Couple of spots, where I bleeded money with AQ in the blinds.. is it too bad?

HAND 1

5-handed, 1/3: UTG short-stacked young guy raises $12, 2 callers, Hero ($600) covers everyone with a good image and 3bets to $55 OTB with AQo to pick up the dead money and go HU vs shorty UTG if he calls, UTG calls, LP fish calls

Flop ($180): K63r
Great flop.. Hero bets $70, UTG tank-shoves $100, LP fish calls, Hero calls for pot-odds

Turn ($480): 2r
Hero checks, Other guy moves all-in for $300, Hero folds

River is an Ace.. UTG shows 88, Other guy tables 45o for the LOL straight and wins.. If he doesn't hit OTT, I would win it all..

HAND 2

10-handed, 1/3: 4 limpers, CO ($220) who's raising/playing every hand raises to $13 which is a sizing tell (weak, some suited cards) from him, BTN whale calls, Hero raises to $53 in SB with AQdd, CO calls.. I had 3b another small open from him few hands ago and floated him in a hand earlier which he bluffcaught me OTT and OTR to double up so figured he was getting sticky/non-believing here again..

Flop ($130): T62ss
Hero bets $80, V tank-shoves $205, Hero folds.. V says he had QT



Based on the spoiler, should we be playing AQ for postflop value rather than squeezing constantly?

You made (likely) profitable squeezes pre, and (likely) profitable c-bets, just so happens you got out-flopped. You can consider giving up in both spots but I mean, in the long run you're probably making money. I wouldn't expect 8's to call us off OTF given our 3! range, just bad variance to run into somebody who isn't folding there.

That's relieving to hear.. I just thought both the boards were perfect to cbet so didn't want to give up that easily.. it's amazing how they correctly believe me when I actually have it and fold if I had AA in these spots, but move in over me when I have Ace high lol..

If opponents are sticky postflop then I really hate 3-betting AQ. Too many times we miss and we get stuck OOP with ace high. Firing multiple barrels against bad calling stations is a recipe for spewing sway all your money. Also, many opponents at low stakes are only raising JJ+ and AK, so AQ really doesn't do well against these tight opening ranges.

You have such an edge postflop against bad opponents that I really wouldn't want to create such low SPR's. AQ in heads up or 3 way pots can make a lot of money from opponents playing RIO dominated hands. Plus, you should be good enough to get away from it on bad board textures or your opponents bet sizing tells.

They were potentially going atleast 4-way in both hands if you notice. And we'd be first to act everytime.

In both spots ranges were very wide to the table to whereas you could 3! AQ for value IMO. Calling off 8's on a king high board in a 3! pot is honestly just bad, because AQ is likely the only hand he's beating.

And I mean cmon, you got a guy to put in 1/5th of his stack with QT. Do you think he's folding if a Q peels the flop? No, you stack him. And if he misses his T? You take down the pot with your cbet.

It's important to note that this should really be obvious that you did nothing wrong. To be a good poker player you can't question what you know are correct plays just because they don't work (every play should only work X% of the time). If you're being results oriented it's going to effect your game in a negative manner.

Squeeze in hand 1 is close. Most villains don't open up their raising range shorthanded, so I don't really care that much that y'all were 5 handed at the time.

I'm normally willing to give up on the flop when a 3 bet gets called twice, but you flopped so well that if you're not going to cbet that flop, you literally should never cbet air 3 way. So, IDK, both decisions ok, not in love with either.

Hand 2 I like the 3 bet for sure, but given the board and the fact that you think he's going to call bs on you, I don't like the cbet. In a vacuum I fire, but given the history I think it's a mistake.

Mainly just run bad in some marginal spots. If somebody came along stomping their foot insisting all 4 of your decisions were standard, I wouldn't put up much of a fight.

Bet folding the flop on hand 2 is terrible. If you bet, you absolutely must call off when villain shoves there. And, if you have to call off with Ace high then you might as well bet pot+ to put maximum pressure on villain to fold his one pair type hands.

It has nothing to do with them believing you. They're playing their cards. they can't always hit top pair when you have Aces.

