[QuikSand]

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I think your biggest mistake is "putting him on AQ". Respect the other solid players, but don't automatically put them on a hand that beats you just because they raise.

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Fair advice, I understand the pitfalls of giving credit to another good player for whatever bogeyman hand is out there against you.

But here, AQ really did make the most sense to me. He's a solid player, who called (but did not raise) under the gun. Could be a big hand like AA looking for a reraise, but more likely to be a hand good enough to call but not raise -- in my mind, that puts him in the "pretty good ace" or "middle pair" range, most likely.

He raises the flop -- would he raise with a hand like 88 or 66 here? I thin we'd hear from the set on the turn, rather than right away. Top pair makes more sense, and either KQ or AQ seem to fit the bill -- that's a hand that might well want to raise, try to isolate, and beat out the early bettor.

I'm trying to do more than invent monsters under the bed, I'm trying to make sense of the total player'a actions -- and his actions there sounded like a strong queen to me. I stayed in the pot since I felt that KQ and maybe even QJ were possibilities... so I had a shot against him in either case.



But I agree, that reraising the hand on the flop is preferable to just calling the two bets. Wonder what it would have taken to shed the (presumed) flush drawer, though...