Taking some shots at 2/5. Maybe overthinking these hands.

Hand 1

2/5

V is 20´s white guy. Loose, makes silly little raises pf on the button. Has ok sizing postflop. Nothing special. Kind of expect he has a tight 3! range, not going to get out of line post flop or when the big bets come out pre. Only hand I remember he completed in BB 97o straddled pot. Flop JT8, checked around. Turn Q, he c/r, older guy shoved 150BB he looked sick and tanked for like 15sec and then called. Old guy had JT. Lost a moderate pot with set over set against a short stack and after made a comment about how he should have left after he won the big pot. Covers.

Hero has been playing basically folding for 2 hrs. Played two hands and won big pots without showing. Super snug image. $1100

Couple of limpers, V makes it $30, folded to hero with QQ who makes it $110, folded back to V who 4! to $225, hero calls.

($470ish) Flop: 943

V shoves, hero talks to V for a bit and then folds.

**A 4 bet with chips behind against the tightest player at the table should always be KK+, right? Any point in talking to him here? If so, what should say/ask him?

Hand 2

2/5 Next day.

V is a 2/5 reg. Aggressive and not afraid to throw chips out there. Definitely going after orphan pots. Loose pre. Despite the HH here I think he plays decently post flop. With 250BB effective saw him CC a 4xbb UTG raise in EP with J9s. Another hand saw him open AJ UTG $25, two caller, flop: J86 he bet $75, got two callers. Turn: 8 and he shoves for a bit more than PSB. Covers

Hero has been playing snug. $400ish

UTG straddles, Hero opens QQ UTG+2 to $40, folded around to V in SB who makes it $140, hero calls. V checks blind.

*I think AK is in his 3! range pf but I´m not 100% sure.

($290)Flop: J56

Checked to hero who doesn´t exactly love his hand but shoves anyway.

**V checking blind is a huge tell that he has a big PP, no? An aggro player like this would want to keep his options open with AK I think. Not getting called by a worse hand except for AK. What about check ing this flop to see what he does on the turn? Or am I already committed given I have less than a PSB behind?

How deep is Villain in hand 1?

If not like > ~$700 deep, then just fold it pre.


~~

Hand 2 Checking blind as the preflop aggressor with pot-size-bet left seems like a big pair - but doesn't matter.. with what is effectively 40 bb in this hand, I am just sticking it in pre against this villain - and stacking off on this flop as played.

Sir (pause for effect) I have a big decision to make here (pause again) can I see your hand?

I've lost something close to the GDP of a 3rd world country recently with QQ (the devils hand) so I'm illqualified to comment further.

cAQQisthenewJJimoAm

Maybe spend less time looking for "tells" and more time looking at 3bets and 4bets from players who don't do it a lot. I mean, what is hand 1 anyway? Why are you calling the 4bet and folding on the dream flop?

V covers (kinda hidden in description I admit).

Set farming. And, occasionally I can take the pot away if an ace flops and he doesn´t have one. Thanks for the encouragement Kuya!

Snap folding to the 4b pre. Also, kinda ridiculous to call the 4bet and fold on this flop. But you're never ahead otf. Save yourself $100 and fold to the 4b.

check back n try showdown in hand 2. Your read of him x'ing ITD is likely AA exclusively. If not, we now lose to JJ.

If I'm not willing to continue post flop with the QQ in the first hand when facing heat I probably just fold to the 4bet, but I also make a tad smaller 3bet.

Second hand is all in pre.

10.5:1 implied odds and position is not enough to set farm here against a probable KK+?

Hand 1 I feel you were almost priced in to calling his 4 bet even though you correctly surmised you were behind. Paying an extra $100 to see a flop and if you hit a queen getting your stack in, and if not just folding, doesn't seem like the worst idea. Losing money in the long run with this strategy but if you were confident in your read I personally couldn't see not calling and seeing a flop. Best option is to decide if your beat or not from his 4bet, which is likely, and letting it go.

Hand 2 I play the same way. After he checks your only real option is to ship or give him a potential free draw at the turn and check it back. Checking dark after 3 betting someone should raise alarm bells but we have to go with our hand.

if his range is {KK+}, and that's what you're doing then you have to fold to any bet on any board that doesnt have a Q

hand 2 is too shallow, just gii pre

Hand 1, great. Hand 2, ES is 80bb so I'd ship preflop rather than flat.

