Reads
Villain: Had just sat down, unknown. 40+ years old. Right before he took his seat one guy had warned everyone lol that villain was a "grinder" and "plays serious poker."

Effective Stacks: 370

$1/3 NL - 10 players - $300 max

Villian (UTG) covers
Hero (MP) $360
V2 (MP+1) covers

Hero is dealt QQ

Villian limps, folds to Hero who raises to 18, V2 calls. Villian 3bets to 68. Hero??

Meh, I fold...

I would probably shove and i would expect a call with atc, this because i have seen this play too many times by grinders that just sat down.

It is a win/win situation for villain...

atc have a 20% equity against QQ, however regardless whether he win or loose he will be called down with marginal hands for the rest of the session,

Does smell like a squeeze to me. An unknown limp, 3 betting UTG? Smells like a suited connector/gapper to me. I'd punish in this spot and min raise to $136 so that he's more likely to call with his ATC. He could have AK also as I've seen this similar scenario a few times with this holding. Really depends upon how confident you are in your post flop play.

This is a pretty trivial fold. l/rr UTG when there is not a waterfall of callers would be a pretty dumb spot to make a play and a competent grinder will realize that. If this werent a premium hand i would be shocked. That being said, there arent too many competent grinders going for a l/rr with AA anymore but..... Again, he just sat down, you only have $18 invested with no dead money in the pot...just wait till you have some reads imo.

lol sorry just saw the V2 calls part...yea it could obv be a squeeze. Calling is ok but i still think we can more profitably wait for reads...

Is this an "lol" villain is a grinder and plays serious poker as in "lol, he's crazy and loose"? If so, I'd re-raise. (Wasn't sure from the OP what "lol" meant.)

You have no read on the guy. Give him the $18 and move on.

This is $1/$3; why playing guessing games when a solid but simple game will make money ?

Odd coincidence : last week I started a $1/$2 up close to $300 when the first hand I was dealt was AA and a "serious" regular was too stubborn to laydown QQ.

Villian comes in UTG as a reg grinder? I would think he would wait to come in after the button if he were a thinking player. He limps UTG, did he look at his cards? Was this a post? Now you raise pretty big but that game dependent so I cant judge there. Then he makes a huge 3 bet! I would give him toe $18 and move on. I dont see him doing this with ATC at all. He can have a hand here and all we invested is $18. I fold.

I have been in this exact spot before with players and I held QQ or JJ. Most of the time they have AA KK but sometimes the have TT but when a scare card comes on the flop were just guessing and not knowing what to do. Tough spot.

Also, how do they cover but just bought in? What is the buy in?

If this is his very first hand I would go ahead and min-4bet him.....or flat and shove any flop.
I have seen alot of grinders doing this with their first hand trying to establish their dominance over the table.

This is exactly why lol shoving with AA/KK when it's our first hand at the table (even in a limped pot) is a recommended play by HOC; because someone levels themselves with this line of thinking and calls.

I'd just fold and move on to the next hand; I think we want a better read on this guy before we're off to committing 120 BB stacks.

Reads
Villain: Had just sat down, unknown. 40+ years old. Right before he took his seat one guy had warned everyone lol that villain was a "grinder" and "plays serious poker."

Effective Stacks: 370

$1/3 NL - 10 players - $300 max

Villian (UTG) covers
Hero (MP) $360
V2 (MP+1) covers

Hero is dealt QQ

Villian limps, folds to Hero who raises to 18, V2 calls. Villian 3bets to 68. Hero??

I'm getting better than 2 to 1 on the call pre. 3 to 1 if V2 comes along, which seems be just about guaranteed. I have 40% equity heads up against AA, KK, AK. Folding just seems so weak. Although I can definitely see the merits in folding with just $18 invested against what looks like AA or KK. Also, villain had just sat down but this wasn't his very first hand. He had already won one pot but I was away from the table for a few minutes so I didn't see it.

Hero calls. V2 calls.

Flop (208) 789r

Villian leads flop for 140. Hero??

I agree here! I mean a new player doesnt really just sit down and show junk to a raise. He might be the raiser but not the limp RR'. Limp RR is a dangerous play and you need a strong hand to do so. He knows this (maybe he doesnt and you will soon learn). I fold here. But I still think 18 is too big. 15 sounds better but its table dependent. But based on the fact that there was only 1 limper I think this is a tighter table.

