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Hand 1 w/ QQ
LJ has everyone covered and opens to 3bb.
HJ 3-bets to 10bb.
SB Hero has QQ. We have the BB yet to act and also two players who “like” their hand enough to invest money. The pot size should be ~ 14.5bb.
Should the Hero fold, call, or 4-bet w/ QQ in this spot?
1) In a tournament, folding QQ is an option. In a cash game, I don’t think it’s a good option pre-flop but sometimes the conditions are right. That being said, you’ve only invested 0.5 bb, you’re out of position, and you have two players (maybe three players) acting behind you. It’s a small loss w/ a big hand that can easily be beat by the river.
2) Calling seems iffy. Playing QQ for a call seems like you’re playing the hand to “minimize your losses during a cooler” instead of playing the hand with the mentality of “I need to maximize winnings against weaker hands”.
3) Raising seems best and yet risky. As you’ll see below, the cold 4-bet will put you in a very polarized spot where only stronger hands will call you, weaker hands will fold, and you likely have to risk a large portion of your stack. For example, If you 4-bet to somewhere like 20 – 22 bb, most players will likely 5-bet play back at you with only AA, KK, and AK while folding the rest. The effective stack is ~100 bb so if they shove, you might have a tough spot. Ideally, you want to play low risk high reward. The conditions are risky since you’re out of position, multiple players are in the hand, and your hand is not that strong against the calling range or raising range of your opponent. Speaking of, if you 5-bet to 20 bb and one player flat calls…What is your plan post flop? The pot size will be ~50 bb and the effective stack will be ~80 bb. These stack sizes are weird and tough to play without risk. If you c-bet small (20 bb), if they call, you could shove turn with 60 bb into 90 bb or 2/3 pot. This applies some pressure but not a ton. Another route is to c-bet 40 bb or 1/2 of your stack, but I don’t like it. Lastly, you could just shove on the flop which is 150% of the pot size. This is an over-bet where I’m not confident you would be getting many stronger hands to fold when you make it.
To make a better decision, build an opening range and a 3-betting range that makes sense. My guess is the opener has something like 22+, A2+, JT+. The 3-bettor might have something like 22+, AK – AT, A2s – A5s, and suited broadway.
After much thought, I have no idea what to do with QQ here.
Short Aside
I once played a $200 6 max NL tournament at running aces.
Jason Seitz opened under the gun
Minnesota Molly 3-bet,
I 4-bet from the BB with QQ,
Jason folds,
Molly 5-bets,
I call.
The flop is Ace high. I check, she shoves, I fold with 15 bb left.
I played it terrible, I learned a lot, I think QQ is trouble.
