Still not following how this guy is supposedly a decent/experienced winning player and opens UTG for 3bb. His 5-bet reeks of something but I'm not convinced it's AA after opening only 3bb. That's such an atrocious sizing especially UTG.

Yeah I know, I just said it to point out I'm not considered a nit/tight player, I mix it up.

It's pretty standard, normal raise size, especially online. Live maybe it's "small" but you can make a case for plenty of opening raise sizes, there is no one good answer.

Also, should he open 5bbs with Aces and 3bbs with weaker hands? Shouldn't he open for 33bbs at all? I don't understand this.

I don't see what's results oriented about flatting the 3bet. It's an UTG open and an UTG+1 4x 3bet. Our value range here is exactly KK+ and I'd rather just take an exploitative line and flat KK and see what happens after.

We can still backraise 5b if UTG decides to 4b and UTG+1 flats or folds. If UTG doesn't 4b then we play a 3-way pot IP with the second best starting hand that is also severely underrepped. Sounds like a pretty good outcome to me. Coolering QQ/JJ on favorable flops is also a pretty sweet outcome as well.

FWIW - I'm seeing many people open their entire range for 3x at a 2/5 game in 2019. I wouldn't look to deep into the sizing as any sort of weakness tell.

Completely agree that at 2/5 a 3x open is normal and can be a fine sizing. I didn’t see the stakes mentioned here and assumed 1/2 or 1/3. At those games raising to $6 or $9 (respectively) UTG with a premium is not a winning play in my experience. Especially with deep effective stacks.

I think it's a winning play, just maybe not the most profitable.