Canterbury 30- Hand against a pro

[Kevin J]

I'm mainly thinking about this hand from the button's point of view. I'd also like confirmation on reading his hand which I think must've been AJ. But more importantly, I'm wondering how correct or incorrect his play on the turn was. I tend to give up on overcards here, but maybe I'm giving up too much by doing so. Then again, this situation was unique in that my hand was very well hidden.


1 limper, a raise, a cold-call, and a 3-bet by the button.

The button seemed to be one of the local pros and a relatively strong player. I thought he may have been 3-betting a little light due to the type of players in front of him.

I had QQ in the sb and of course thought about 4-betting as I'm pretty sure most of you would advocate. But shutting out the players in between myself and the button was remote at best. I thought I would be better off retaining more options after the flop. So I smooth called. Was this a big mistake? Everyone else also called.

The flop came rags. I checked hoping to c/r button. To my surprise the button checked! ??

The turn was another rag. I think it may have paired the 2nd or bottom card. A relative blank. It was dangerous, but I checked again being pretty sure the button would now bet almost anything. He didn't disappoint and I check/raised. He called. Heads up.

The river was a J. I bet, he raised, I re-raised, he called. MHIG.

How of the button's play? What of my play?

I thought you played this hand very well, I like the idea of just calling with your Queens to set up the flop checkraise. And on the turn if you are certain that the aggressive player will now bet ace high, then I love the checkraise. And the river was beautiful, He cannot have JJ, so you know your hand is good and you put more money in the pot. The "pro" clearly overplayed his hand on the river in my opinion and you took advantage of that.