Hand 1: Need to be aware of stack sizes. I prefer a smaller 3-bet pre with AQ (@$40-$45) and can c-bet smaller (50-60) on these type of board textures given most likely didn't hit their range. Normally wouldn't be betting AK or AA in this spot though....not taking into consideration balancing since V's most likely not paying attention. In low stakes, much better going for value rather than trying to push V's around. Fish at low stakes are bad bc they call too often.

Hand 2: You have a laggy bluffy image at this point....you just got caught and seems as if you've been caught a few times already. Slow down on flop after you miss and check...change gears and wait for opportunities to get paid off. 3 bet smaller pre as well.

You're only 3x-ing the initial raise OOP? That too given 2 limpers? I might be tempted to do that with AA, but with AQ/AQ/KK-, why should we give our opponents such a fantastic price to call?

My standard 3bet sizing is 4x+1 in the blinds, so ideally I should be making it $72 in the spot. $55 is still little, no?

I believe your 3 bet sizing is too large...don't be afraid to play pots post flop even OOP...that's where a thinking player's edge should come out. Playing 1/3nl you're basically going to be playing for stacks every hand you 3 bet if that's the case and AQ isn't a hand I want to be doing this with...especially against stacks in the 60-120BB range.

So let's break it down...your goal pre is to isolate 1 weak villain and we've established that you're range is most likely ahead of both villain's at this spot (except for pocket pairs). If you only had V1 UTG to worry about then I like your 3b sizing considering stacks because it sets you up for an easy shove on flop pretty much regardless what comes out and you still have plenty of fold equity. The issue in this hand is you still have LP to worry about who's sitting on 150BB...and generally will always be calling a 3 bet if V1 calls (as shown with 45o) and generally folding if V2 folds.

On the flop, V1 has already put 1/3 of his stack in. He is now essentially continuing with any pair on this flop...which pocket pairs make up a large majority of. I actually advocate checking here. If you had 3 bet to $35 pre and lead $40-$45 on this flop...either villain can only continue with the same range previously stated on K63r (which is a pretty dry flop). A small bet achieves the same thing as a large bet IMO and I don't expect low stakes villains to make big folds either. So in general, if I had 3 bet $55 pre in the same scenario, I'm checking flop. If you had 3 bet to $35-$40...you could still get the same info without risking a large amount of chips and committing yourself. As a side note, generally V1's range is going to be high cards or pairs in this spot (V2 somewhat unknown)....Kx makes a large part of this range as well as Ax, Qx, which you shouldn't be worried about since you have blockers making you about an 88% favorite to Ax,Qx.

You're only going to hit the flop roughly 34% of the time and you're OOP....it's what makes AQ a difficult hand to play in these spots. Saving money is making money in poker. Your plan was to isolate one player, it didn't work so plan B needs to be put in motion.

Other alternative lines that I like better than betting $70 on flop (although higher variance than checking):

1. If you're going to bet....put V1 all-in...or
2. Bet small enough so that you can re-raise all-in to isolate V1.

Both of these lines look much stronger and more likely to get a fold from V2 which is what you'd like to accomplish.

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i'm sure some will disagree, but i have never liked 3 betting AQ at this level with out a read. i like it more in hand #2 than in #1.

Loot, I felt like I fully explained everything in my comment so not going to go through what was stated again.

1. No I'm not looking to flip a coin with AQ in cash games (reason for 3 betting smaller when you hold premium cards vs. marginal hands...value is achieved post flop with these type of hands)...although I don't mind it when I'm heads up against a player I feel has marginal holdings for only 50BB. In general, I'm trying to exploit weaker players tendencies. Old cardinal rule....gamble less with weaker players and you'll have to gamble more with better players.

2. Yes...because if V1 calls, then V2 will nearly always feel he has to make the call due to pot odds. Going $20 more will not discourage a call when he closes the action in a multi-way pot.

3. The flop was not awesome for reasons I explained already. V already put 1/3rd of his stack in. Pretty much any bet pot commits you. He has 1/3 his stack in there...he's not going to fear you when he has 2nd pair. Any hand that you're ahead of on the flop, you're way ahead anyways....and yes as you stated...people don't fold easily in 1/3nl.

Good luck to you