[kapw7]

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3-bet the flop. Your hand is strong but vulnerable to overcards.

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Is my hand really strong based on the action so far? And how will 3-betting protect my hand from overcards? 3-betting would only serve two purposes here:
1) extract bets when we're ahead, which is very nice, but are we ahead often enough?
2) gain information so that we can fold our hand

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However definitely go for a bet. UTG will be under a lot of pressure b/c of the ace and his bad position.

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What about a check-raise? That way we'll get to see what the MP decides to do, and it would put even bigger pressure on UTG since we've played our hand just like an AK?

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3-bet is not for protection. I understand your concern b/c of UTG's PF stats. If you do the maths there are 18 ways for AA/KK/QQ and 16 ways for AK. Even if we are marginally behind, the hand is 3-way so we have enough equity to raise.

The ace is one of the worse cards on the turn but the pot is big enough to try a desperate move.