PokerStars - $0.05 NL - Holdem - 9 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

MP: 100.4 BB (VPIP: 20.31, PFR: 7.03, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 129)
MP+1: 37.4 BB (VPIP: 23.08, PFR: 23.08, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 13)
Hero (MP+2): 106 BB
CO: 100 BB (VPIP: 11.25, PFR: 6.25, 3Bet Preflop: 3.13, Hands: 80)
BTN: 111.2 BB (VPIP: 27.55, PFR: 21.43, 3Bet Preflop: 8.11, Hands: 102)
SB: 69 BB (VPIP: 50.00, PFR: 16.67, 3Bet Preflop: 0.00, Hands: 6)
BB: 100 BB
UTG: 204.6 BB (VPIP: 23.81, PFR: 23.81, 3Bet Preflop: 19.23, Hands: 63)
UTG+1: 105.2 BB (VPIP: 18.52, PFR: 15.74, 3Bet Preflop: 4.26, Hands: 110)

SB posts SB 0.4 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 1.4 BB) Hero has Q Q

UTG raises to 3 BB, fold, fold, fold, Hero raises to 9.2 BB, fold, BTN calls 9.2 BB, SB calls 8.8 BB, fold, UTG calls 6.2 BB

Flop: (37.8 BB, 4 players) 3 3 9
SB checks, UTG checks, Hero bets 20 BB, BTN raises to 102 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, Hero calls 76.8 BB and is all-in

Turn: (231.4 BB, 2 players) A

River: (231.4 BB, 2 players) 2

On the flop, betting my QQ for value seemed obvious given that it rated to be the best hand and with a draw I didn't want to give free cards.

When faced with a shove I tried to put Villain on a range. Villain had LAG stats so their range is wider.
- AA/KK were excluded because they'd likely 4-bet pre.
- 33 was unlikely to take this line on the flop. Why not let me keep betting and/or hit a flush? With quads it's usually best to slowplay.
- 99 was a possibility too if Villain thought I wouldn't put more money in the pot if a scary card comes (flush). Given that I'd 3-bet pre I could definitely go broke here from their perspective.
- TT-JJ also likely to be in their range. Those would probably not 4-bet pre versus a tight opponent. But would a LAG go crazy by shoving? Maybe
- Lower pairs who lost their mind? Not very likely.
- Flush draw semi-bluff. This was definitely possible.

Anyway, what do you think? Based on the range above, it seemed to me that a call was good.

I'm calling there too and pretty happy about it. Flush draws, A9, JJ and TT all seem likely.
Only losing to A3, 99 and a KK or AA that did not 4 bet which

Maybe you could 3b a tiny bit more pre and bet the flop bigger, but yeah you can't get away from this

I don't really understand why we would 3-bet more than 3x pre. Especially since we are 3-betting an UTG raise. What would the goal be there?

As for the flop, I understand it a bit better. The flop bet was for value and thus by betting larger we may get more value. We may also discourage semi-bluffs that might put us on weird spots, as it happened. On the other hand, by betting more, some of the hands in Villain's range may choose to fold instead (mid-pairs for example).

@rossc: That was kind of my thinking. Didn't think the nut hands would play this way and KK/AA would probably 3-bet so I felt good about my hand being best.

3bet pre more for value and because you want to give them slightly worse odds for setmining. Especially vs UTG that is looser than your average player QQ is an easy value raise, he can call with quite a few worse hands I think.

Call is 100% fine though and you already explained why. He's gonna have 99, 33, AA, KK here sometimes but he can def have weaker hands as well (seen plenty of people go crazy here with smaller pp, TT/JJ/flushdraws is definitely also an option), lone 3 seems unlikely (he's loose but A3s, which are only 2 combo's even if we count them, overcalling a 3bet? meh).

Cool. Thanks for the clarification. If UTG is looser than usual that definitely makes sense.

The only point I see against it is that people tend to 4-bet more often when they are OOP precisely to avoid playing a hand that way and in that case if we 3-bet bigger we will have more chips invested and a bigger decision to make. JJ/QQ should probably fold to an UTG 4-bet in that situation.

Versus a nit flatting an UTG raise might be better than 3-betting since in some cases WE are the ones set mining.

I still think he'll call with more of his range than he'll 4bet, so 3betting seems fine to me. Wether to fold to the 4b will depend on his 4betting stats but that's probably gonna be tough with only 63 hands, but probably fold yeah.

Versus a 12/9 type nit I'm sometimes flatting QQ indeed, but it depends on the rest of the table as well. If there's some whales or superfish around we still wanna raise it up for value against them.