What???? We all assumed it was his first hand and he just sat down! Now this changes everything!!!!!!

Calling with QQ is not great here unless we have reads and know he plays JJ this way. We need to at least 4 bet this bc on any flop when he shoves were screwed! What would we do?

Now you call and the flop is 789 and he leads... Were in a tough spot where I would assume youjust go with your hand and shove because we called preflop to get a non A or K flop and we have to stack off now. See the problem? Vs aggro players, especially preflop, we need to be careful of commiting chips in these weird spots.

LOL at new info. As Cap217 says...this is totally different. In a vacuum I would fold pre.

i snapfold pre

EZ fold when I think how dumb I'd feel when he flips AA and I committed with QQ to an unknown when I couldve got out for $18

Edit: But in reality Id probably take offense and pride would take over and Id ship

EZ fold-- both pre and on flop. Move on to next hand.

I dont think anything is easy here. We have QQ. But I fold preflop or 4 bet. Never calling here. I lean towards folding still bc its $18.

Now when we get to the flop its a tough choice. You ruled out AA KK preflop because you called his raise. So now what does he represent? The 2+2 community thinks that he has AA KK.

I have a feeling that you called pre to not see an A or K and now you have that. You called pre to ship any non AK flop. So I guess go for it. Hope for JJ!

But FOLD pre!

I think the problem lies in his limp/3b range. I personally believe he has a wide range and is more playing on his position and "unknown" stature than his cards. I don't know how long he was observing the table, but if he just sat down and optioned to play UTG instead of after the button, I would tag him as in a more loose gear at this moment. He might also know how tight this table is running and 3 betting in these situations has +EV when your dealing with a bunch of nits.

I am sorry, but me personally, I cannot lay this hand down pre in this situation to an unknown. We have position on Villain so at the very least we have to go to the flop. Really I would go with my post flop game and reading ability and let that decide. Don't forget, this is a 1/3 game, not a 10/20.

yeah, youre not deep enough for a call pre. You don't beat much on the flop either. I hope you got away from this one. The only way I can see this being profitable if it's one of those wild action live games where there is a 3-bet almost every hand pre and in that case you should probably 4 bet pre

Really, you should have called FedEx preflop and shipped it. As it sits, it looks to me that he's leading out with a huge bet that doesn't want to be called. IMHO he would be betting far less if he hit a set/straight/2 pair here. However, if you call, guy Villain2 might call getting good odds, so I would call FedEx again and schedule a shipment.

Side Note: For such a nitty game, Red flaggs are going up for Villain2 being in the hand if he calls this or if he's even pre-loading...

On the flop im not worried about a set, 2 pair, or a straight. Im still worried about the same hands he can have preflop to limp 3 bet.

Aa kk. Hope for jj

Reads
Villain: Had just sat down, unknown. 40+ years old. Right before he took his seat one guy had warned everyone lol that villain was a "grinder" and "plays serious poker."

Effective Stacks: 370

$1/3 NL - 10 players - $300 max

Villian (UTG) covers
Hero (MP) $360
V2 (MP+1) covers

Hero is dealt QQ

Villian limps, folds to Hero who raises to 18, V2 calls. Villian 3bets to 68. Hero??

I'm getting better than 2 to 1 on the call pre. 3 to 1 if V2 comes along, which seems be just about guaranteed. I have 40% equity heads up against AA, KK, AK. Folding just seems so weak. Although I can definitely see the merits in folding with just $18 invested against what looks like AA or KK. Also, villain had just sat down but this wasn't his very first hand. He had already won one pot but I was away from the table for a few minutes so I didn't see it.

Hero calls. V2 calls.

Flop (208) 789r

Villian leads flop for 140. Hero??

Safe flop. SPR is less than 1 to 1. At this point I'm committed so I just shove 302 and V2 folds. Villian calls, shows AA and holds. I should have just shoved pre if I was planning on getting it in because that would have given Villian an opportunity to fold the rare times he has QQ also. But on the other hand just calling pre gives myself a chance to get away on a A or K flop. Does that make any sense? Thanks all.

Once he bets the flop so insanely strongly then I think you have to pass. Is he really ever bluffing here into two people oop when it isn't that much more for him to call if someone ships?