Hey guys let me know what you think about this hand I played against a reg in a 6-max hyper. Here was my though process (see hand first):

- his small 2x 3bet is really uncommon, especially in this spot. With a 15bb stack he would usually shove, just call or fold. At this point I'm thinking he either has a really strong hand like AA-KK, perhaps some medium-suited hand like QJs-J10s and more, trying to play tricky. I'm getting 4.34:1 pot odds so I decide to call, since with those odds I'm only making a mistake if he has AA.

- The flop looks great but if we consider my opponent's range we're still crushed fairly often. I plan on check-calling the flop, but he checks back.

- I get owned

PokerStars - $193.52+$6.48|15/30 Ante 3 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 4

SB: 16.03 BB (VPIP: 26.49, PFR: 24.36, 3Bet Preflop: 11.25, Hands: 1,859)
BB: 31.3 BB (VPIP: 32.02, PFR: 27.91, 3Bet Preflop: 12.92, Hands: 2,759)
Hero (UTG): 19.4 BB
MP: 15.27 BB (VPIP: 28.28, PFR: 24.56, 3Bet Preflop: 10.74, Hands: 2,156)
CO: 0.5 BB (VPIP: 25.23, PFR: 20.39, 3Bet Preflop: 13.04, Hands: 112)
BTN: 17.5 BB (VPIP: 32.27, PFR: 27.69, 3Bet Preflop: 12.25, Hands: 9,497)

6 players post ante of 0.1 BB, SB posts SB 0.5 BB, BB posts BB 1 BB

Pre Flop: (pot: 2.1 BB) Hero has Q A

Hero raises to 2.03 BB, MP raises to 4 BB, CO calls 0.4 BB and is all-in, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls 1.97 BB

Flop: (10.5 BB, 3 players) 3 Q 2
Hero checks, MP checks

Turn: (10.5 BB, 3 players) K
Hero checks, MP bets 3.33 BB, Hero calls 3.33 BB

River: (17.17 BB, 3 players) 6
Hero checks, MP bets 7.83 BB and is all-in, Hero calls 7.83 BB

MP shows K Q (Two Pair, Kings and Queens)

Main Pot [2.6 BB]: (Pre 23%, Flop 12%, Turn 88%)
Side Pot#1 [30.23 BB]: (Pre 25%, Flop 13%, Turn 93%)

Hero shows Q A (One Pair, Queens)

Main Pot [2.6 BB]: (Pre 47%, Flop 69%, Turn 7%)
Side Pot#1 [30.23 BB]: (Pre 75%, Flop 87%, Turn 7%)

CO shows 7 3 (One Pair, Threes)

Main Pot [2.6 BB]: (Pre 29%, Flop 19%, Turn 5%)

MP wins 32.83 BB

Interesting spot.
It's always tough when you think AA/KK is like 50% of his range. It's cool that we're getting amazing odds, but they don't directly relate to our equity as we are oop, and have to face future bets from a range with a fantastic distribution of equity. The flop illustrates that perfectly, we flop top top, but we still don't feel pumped.
Like the x/c plan, i think its really hard for us to get money in good here as the aggressor.
The turn sucks so bad for us, but I'd don't see what else we can do but x/c.
The river bet just looks very strong though.
Don't see him value betting worse than our hand here, surely after we call turn he takes a showdown with QJ or w/e?
So if we're just bluff catching, against a potentially very strong range, in a spot where he shouldn't figure to have a huge amount of fold eq given our odds, it's just a really horrid spot without knowing more about his preflop range.
His play kinda makes sense, not that I think it's good. He gives himself the chance to win the pot pre, reduces the likelyhood of playing multiway, takes the lead in the hand, and can rep a very strong range by 3betting a hand not strong enough to 3b jam given the positions. Actually, if the culture of these games is to see this small 3b as super strong I don't mind it.

Lol, shove pre is by far the best option. There's already 8.5BB in the pot and he only has 11BB left. No point in just flatting OOP with a hand as strong as AQ with a stack to pot ratio of 1:1. You're also liable to get yourself owned if you brick the flop 2/3 of the time and just check fold and he has his hand (KQ) or some other broadway.

You do have some fold equity if he's on a complete bluff and AQ off is an easy call if he had jammed anyway.

Calling is a theory of poker mistake if he 3bet with lesser unpaired hands.

Without read against reg i like shoving. Whatever the outcome is, take a note on it and move on.

these small 3b with shallow stacks are very opponent dependent and the higher stakes u play the more likely regs gonna be 3b bluffing on this stacksize IMO.

also as Fortisque mentioned you were gonna call a jam anyways, so its not like you are getting exploited by him if he happens to show up with JJ+AK