Hey guys. So we are in the final 4 of one of Bovada's $2k Guarantee. 341 entrants. Theres been a lot of action this final table and we are sitting 3rd in chips. The villain in this hand has been opening a ton of hands. I would approximate since we've been to 4 handed he's opened close to 50% of hands.

Table image: So i had been extremely chatty with Villain and the guy 2nd in chips. They were nice guys talking about random things like craft beers. I was using it to my advantage to getting friendly with them. Villain knows the only thing I'm going for is 1st place. I've said it a few times and he's seen me raise and continuation bet a lot of hands. About 10 hands earlier, he had cracked my AA in a huge pot. So that's the only thing he's really seen me play as we've been short handed. So I'd say my image is aggressive/smart player as he picked up on this and mentioned it in chat when we were about 7 handed.

Looking for some feedback as to what you would do here:

Buyin: $10+1 Table Name: 5876220 - $2,000 Guaranteed (DS)
Blinds: 4000/8000 Ante: 800

Effective Stacks:
Villain: 387,816
Hero: 235,106
SB: 257,574
BB: 142,504

SB Posts Blind: 4000
BB Post Blind: 8000
UTG Villain Raises: 24,000
Dealer [ME] A J ???

My apologies if the hand history is bad, still trying to figure out how to convert from Bovada. I'm on a Mac so acepokersolutions doesn't seem to run on my computer.

What's your move here? Flat? 3bet? Shove? Interested to see everyone's point of views.

Stacks of other two? Your image? Is 3x villains normal sizing?

sb&bb stacks and reads? villain seems like a loose player so if you 3bet he can 4betshove many hands and you will be forced to fold a strong one, without sb&bb reads i prefer to flat and play IP against a worse range

didnt notice he 3x'd, i think im still flatting here

Hey Puzo, just edited the original post with stack sizes and image. This is the normal raising size for villain. He always 3x'd it.

How he reacts to 3bets is pretty good information in this spot, and being in the last 4 and having been chatty, you must have some idea. I'm actually okay with both options (I don't think folding is an option). The fact that he opens his entire range to 3x makes me lean towards a 3bet, but this would obv depend on how V reacts to 3bets and how much we've been 3betting.

Whats your 3b %? If he's opening 50% pretty easy 3bet here and I go larger on it (65k or so) since your only 30bb effective. Calling if he 4bet shoves as I think you will see worse Ax Kx hands here and mid/small pairs. Flatting 4-way here sucks with sb and bb having perfect stack sizes to squeeze. Calling any shoves pre and if villain flats your 3b pre your ip otf and your hand will be pretty easily played as he will open check often and you can just jam alot of flops.

Hey Dr. No one has really 3bet him almost at all. The guy 2nd in chips has flatted his 3x raise a few times. The guy 2nd in chips had also 3bet shoved with about a 120k stack and the villain had snapped it off with AQo. The other guy had AK. Other than that, he really hasn't been challenged at all on his 3bets. I never had a decent range to be 3betting him for the entire FT until this point.

It was a pretty passive table. My 3bet % is very low at this point. Small stack has been open shoving and 3bet open shoving a lot and the hands that he's not the big stack has been opening. I've 3bet shoved twice while 4 handed which helped build my stack back up (both times original raiser folded to my 3bet). Very small sample size obviously, but my 3bets have been respected so far.

~5600\ c

Does this mean you'd raise to 56,000 and call a shove?

There's no reason to three bet. He shoves and you have to fold, especially with a guy 10 BB more shallow than you. Save the first or last stuff for Talladega, ignoring ICM considerations will be nothing but a hindrance to you.

AhJh is also super easy to play from position. What advantage are you gaining by 3 betting? You're keeping all his better hands in and pushing the worse ones out.

The interesting question is if you call and the short stack shoves and the villain folds, would you have called?

"No reason to 3bet"???? We are 3betting for value here, as there are only two reasons to 3b and its not a bluff vs his range......your post makes no sense.

If you're the best player at the table then you should definitely flat. A 3x raise is plenty of value, and him shoving is never that great. If you're one of the two worst players at the table, then you should raise more thinly for value, increase variance, and pray to run good.

Obviously you're ahead of his raising range...but why put a 1/6 of your stack in?

Plus, you'll be getting more negative EV shoves from the short stack that you can call if the villain does not.

Plus if it's true that all you've turned over is AA then you're probably culling out a lot of hands you'd like him to call with.

.... plus AJ is a strong hand four handed plus we have just under 30bb.... is why I said what I said.

But because I've been getting leveled at so many angles here I think I might just stand to be corrected which is a good thing.

Leaning towards flatting. I'm not sure how happy i'd be getting it in here for 30 BB's with AJo. Plus we have position. I'd also then be prepared to gii against a squeeze from either of the blinds, but by the description given from OP it doesn't sound like that should be a major consideration.

Though it is a close decision.

Might be more inclined to 3b over a min-raise, but a 3x open changes the way i play this hand with a 30 BB stack.

If you did end up 3betting - and those that have chimed in so far thank you! What would you do vs. a shove from either of the blinds, a shove from the original opener and if they flatted, would you continuation bet regardless of board texture?

I could see flatting here if we were deeper but this is 30bb 4 handed play, 3b and get it in vs. the lag. Im not a big fan of having a call/fold plan pre flop 4 handed.

If your 3betting you have to do it with the intention of calling, having a plan to 3b fold a 30bb stack here is just bad. I could see a fold here if you flatted, and sb/bb jammed and villain called but otherwise you need to get it in with anyone. It sounds like the BB knows how to play a short stack so thats an insta snap, calling sb shove would be read dependant if hes been passive then his 4b shoving range is probably not that wide. I might peel the flop multi handed since we have position depending on board texture if you 3b and get multiple calls.

Thanks for all of the responses. As played, I did end up 3betting. I 3bet way too much looking back on it. Make it about ~72k effectively. He shoved over the top and I knew that if I 3bet I had to do it with the plan on calling a shove. I did and he had AK which is absolutely the nut top of his range. Ended up going out in 4th. But like Mountain said, I can't 3bet here with the intention of folding. With his aggressive style, AJo was still way ahead of his range here. Thanks for all of the input.