blinds are $2/$3, but most of the stacks at the table are big and we agreed that everyone would straddle for $6 on their turn.
Stacks
UTG $350 (I'm using this designation for the person after the straddler)
MP $900
Hero (in the BB) $700
Reads
UTG - I nicknamed her Donna the Donkey. That wasn't a pony tail she was wearing. She was betting very aggressively, but was out of line with her hand value most of the time. I took her stack earlier when I had AK, hit the K on the flop and bet. She raised $100 and I pushed knowing that she was making this move a lot. She called with KQ and shipped $300.
MP - Playing tight - 2nd tightest at the table, aggressive and not showing down any hands.
Preflop
Hero has QQ
UTG raises to $30
MP raises to $120
I'm not worried by UTG at all, but the 3-bet from MP is something I haven't seen from him in the 3 hours I had been at the table. Donkey is already stacking her chips for what looks like a call.
I mucked figuring his typical range for this raise was probably QQ+, AK and I only have $3 invested and there were probably better spots to play a big pot. What I couldn't figure out how to do is adjust MP's range based on the presence of the donkey. The way she was playing, who wouldn't want to raise to isolate?
My other options:
Shove all-in: Spewtastic as he only calls with AA and KK and folds the hands I'm beating and even the donkey can get away from this.
Raise half of the pot: After my call of $120, the pot would be $270, so I would have to commit 1/3 of my stack ($255). The donkey is the X-factor here, because she is likely to shove if I commit that much of her stack and she hadn't exactly been folding a lot of hands. This can work in my favor if her shove makes him fold, but if he smooth calls, I've got half my stack in with the potential of a difficult decision coming on the flop.
Min-raise another $90 to $210. This wouldn't scare the donkey as she would probably think that she gains fold equity with a shove, but it might scare MP who knows the betting is still open behind him, but I don't think he can fold KK or AK to a raise this small, so my ability to continue is going to depend on the flop. He may, however, call this bet with lesser holdings based on the price he is getting.
My question: Is a small raise in this situation +EV?
Spoiler
