There's a difference between asking "which of the four hands would you rather 3-bet" vs. "which of the four would you rather have in a 3-bet pot". Jman is asking the latter.

being in pos i like 88 more than 57s now, although would be less inclined to 3bet it (not sure if that's what Jman is asking: i know he said which would you rather have but for me that seems like a pointless ? unless it's instructive about whether or not to 3bet).

I was wondering how in the hell you had 88 behind but I pretty much agree with you the most...

Phil, this question has a really solid answer, do you really expect people to give it away here?

Edit: omg people are giving legit answers, NL is over

88, kj, 75, a2

Since he calls, i want a hand that has the highest chance of winning, AND has a fairly good chance if I'm a dog.

For that reason, i think 88 and KJ are easily the best ones. However, the A2s and 75s are a flip flop:

A2s: 3-2 fav, worst 2-1 dog
75s: no fav, worst 3-2 dog

ya this is basically what I meant when I said 88 would be my least favorite

well, id rather not have any of those, id always prefer to have AA, obviously. but:
I suppose knowing that im just called and not 4bet that 88 is the best. Followed closely by A2s, then somewhat of a distance for 75s, lastly KJo.
sure, if there was a chance (a big one) of being 4bet, Id hate to blow myself off 88 and not seeing a flop, those other hands im ok with that. but, knowing im getting called so we're atleast taking a flop, i think 88 fares best. ie, we can showdown and win unimproved, and everytime we DO hit a set we can pretty easily get our stack in. after that, A2s is fine bc im quite confident in top pair, and really it has the best "showdown value" if villain is ever calling oop with sub premium hands (ie not just pairs). lastly, KJo vs 75s is somewhat moot since both require help and if we dont win on the flop we're in trouble often, but 75s has a better shot of making a cinch hand, since w/ KJo we're going to be hoping: 1. we make a pair 2. it's good! ie. the threat of reverse domination or getitng there and not being good is bad bad bad

well, alot. so much so that im probably folding KJo alot to the open. whereas never folding 88 (and either 3betting or smooth calling)

Seeing how every good player who posted has a different opinion this thread is confusing the crap out of me.

I like how everyone has different opinions becuase it shows the differing styles of the high stakes players.

I think that I'd take 75s>KJo>88=A2s

With position and knowing that we only got called and not 4-bet, I like 57s the best becuase we can still rep a lot of hands with big cards and we will hit a ton of flops that will allow us to push back if he c/rs and we've flopped any kind of draw.

KJ or A2 seem to be the hands most likely to get you stacked when you're behind becuase they will make strongish-looking 2nd best hands.

88 isn't bad but it's not going to see many favorable flops and against a good aggressive opponent, you're gonna face a lot of tough decisions with the hand

Also I dont think there is all that strong a corelation between which hands you'd rather have once you 3 bet and get called and which hands you should be more apt to 3 bet to begin with.

HJ?

This is true, but I think the implication is more about the added piece of info about your opponent's hand (them NOT 4-betting) that you now have.

OOP: 88, A2s, KJ, 75s

IP: KJ, 88, A2s, 75s

i think KJ is probably eaiser to play against a CO's range than 88 will be.. and i think we stack off in a better position almost always with 88 vs. 75s, and A2s is probably something i rarely ever 3-bet with (nit) unless like OP said, we know for sure hes never 4-betting.

KJ>88>75s>A2s

its 88 or A2 and its not even close

very true imo.

A corrolary: what hand would you rather 3 bet with?

Against standard TAG:

75s > A2s > 88 > KJo

KJo: if I hit a pair and get c/r ai I'm almost always behind
88: much rather take a flop
A2s: decent equity if checked down, but hitting an ace is bad
75s: will be confident if i hit a flop

Against tricky TAG who plays back in RR pots

KJo > 88 > A2s > 75s

KJo: my pair will be good enough if I get it in
88: will be ahead sometimes when c/r ai, although I would rather take a flop most of the time
A2s: my ace will be good sometimes
75s: I'm going to be getting played back at too much to be profitable

In position 88 > KJ > A2s > 75s; my reasoning is probably a repeat of what other people have said: I want to be able to induce bluffs in some form on later streets, so I want immediate showdown value because I'm going to be c-betting less IP then OOP in a 3-bet pot, so ship some showdown value and 88 has it immediately and KJ can make big pairs.

OOP I'm not really sure, I'll say one thing, I guess I'd rather play draws (even gutshot straight draws, etc) much faster from OOP than IP, because of that, perhaps 57s goes up in value and 88 goes down because 7/8 of the time you're going to be in limbo on the flop, is J 9 X going to be a bet-call with 88? Stuff is so opponent specific and often will put you in a sticky spot with two eights. I feel like A2s goes down a lot in value OOP, but I guess really you can just go into bluff inducing mode with an ace if you hit top pair crappy kicker.

I dunno I guess that's what I think prolly nothing new..

If it's not even close then how come all of the respected high stakes posters here have different opinions?

because they are dumb spewmonkeys

can u explain more plz?

i'm pretty sure they mean that when we 3-bet often times it's hands that are monsters for value 99+ AQ+ and then hands like 56s and 87o and [censored] for deception; people are likely to 3-bet hands that can't be dominated (ala that infamous em2 v samo QJo three betting thread).. however, when we get into 3-bet pots we suddenly want something like KJ that we don't like to 3-bet int he first place, because it has showdown value and can make bigger pairs than 45s or whatever.

57>A2>88>KJ

Can somebody please explain the fascination with A2s? What are you seeking to flop with it? When do you feel comfortable getting all in? In my view it's a clear last of the 4 choices, but some people put it as high as 2nd best.