$200 NLHE Full Ring: AQo OOP vs villain

Hi guys played an interesting hand yesterday at a 1/2 NL live table and would like some feedback on the way I approached the hand.


Stack sizes:
Hero: $200
Villain: $125
SB: $70

Hero in MP with A:club: Q:heart:

Hero opens in MP for $15. It's folded around to Villain on the BTN who calls. SB calls as well.

Flop comes: 8:diamond: Q:spade: 9:heart: $47 in pot

SB leads out for $15 ... Now given that villain on the BTN is fairly loose and has a wide calling range in position I would re-raise to $75 to play heads up for stacks against SB. If villain on the BTN shoves I call as I will be getting a nearly 9 to 1 to call villain's shove. I would have exercised pot control if either villain was 100 BB deep as I am only holding TPTK but given the stack sizes I believe this is the best way to approach this hand. Moreover, if I flat villain's bet I am pricing the BTN in to draw for a straight.

Thanks in advance for the feedback guys!

How sure are you that you are ahead of the SB here? Very strange that the SB would be donk betting into this board with 2 players behind. The SB would have to have a lot of air, Qx, 9x, 8x in his range to make up for all the other parts that crush us. 2P, sets, ST8. Would the SB believe that you and the villain will pay him off better by donk betting versus a check/call or a check/raise?

But for your specific question, any raise by you essentially commits you to the hand so if you want it HU with SB then just shove AI, no need to bet 80% of what the villain has left.

I think the $15 bet is too small to flat, unless you are planning on shoving on the flop.

1/3 of the pot gives them odds to see the turn profitably if either one is calling with a straight draw.

I think raising to $45ish puts more money in against smaller stacks while you are ahead. on the turn you can call or shove pretty much any card. With this hand against these stack sizes I think you should be looking to get it in.

The middling cards on the flop have likely hit their calling range pretty hard. The fact that JT makes the straight already would mean id be circumspect about getting too much money in here. 88 & 99 are also smack in the calling range of most players.
Having said that the SB lead looks like a cheap attempt to see another card. if he is strong already the check raise has to be the better play. Its un unpleasant spot with the button behind you.
You can't fold as you may still be best. calling gives you no information. Raising will define everyone's hand but if im called id shut down. my 2penneth (what about stats of the players here difficulty commenting without them

Depends on reads. How loose/passive is the SB? I doubt he's got air here, and it's very possible he's flopped the nuts already. But I'm probably shoving anyway.


BTW: Weird that basically this exact hand happened to me last night, but it was on a two-tone board and the button shoved on me after I bet the flop. I hit running Queens to take the pot. I hope it worked out the same for you...

so this bet is actually relatively easy to play against. It is either 1. JT for the straight nuts trying to get some weird value, or 2. A mediocre hand that also has a draw and wants to ensure the bet is small. Against those options, I would raise all day.

This is a raise and GII. SB is too short to be folding KQ, I'd rather GII here if SB has JQish, and if SB has J10 oh well GG

Difficult spot because I believe this flop may hit both opponents calling ranges really hard. If you're trying to reduce variance, I actually don't think folding is a ridiculous mistake, but otherwise, it probably is. If you're rolled properly, I'd be shoving flop especially as they're both short.