$25 NLHE 6-max: Pocket Queens, Brick Flop, Villain Shoves...

NOTE: This hand was played on Bovado on 25NL Zoom, so I am transcribing it here.

I am in the big blind with pocket queens. UTG +1 Raises to $0.75, action folds to the SB, SB three bets to $3.25. I call. The UTG +1 re raises to $13.75, about half his stack. SB calls, I call.

The Flop comes 6,2,3 Rainbow.

The SB bets 17.69, a little less than half the pot. I call going all in. The UTG +1 player, calls as well, going all in.

We show. The UTG +1 player has pocket aces, the SB has pocket kings. I lose my entire stack and over half my bankroll.

Was this a bad beat or should I have folded at some point?

Thanks!

I don't like flatting Qs there that much. But never folding. So I'm probably 4betting even though I don't entirely like it.
Problem with flatting Qs there is the UTG+1 has great pot odds to call almost his entire opening range.
And then what would you do one a wet flop where one villain starts aggroing or on a High card flop like Axx,Kxx?
When we 4b, if the UTG+1 jams & SB calls we can make a fold because their ranges very likely have us beat.

As played never flat 1/2 your stack there when the V 4bets & SB calls. No point & don't get into such an awkward spot on flop with such low SPR.
Either jam or fold. Leaning towards folding > but depends on the player & scenario.

Also you should have proper BR management. Don't risk 1/2 your BR in one game.
Have at least 15,20 Buy ins avaiable for the stake you are playing.> It's still considered as small.
So to play 5NL you should have around $100 of BR & to play 25NL you should have around $500.

here are some articles for BR management
https://www.cardschat.com/poker-bankroll-management.php
https://upswingpoker.com/poker-bankroll-management-strategy-2018/

First of all this is obviously a cooler or setup hand with AA, KK and QQ being distributed to three players in a 6-handed game. Pretty crazy stuff and the kind of situation, which make some people claim, online poker is rigged to generate action and rake. I am not in that camp, but someone is losing their money here, and it just is, what it is.

That being said I agree with Alucard, that we could lose less here by 4-betting and then fold to the action behind us. If we 4-bet, original raiser jam, and SB call it off, then at least SB pretty much have to have KK or AA, because what else can he call with, when two opponents have shown such massive strength, and he is being squeezed between them.

And even as played we are not making money by continuing against a large 4-bet and a call, so even here we can just let it go. But its closer, and the other option is to jam and get it in. As played I dont see, how we can catch this flop and then fold, but we should not have seen a flop with half our stack in the middle already.

As for bankroll management 25NL is a limit, where edges get pretty small, so I recommend a very solid bankroll of at least 40 buyin or 1.000$, and preferably even more. I also recommend, that you are a proven winner at 10NL over at least 100k hands, before you test yourself against 25NL.

25NL is where, you can begin to make some real money online, but this also mean, that for the first time you will be running into a decent amount of full time professional poker players at 25NL. And you as well as your bankroll need to be ready for that.

Thanks for the advice guys

The initial pre-flop flat is fine. We don't really care if UTG has odds to call his whole range. That's not a big deal in this spot. But as played, once UTG commits half his stack and you get a SB call, I'm folding. I think at these stakes a fold there is reasonable since one of your opponents will likely have KK+ at a higher rate than the odds you're getting.

I tend to agree with John A on this one. I actually play 25NL zoom on ignition often, A 4bet on that is almost always AA, KK, QQ, or AK. JJ and worse is not raising, AQ and worse is not raising. Since you have QQ, a 4bet definitely means you're in big trouble when UTG+1 raises into a huge 3bet and cold call. I'm flatting the 3bet, and folding to the 4bet. I'll add if I was SB with KK, I'm just getting it in preflop. If he has aces...oh well. I just refuse to fold KK preflop. He'll have AK and QQ often enough that it's the right play.