reverse thinking here and always vastly overbet hoping to appear weak and induce a very bad call, but if that was the case its likely this strategy would have already manifested itself.

[CrisBrown]

Hi Nottom,

As the others have said, if he's a good player, the hands that beat you (AA, KK, JJ) are not hands he'd overbet this flop with. The only exception might be KK, where he wants you out of the pot before an Ace hits, but even so he'd be better off betting it for value (i.e.: a pot-sized bet or a bit less). I think I'd push in with the overpair and see just how much he likes this pot.

(My guess is he's on AJ.)

Cris

[La Brujita]

I have to disagree a bit with Cris' statement that he wouldn't overbet the pot with AA or KK. I would overbet the pot with AA or KK. There is over 600 chips in the pot and he has (assuming he was at about 1000 before the hand started) about 650 in front of him. What are his choices? Betting half the pot would but half his chips in play.

Forgetting the pre flop play, I would move all in with AA or KK. IMO, this is a classic example of how Party's shallow structure forces a very wham bam style of poker.

All that being said, as to your play I think it is a very close decision. I would have called, but I think laying it down might have been better.

[Richie Rich]

Unfortunately, I'm going to have to disagree with Cris on this one as well. Doubt he would have re-raised before the flop with pocket 10s, and gone all in with the overcard J out there. So there is a very strong liklihood that you're behind at this point -- my guess is that he has AA or KK. Unfortunately, given the short-starting-stack-structure (try saying that 5 times) at PP, he is forced to go all in to avoid giving you any cheap draws.

While QQ looks like a great hand, in this case, you gotta let it go.

[J.R.]

(assuming he was at about 1000 before the hand started) about 650 in front of him.


Nottom has 1000 left on the flop and described the preflop re-raiser as a big stack.

[La Brujita]

Good catch on that. Raises a new point: let's say you hold 1300 after the flop and your opponent has 1000. Does a pot sized bet makes sense? It leaves your opponnent pot committed if he calls.

I don't a great answer to the question other than to say I would still push in there and put my opponent to a decision rather than leave him 400 in front of him.

That might well be a bad play and would be happy to be advised that it is bad.

[Nottom]

Well, I really didn't like where I was. I felt like I still had plenty of chips left to make a run at this thing if I just layed it down.

But I hate laying down overpairs to Party clowns and called. An A came on the turn to seal my fate, but it didn't matter since he had KK.

[MensaIQ178]

i go all in over the top preflop. only way to play it- most likely he makes a bigger raise or a smooth call with aces or kings