Hi everyone,

I’m technically a beginner, so have posted this in the beginners forum. I took poker seriously from around 2000-2008 and was a winning online player over a couple thousand hours at 6-handed limit hold’em and O/8 up to $2/$4 and making around $15-$20 an hour back then including bonuses and rakebacks. Never got deep into math but felt very comfortable playing 8ish tables at a time with (I think it was called) pokertracker HUD and regularly loved studying the latest strategy literature and lurking on the forums. I mostly quit around 2008 and have played low stakes NLHE a few times a year since then but never took it seriously.

I am now seriously committed to learning again and am halfway through Miller’s The Course, presently focusing on getting comfortable with his starting hands by position and never limping (though I’ll admit to limping several times now in my grand total of 20 hours live since taking it seriously). I have them written out on my phone and will occasionally check it after I played or mucked a questionable starting hand; also have the whole list in front of me while occasionally grinding microlimits on GlobalPoker (I’m in Texas and I think that’s my only online option for real money?).

The Hand

I’d be grateful for any thoughts as I felt fairly lost on each round of betting here. Not sure what else I am supposed to be thinking about on each street, etc.

1/3 NLHE. The table is fairly loose and aggressive preflop, not so much after. I’m on the button with QQ and around $300. UTG +1, a LAG with over $3k who recently moved from PLO makes it $10. Gets a caller. Later position player who I don’t know much about but has been playing tight makes it $30, cutoff calls, I call, UTG +1 calls, as does the other caller.

Without knowing much of anything regarding the 3 bettor, is just a call correct here? I’d considered making it $90 but if I did that, I would not have known what do on the flop considering a pot of at least $200 if I’m called by anyone and a remaining stack of $210ish.

5 to the flop of AQTr–pot $150

UTG bets 25, early position caller folds, 3 bettor calls, cutoff calls, I call and now have about $250.
I thought about raising the flop (for value?) but then thought that, with position, if I got a nice card on the turn, I could pop it on the turn. I was confused as to what to do if a K, J, or 9 came on the turn, that was another reason for calling.

Turn was a 3x–pot $250, I have $250ish. Checked to me and I was lost. I was confident I had the best hand but figured that any bet left me pot committed, so I considered pushing. The counter to that was that I was unlikely to get called. If I bet half the pot, I might get a call or two but also giving str8 draws a chance to draw out. I think at least one of my opponents has an A and possibly all of them have str8 draws.

What should I have done and why? Thanks!

SPR <2 and you flopped a set. Get your stack in on the flop.

As played get your stack in OTT.

If you flop a set and lose the hand and you don't lose a lot of money, you played it wrong.

Preflop - if the 3better is QQ+ & AK tight here then calling is fine but he doesn't have to be much wider than that for me to prefer a 4bet. We really don't want the other opponents seeing the flop.

Flop - RAISE! You are highly likely to have the best hand now and your opponents have shown a desire to put money in the pot. Combined your opponents can easily have 6+ outs here so letting them see the turn cheaply is not ideal. Plus if a K or J comes and you are still good your opponents will be much less likely to pay you off. Q or T turn could also scare a strong hand such as AK.

Also you said that you would be confused what to do if a bad card comes on the turn which pushed you towards calling but it actually should be the opposite. If you just call and a bad card comes and an opponent bets you have to weigh the chances that they are bluffing, the odds that you make a boat (also broadway for chop) on the river (which isn't as simple as counting how many cards could come that give you a boat because some of them are certainly in your opponent's hands), and how likely your opponents will pay you off on the river if you do hit. Plenty of opportunity to make a mistake in this scenario. But if you put in a sizeable raise on the flop then you are almost always committing yourself to showdown no matter what happens on turn cause of the size of the pot.

Turn - Easy jam. I don't know why you think that you are unlikely to be called. AK AQ AT TT QT are all hands that you beat that I would expect low limit players to call with and sometimes they call with stuff that doesn't make sense.

Thanks for this analysis, Niediam, I really appreciate it.