QQ, good play?...please, i need help

[zepmetal]

Its a .25/.50 NLHE game on ubet. the player in question and I each have about $45. I'm in the BB with QdQh. MP open raises to $2, all fold to me. I reraise to $6. He calls.

FLOP($12 in pot, he has 37, I have $40): 8s, 9s, 10c
I bet $15. He raises allin for another 22. I fold. I just need some general thoughts about this hand. What are the chances i folded the better hand. Is $15 too much to bet? What should I bet, and why?..

[SacraVia]

This is one of the biggest leaks in my game as I am a little to eager to commit my chips with premium pairs, so take my comments with that in mind.

Though the board is scary, its unlikely that he has QJ, 76, or J7. So the straight is out. He may have a flush draw and over pairs with AK or AQ, but the over top bet is probably rules out both, unfortunately (read dependent). So we are left with KK, AA, TT or JJ. Now you are dog to three of them, and a healthy favorite against the JJ.

Plus you do have the 4 outs, which may or not be clean, for the straight and 6 total. So... The question is with you having to call 22 for a 50 dollar pot, getting 2:1 pot odds with a 3:1 odds to DRAW. However, you may be ahead of majority of his hands...

I would call, if there is any chance he has overcards or the flush draw. But then again, I call to much. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[Lucky]

If he's a total assclown, I would call; otherwise muck. You're out of position and most likely beaten.

Also, I would have called in BB. Since he raised 4 bb in MP, you know about his hand if he's decent...bigger pair, AQ, or AK. If you call, he doesn't know anything about your hand. Then the flop comes out, you overbet it. Maybe you hit two pair, have overpair, etc.

Then if he sets you all-in, you are a little more assured he's taking his shot with his aces or kings, plus you've lost less money, although he might be making the move with jj.

This is a tough hand. I'm probably a little weak-tight, but my only re-raising hands pre-flop are AA or KK unless I'm in a blind with 99 or some other decent hand reacting to an obvious steal from an aggressive player.

[mauisupaman]

Zep, tough. MP just called your reraise then sets you all in after you bet about the pot. I can't see him holding KK or AA as he would have certainly come over the top PF. I can certainly see him holding QQ, AK [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], or better yet JJ with that flop action. What I'd be most worried about is if he put in a small raise with TT, or 99 and called your reraise to see the flop.

Regardless I think I would have pushed in. If you are behind to a set or an overpair you've still got outs to catch the gut shot or 2 Q's.

[X-Calibre]

why is it so hard to believe that in a heads up situation with position that the MP player would just call the PF reraise from a blind, with AA or KK?

If i was the MP player i'd be doing a little dance around my computer if this happened to me, and i def wouldn't reraise PF.

The flop comes out it's all low, he def knows you don't have QJ. You put real money in the pot and he comes back over. Seems text book AA, KK play to me. I think the most likely situation here is he has TT, KK, AA, or JJ and he is bad.

[harboral]

I personally like your bet on the flop - I usually put in enough to kill the straight or flush draw. Being out of position you either decide to check and muck if he bets anything close to pot size (which I won't do) or bet enough to kill his odds (maybe a bit more). Since you did make a reasonable bet and he came over the top - I would probably muck. These days a lot of players want to get all their money in on the flop - but there are still plenty of oldtimers like myself that do their betting on the flop - and I would believe AA or KK in this instance as well as a set, so I personally muck.

[mauisupaman]

[ QUOTE ]
why is it so hard to believe that in a heads up situation with position that the MP player would just call the PF reraise from a blind, with AA or KK?

[/ QUOTE ]

X-calibre, this situation is definitely not impossible. In fact you would be largely incorrect in excluding it from your differential of holdings for your opponent. Reuben and Ciaffone actually advocate this play in chap 15 of their book. In live games I often employ such a play. However, in online small stakes NL from my experience this player in MP will often, but not always reraise with AA or KK in that position.

On line if I'm that MP and if I was holding AA or KK I'd definitely reraise mainly b/c other online small stakes players are more willing to push their electronic stack all in here. Just calling seems to be implemented when I choose to disguise the strength of my hand inorder to induce a player to go all in on the flop instead. However, online players seem to be much more willing to contest an all in before the flop, so I don't hesitate to give them the opportunity. Hope that helps explain my logic.