STT Early stage - Preflop

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Zync

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It's the second hand of an Online Single Table Tournament. UTG +1 raise 3BB and the cutoff called. The button folded and you check your cards on the small blind and find QQ.

What would you do there? Would you raise, call or fold?

If instead of QQ you have JJ, what would be your move?
 
cjatud2012

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Generally I would 3-bet, but there is a lot of information missing here. What are the blinds and starting stacks? Is it a turbo? Do we have a huge edge over these opponents?
 
cardplayer52

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for the most part i'm raising preflop and willing to get it on most flops.
 
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Generally I would 3-bet, but there is a lot of information missing here. What are the blinds and starting stacks? Is it a turbo? Do we have a huge edge over these opponents?

As said in the post, this is the second hand of the tourney, blinds 15-30. Everyone has 1500 or 20-40 missing. This is not a turbo. Regarding the edge on other opponents, after 1 hand, I have no clue. Since I'm multi-tabling, I can't sharkscope them at the beginning.

Since you said that you would 3-bet and the pot is now 225 and the action is on you on SB, what is the amount of your raise?
 
cjatud2012

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probably about t500, that'll offer a little less than 2:1 pot odds to your opponents, and it'll leave you with one pot sized bet to shove most flops. An ace high flop is tricky if we get flatted, but I'd probably still ship any king high flop, since there's a lot more Ax than Kx in his range (one of the members here did the math in a spot similar to this one that I asked about, you can find his response here where he explains why ace high flops are more worrisome than king high). After putting about 1/3 of my stack in though, I'm still probably shipping if the flop comes ace high.
 
trinitus

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I would 3 bet and even 4-5 the initial raise and either if i have QQ or JJ i would be willing to let it ride if pushed all-in. Most likely u are against AQ, AJ, Ak or Ax, on the case that u are against this hands is most likely he will only call ur bet if he has an A and a weak kicker, and he might push if he has Aj or better. I would let it ride on this case.
 
Poker Orifice

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Not sure why so many are suggesting that we 3bet here at the very start of the game to a UTG+1 raise (what hands would you be raising with in UTG1 at the start of the game?).
Why are we 3betting?... Do we figure to be ahead of villain in UTG1's 4bet shove range? (I doubt it).
So by 3betting we fold out the hands we're ahead of... and then fold to villain's 4bet range (or get it in bad a large % of the time).

Depending upon the buyin.... I'm treating QQ & JJ the same... flatting here in this spot. I really don't think it's +EV to be 3-betting calling a 4bet shove range on the 2nd hand of the sng. (if it's 'reg' speed & is a buyin $10+).

OP... gd question btw!!!
 
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Poker Orifice

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I would 3 bet and even 4-5 the initial raise and either if i have QQ or JJ i would be willing to let it ride if pushed all-in. Most likely u are against AQ, AJ, Ak or Ax, on the case that u are against this hands is most likely he will only call ur bet if he has an A and a weak kicker, and he might push if he has Aj or better. I would let it ride on this case.

Why is this ^ the most likely 4bet shove range for villain? (AJ?.... do you think any decent player is raising AJ in EP at the start of a SNG?).
I would say most likely if we get action we are up against AA/KK/AK (< at worst AK).. AQ is VERY unlikely a) we're holding QQ.. & b) I highly doubt we're getting action from a AQ hand in this spot.
JJ is another possible holding by villain in EP.. but no way they're flatting the 3bet (obv) and chances of them getting it in are super slim imo.

(in a $1-$3 sng this answer of mine would obviously be different... 3-betting & calling villain's 4bet shove is totally reasonable... as is 3betting & shoving most flops if called) OP.. .please post the buyin level.
 
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cjatud2012

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PO, in a typical low buy-in SNG I definitely don't think we're folding out better by 3-betting. Honestly I don't think 99+, AQ+ is an unreasonable 4-bet range for normal bad opponents. If he just flats (which happens more than one would think) we has a pot-sized bet to throw at a good flop, which will happen the majority of the time.

Another thing to consider is that raise/calling or raise/shoving most flops is probably the easiest way to play the hand. If you're playing multiple tables looking for a play that is both +$EV and easy to perform is going to be your best option. By flatting, we have to consider if we're playing our hand for purely set value (I would assume not), how to get away if we think villain has on overpair, how to get to a cheap showdown if the flop come A high, etc... Requires a lot of time and thought, which hurts hourly. OP may not multitable, so this may not apply, but just some food for thought.
 
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Flat call

What I did is that I flat called the 90 bet. BB was still to act and since it was the second hand of the tourney, I didn't want to build a monster pot preflop.

Then, the BB folded. So, we will play the hand 3 handed. I'll post another question for Flop play.
 
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