Hand 1: you're close to the right price to set mine. Three bet sizing is big, and given that this is shaping up to be HU, I don't hate flat call, see a flop in position. I know QQ is premium, but if we 3!, worse hands fold, better hands re pop, maximizing value isn't always clear. And, I kind of break the PP in the following groups: 22-JJ: small pairs; QQ: medium pair; KK & AA: big pairs. So, with a medium pair, the big three bet doesn't resonate for me.
I'd consider flat call or 3! to $75 or so.
As played, I call the pre flop, fold OTF to the shove.

Hand 2: in my experience, when a player 3! PF, then checks in the dark, that's doesn't mean AA or KK. Big raise from the blinds and ship it pre flop dark? Big hand. That play is AA, KK or AK.
Check in the dark? I've not seen this often and have trouble thinking it's always/ usually AA or KK. So I think QQ is in a good spot on this flop, and ship is fine. I don't want to check behind and see A or K roll off.

Hand 1 is the kind of hand that can keep you up at night. It feels gross, but you can give yourself permission to fold to the 4! If it's bad, it's not the worst error ever. Your image may not be as important as the fact that it's a 4! If you're going to talk yourself into a set mine, I'd stick to 15x for pure set mine. AP, I'd fold to shove.

Hand 2, 80bb straddle makes it 40bb, I'm always getting it in pre here, and feeling sick when they turn over the goods.

How is QQ a medium pair?

I fold to the 4bet in hand 1 if we're going to fold the flop without a set. I think it's an easy fold really. If we'd 3! smaller, we can call a min 4! but I think your raise size makes for a better SPR.

Hand 2, vs. a loose-aggressive preflop player, I ship 80bb pre with QQ. Makes it so much easier to play and he can't freeroll us on K or A high flops. As played, I just ship it. We're committed, we have an overpair and there is like one card that we really want to see on the turn vs. about half the deck that we hate.

Guy could show me AA in hand 1 and I am thrilled to call his 4 bet. The math for set mining is not even borderline in this hand, it is a clear call.

.122 flop at least 1 Q vs overpair, .814 equity against aa, kk when flop at least 1 Q, yields EV
.878 * -$115 +. 122 *. 814 * $1220 +.122 *.186 * - $990 = - $2

The EV is going to be hurt by our action being cooled on certain Qxx flops more than it will be helped when we correctly abandon ship on flops such as aqx. So a pure set mine is a very slight no.

However, I concede my advice was probably too nitty.

H1) Folding to the 4b is atrocious. There's 10+110+225=345 in the pot and its 115 to call, with 875 behind. Plenty good enough to play. FFS, You could win the pot unimproved on an A-high flop, lulz.

H2) if you're going to stack off anyway, take a line that allows V to keep putting $$$ in with hands u beat.

Lol what. Coz people 4b 86s here...

^ I think he thinks the 4-bettor would check/surrender with KK. I don't see any chance of that happening but that's what he means.

I like the way hand 1 was played. We're getting the correct odds to set mine as long as villain's 4b pre/cbet flop range is KK+. We can represent an ace when it flops. Folding to a min 4b would be bad for our image.

Hand 2 seems like an easy shove pre/gii on the flop as played with the information provided.

It's a hand I'll fold pre flop depending on the action. It's a hand I don't want to 4! Or call a 4! Except in very rare spots against the right Vs.
it's a hand where, if your opponent gives action, you can't be sure you're in good shape pre flop, and you still have to dodge an A or K post flop.
Given that so many 1/2 players will call raises with hands like KJo or AJo or KQo, and of course, they are never folding AK, when an over card flops, QQ has to be cautious.
I love QQ. I'd be happy to be dealt queens every hand. But I treat them like a medium pair bc queens dry up fast in a lot of situations. Against the right V, and eff stacks, I'm happy to GII pre flop w QQ.
I like to open raise w QQ, but not always a huge fan of 3! QQ. Or 4! QQ.

Yikes, QQ is a premium hand and one of the biggest sources of our profit.

What you say is correct, but it's just not a middle pair. JJ+ is simply a high pair. Also,

H1 seems like the perfect spot to do this.