Pocket Queens: Do I Need to Get Stacked Here?

[bobbyi]

Party Poker $25 No-Limit Hold'em (9 handed)

<font color="#C00000">Hero ($24.5)</font>
<font color="#C00000">MP3 ($17)</font>

Preflop: Hero is MP2 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">3 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to $2</font>, MP3 calls $2, <font color="#666666">4 folds</font>.
Thoughts: Pretty standard raise.

Flop: ($4.75) 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 3[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $4.5</font>, MP3 calls $4.50.
Thoughts: Pot bet seems pretty standard again.

Turn: ($13.75) K[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">Hero bets $11</font>, MP3 calls $10.50 (All-In).
Thoughts: So what am I supposed to do here in the turn? I hate the overcard hitting. But he could be on clubs. He has less than the pot left, so I figured it was best to just push. Is this right? (As it turns out, he had K [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]Q [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] so I was right both about the overcard hurting me and about him being on the flush draw. Sometimes it sucks to be right).

[Godfather80]

I too get confused on turns like this. Looking over the hand, it appears your turn bet would be an excellent choice in the case that your opponent is holding: AsQs, AsJs, AsTs, A9s, 88, 77. Many of these hands will call your turn bet even though they are behind and are not getting proper odds.
But, in the case that your opponent may also (sometimes rightly, sometimes wrongly) call a pot sized bet on the flop with: AKo, KQo, K9o, AsKs, KsQs, KsJs, you are handing your money over with that turn bet.

I think you played the hand fine and just got a little unlucky.

Given the opportunity to do it again I would raise a bit more preflop (to $3) and then make a bet of about $8 on the flop. If he has AKs, he'll have odds and push, but I think he'll probably push incorrectly with most everything else and get you some Sklansky bucks that way.

[bobbyi]

[ QUOTE ]
Given the opportunity to do it again I would raise a bit more preflop (to $3) and then make a bet of about $8 on the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]
Are you being results-oriented and saying this would have been best given who ended up calling me (assuming he would also call for $3) and what flop came? Or do you always open for $3 with QQ? My experience so far has been that (to my surprise) people really aren't willing to call raises that large. Even when I open for $2 I often end up picking up the blinds. Is opening for 6x the BB your standard opening raise, or do you sometimes just make it $2?

[kurto]

My 2 cents... I think your raising amount is fine. It really is table dependent. I multitable. I've sat at one table where a .75 raise will make 3/4 of the table fold. At the same time, on another table of the same limits, you can raise $2 and have the whole table call you. I think figuring the right raise amount is really table dependent.

I raise 3-4x +more if there's a lot of limpers. I only adjust it if I get too little or too many players.

Note: I think you should figure the right raise amount and stick to it. ie... don't raise more with pocket Qs then you do with AK. I have many notes on players who give away so much info with their betting (ie... a minraise (1bb) means small pp... standard raise means AJ-AK and mid pp... huge raise means Aces or Kings. I have notes on a number of players who are very consistant.)

[Godfather80]

I'm trying not to be results oriented. I think raising 5x the big blind is okay. If raising 5x the big blind is making your action dry up, maybe it's time to raise more hands so people can't always put you on something. QQ is a nice hand, but an Ace or King will flop more than a third of the time and shut you down. I'd rather make opponents pay while I'm ahead pre-flop.
[ QUOTE ]
Even when I open for $2 I often end up picking up the blinds. Is opening for 6x the BB your standard opening raise, or do you sometimes just make it $2?

[/ QUOTE ]

If it were a ten handed game I might sometimes charge less depending on my position and how many callers I'm likely to get. Then, I might just look to catch a big flop and take someone's whole stack. QQ is a funny hand that way.

On the flop, I'd say you look to end it or have a caller make a big mistake. You have a still vulnerable overpair on a semi-coordinated board. It's time to end the hand.

[TheWorstPlayer]

Yes. (I.e. you played it perfectly and needed to get stacked there. Welcome to Party's short stacks. This happens all the time.)