$16.50 NLHE MTT Bounty: How to play small pocket pairs against a 3-bet OOP?

[Satiivas]

Hi,
pretty simple question: does it make sense to flat small pocket pairs against a 3-bet OOP 57BB effective to set mine? New table, so no reliable stats on the villain.


pokerstars, $14.70 + $1.80 - Hold'em No Limit - 35/70 (11 ante) - 9 players
Hand delivered by CardsChat

UTG: 3,537 (51 bb)
UTG+1 (Hero): 5,258 (75 bb)
MP: 4,770 (68 bb)
MP+1: 10,551 (151 bb)
LP: 5,423 (77 bb)
CO: 3,969 (57 bb)
BU: 6,005 (86 bb)
SB: 4,469 (64 bb)
BB: 4,681 (67 bb)

Pre-Flop: (204) Hero is UTG+1 with 6♣ 6♦
1 fold, Hero raises to 154, 3 players fold, CO 3-bets to 455, 3 players fold, Hero calls 301

Flop: (1,114) A♥ 3♦ K♥ (2 players)
Hero checks, CO bets 420, UTG+1 (Hero) folds

Total pot: 1,114
CO wins 1,114

 

[fundiver199]

This should be one of the worst hands, you open from UTG+1, and its always ok to fold the bottom of your range to a 3-bet. Of course if he made it a silly size like 100 or 150 more to call, then I am not folding any hand and certainly not a pair. But here you had to call 300 more, and he only had around 3.500 behind, so you were clearly not getting good enough odds to setmine. And when you miss, you will often end up getting bluffed out of the pot, because he have position, initiative and range advantage. Like for instance on this flop. Even if he somehow missed with a suited connector, he is still going to C-bet, and you are going to fold.

 

[Satiivas]

This should be one of the worst hands, you open from UTG+1, and its always ok to fold the bottom of your range to a 3-bet. Of course if he made it a silly size like 100 or 150 more to call, then I am not folding any hand and certainly not a pair. But here you had to call 300 more, and he only had around 3.500 behind, so you were clearly not getting good enough odds to setmine. And when you miss, you will often end up getting bluffed out of the pot, because he have position, initiative and range advantage. Like for instance on this flop. Even if he somehow missed with a suited connector, he is still going to C-bet, and you are going to fold.

Thanks!

What's the worst pair you would call in this situation? Would you consider flatting 66 or even 22-55 against a 3-bet OOP if the variables would be different? For example deeper stacks, some kind of relevant info on the villain or what ever else comes to your mind?

 

[fundiver199]

In this configuration I would typically not call worse than 88 or 99, but deeper stacks can certainly change things.