I' ve just started with NL..

mr magoo · #1 03-01-2005, 03:02 AM

I dont have the hand history...

0,5/1 NL

I sit UTG+1 with QQ (405$)

I raise 3$, villian (40$) raise to 5$, BB calls.

What do I do? I have no reads... A guess is that villian is loose passive.

I raised to 18$ to get BB out, Villian is all-in, BB folds
What do I do now??

I called since I thought i was to much involved.
Please help.

ihardlyknowher · #2 03-01-2005, 03:09 AM

I would have probably just called the first raise and push if no A or K came on the flop.

After he pushes, QQ is tough. If this is Party Poker, I would be inclined to call. There are a lot of people that will push with so many hands, calling is probably +EV.

wegs the wegs · #3 03-01-2005, 03:13 AM

Is that $405 that you are sitting with correct?

mr magoo · #4 03-01-2005, 04:07 AM

yes, I had 405 dollar... when he reraised all-in I thought AA or KK .. but then I thought I was to deep involved in the pot so I had to call anyway.

jonnyUCB · #5 03-01-2005, 05:37 AM

Given your relative newness to NL I am going to assume you haven't been raising with much frequency, especially in early position. As such, they are going to see you as the "average party poker player" who raises up front with fairly good hands only (probably JJ+). What reraises these types of hands are KK and AA. QQ too sometimes but we see why thats an improbability.

You feel like you can't get out of the situation because you created yourself. Go with your read: call his reraise (dont go over the top - BB could easily be slowplaying AA if button doesnt have it yet- and for other reasons) and bet any flop without ace or king. Leave yourself enough room to fold to reraise from villian (you said he's passive so he wouldn't be making a play like this without AA KK, confirming your beliefs). Bet 1/3 his remaining stack on the flop. Fold to reraise, save half the cash you ended up losing.

jtr · #6 03-01-2005, 05:38 AM

If you seriously believe his hand is AA or KK (with 100% confidence) then this is a fold; you're not "pot-committed" as the odds of QQ sucking out over AA are not better than the 3:1 or so that the pot is offering you on calling the all-in.

But the -EV is only about $5 if the guy shows you his AA or KK.

So, if there's any suggestion that the guy might do this with AK or a smaller pocket pair, go for it. A lot of online players would make this move with TT and JJ so I suspect your call is fine.

Having said that, I'd play the hand a little differently in the first place. I would have raised a bit more than your $3, probably to $4. Then if re-raised I would have either flat called and looked for a flop with no ace, or (if the short-stacked re-raiser was highly aggressive) just pushed immediately.

Unless you're against a bit of a psycho, you usually don't want to put in the third raise preflop with QQ.

mr magoo · #7 03-01-2005, 06:40 AM

How do I think in a situation like this? I have played alot of fixed so I know how the odds work there but I have problem with NL how to think, when it comes to odds. Why bet 1/3 of his stack? and not like bet the pot or something?

jonnyUCB · #8 03-01-2005, 02:09 PM

He's telegraphed that his hand is better than yours before the flop. The reason for the bet size is not a question of odds (it might be giving AK a decent price to play, but I guess thats the flaw in betting that much), but a "play-the-opponent" question. When you bet a portion of his stack u give yourself room to drop the hand when he pushes all-in on the flop: if he is passive and he pushes then you're done.