5/10 NL- I like to fold

[AdamBragar]

This line has been pretty standard for me, but I realize it might be pretty awful.

10 handed, 5/10 NL
I have been playing for like 20 minutes and played one biggish hand where I called a pot sized bluff (~200ish) on the river with mediocre holdings, so maybe I seem like a calling station. Villain in this hand seems solid.

I have AQ, no hearts, in MP, one limper, I raise to 40, villain in SB(~800) calls, limper calls, I cover.

Q83 flop, 2 hearts.
Pot: 130ish

checked to me, i bet 125, folded to villain who bets 250. I raise to 500, villain pushes for 300 more, I fold.

Disgusting? How else do I play this hand? I am putting him on precisely a set which kind of sucks.

[lapoker17]

The fold isn't your problem - it's that flop 3-bet.

[creedofhubris]

Once you inflate the pot so much on the flop that you're getting ~4:1 when he pushes you should call his allin with TPTK.

Just calling his flop reraise is probably best. You can drop if a heart turns and he comes out strong; otherwise, you can just play poker.

If you underbet the pot a bit on the flop (2/3 pot or so) you control the pot better.

[AdamBragar]

Yeah, agreed too. But what do I do, call the flop raise and what happens if he pots the turn? Fold to the minraise? Push? I'm really clueless in this spot.

[lapoker17]

Since I don't really play online, I don't really have an answer. This is one of the tougher spots in NL, because you don't know if you're up against some limit guy who's representing top pair, or against a set, or a big draw - it's one of those spots that it's all about the read. I have no problem folding to that flop minraise live, when I can just tell I'm beat, but in your spot who knows.

My answer is, if the guy seems donkish - which he sort of does with the minraise - then you'll have better spots to take his money.

[kagame]

check behind, amazing things could happen

[flawless_victory]

wow.
this was one of the worst plays you could play this hand.
basically, i dont understand why you bet 125 if you werent going allin on flop if given opportunity,
then u raise a small amt (really bad), but decline to go allin again?!

im honestly not sure if you play this hand worse.
stop bluffing w/ TPTK. makes no sense.

[ezratei]

Unless you are at Borgata and have a direct read off of the twiching of the guy's mustasheo, then go all-in after he raises ... DO IT!

[VanVeen]

Okay, ignore what flawless_victory said about betting $125. There are several reasons to "bet $125" if you aren't willing to go all-in.

But if his hand range is such that when he raises you can logically justify a 3bet (this requires a read!), you need to shove and if you don't shove you need to call his all-in. Folding to his all-in is appalling given the preceding action and your pot odds. Without a read on this player or a 'feel' for how the table is playing you ought to fold to his flop raise. A random opponent's hand range has you in bad shape.

[black_knight]

You say yourself that you have a read on this guy as solid, so do you think that he's checkraising the preflop raiser with something worse than TPTK? Maybe he has a draw, but you only have TPTK with no draw. I'm folding with no hesitation when he comes in for the check-raise; however, you should have only fired out 2/3 pot on the flop - I'd say no more, no less so that it doesn't look like a continuation bet, nor like you're trying to steal the flop. Given that you put that bet in, you grossly misplayed this hand: the ONLY way that you're putting more chips into this pot is if you have him on a bluff which means you push over the top of his raise - but I think that's a donkey move in this situation. But, so would be calling the min raise: what happens if a Q or A comes? Does that make you happy? Willing to lose your stack now that you could easily be facing a full house? Who knows, and because of that, might as well fold and wait for a better spot.