1/2 NL. Table is playing reasonably. In general raises are being respected. PF raises are thinning the field to 3 handed or so in the average pot.

Both Villains are generally what I would classify as TAG. Have seen both push their middle pairs and AK hands pretty hard when they don't improve but reasonably solid players.

We have been playing for 4 or 5 hours. I have been a little card dead and since the table has been tighter than most games at this cardroom, I have taken to playing more than my share of suited gappers and connector type hands in position mostly taking small pots at showdown. I have also made a couple of hero calls on the river in which my reads were dead on. I think my image at this table is probably a bit laggy but I am only showing a small profit for the session.

Villain 1 UTG+1 ($240)
Villain 2 MP ($350)
Hero Button ($300)

UTG limps
V1 raises to 15.
V2 flats
Hero on button with AQ Flats
UTG folds

Pot: $45

Flop: AQ8

V1 checks
V2 bets $55

Hero?

I was in the same situation a while ago, and you have to consider what your villain's pot-betting range is.

He seems afraid of the draw and likely has 88, AQ, QQ, or A8s. Maybe AK. I doubt they bet draws this heavily.

There are 6 combos of 88, 1 of QQ that beat you. You chop with 4 combos of AQ. You beat 2 combos of A8s. Whether AK is in his range is HUGE, as that is another 8 combos you have beaten.

Tough spot. Raising for value is difficult because I am not sure if we gain value from enough hands in his range. Folding is just out of the question. Flatting flop and evaluating turn seems like a good course of action. You want a spade to hit to slow down the action, as playing for stacks here is a bit gross.

Hero flats, ships any non-spade turn. Or you can ship now to make it look like spades, as villain is obv. scared by them.

Any background on the ranges?? What is range of villian 2?

I'd put v1 on KK or lesser pair. He is likely out and you are a 2 horse race. v2 bets his draw here, but what did he flat with? Kx

As previous poster stated, you need to know what is happening now and it feels like you are currently leading with no more information.

He bets his draw 125% of pot? I do not believe so.

He has some sort of made hand, and could be overplaying AK if hero thinks villain is capable of flatting with it.

From previous play, PF I put V1 likely on 6-6 thru AA +AK with a smallish (say 10% chance) he is making an early position raise to show extra strength with a hand like QJ, TJ etc. and V2 on 2-2 thru QQ + AK, AQ and to a lesser extent but possibly KQs, KJs. KK I am not sure about but I think he repops it preflop with both AA and KK. While he could flat here with those hands, I think it is unlikely for this Villain.

FWIW, I have taken V1s check OTF to be weakness and am not too worried about him. I consider wheterh he could have a hand like 8-8 and be looking to trap both V1 and myself but I genuinely think he surrendered.

Playing for stacks here 150 bbs deep is difficult, especially when we can usually rule out draws from the villain's range. He has a hand worth protecting, the million dollar question is if he feels that AK is worth protecting.

lol i am not looking to fold here. i would flat and look to get it in on the turn when a non-spade comes and he bets big again.

This was one thought however I actually consider shipping a spade as well if V1 folds since it really looks like V2 doesn't like the spades. I don't think he ever semi-bluffs this spot with this bet. I still include in V1's range the less likely holdings of JT or KJ although he probable cbets those.

Mind PMing me the spoiler?

don't think its a draw as well, his bet looks like he doesn't want you to draw or has a really strong hand and why semi-bluff with as much as 125% pot bet. Surely a small enough semi-bluff would get a good range of hands to fold.

So would agree with calling the bet and re-evaluating on turn dependent on what hits and his actions. Feels too deep to be playing for stacks.

Still thinking through this.

I keep getting stuck on the fact that V2 flats Pre flop here. It feels more like a wired pair. He got the weakness from V1 too and is acting accordingly. (KK, 88, and still believe a semi-bluff here with FD is in range without more insight from the OP)

The only other possibility is I put V2 on an identical hand as Hero.

8-8 is the hand that scared me.
AK is a big part of villains range.

To a lesser extent, JJ and TT. Possibly Villain puts me on a draw and has same read on V1 as I do... unimproved middle pair. In which case JJ, TT, AK are all hands he could make this play with that I beat. And yes if he also has AQ.

I discount QQ only because I can account for two of the queens still possible though. I know he re-pops AA in middle position and largely believe he does the same with KK.

Semi-bluff is out IMO. It would have to be KJs which I think is out of or the bottom of his calling range in MP and if he had a flush draw with the gutter, I think he checks or makes a middling sized semi bluff bet. I also think Villain puts ME on a fairly wide range.

Results?

We're never folding, but if we raise and he ships fairly quickly then our hand looks a million times weaker but we've pretty much committed ourselves at that point. Also it looks super strong to raise an overbet so he might fold AJ, AT, etc. A8s and Q8s while probably in his range are most likely not a significant part since they're playing TAG.

Flop is an easy flat. If he checks turn to you then checking behind to go for bigger/more-likely-to-be-called value on the river is a possibility but betting is fine to. If a spade hits on any street and he shuts down then bet big and bluff him off his 88.

(that last part was a joke. kind of.)

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

You can say that again

I wasn't happy with my play here because I really didn't give proper consideration at the time. I was a bit surprised by the strong bet after flopping what first seemed like a great hand and I let myself be convinced he had AK and thought if he bets strong on the turn I will be in the same spot so...

I re-raised to $150 pretty much committing myself. He put the rest in and showed Q-Q so I was dead to an Ace or running spades which didn't come.

I got to thinking about an interesting twist.

What if flop was 8 Q A with the same action?

you're never folding - even if its the cooler. calling and jamming if turn is a spade sounds sexy since villain never has a flush draw with an overbet on flop, and if villain is so passive with QQ he might fold set. I expected 88 there much more often though.