Villain was new to the table and had no previous hands on him, so no reads unfortunately.

I verrry rarely call 3bets OOP. For some reason I just felt like folding AQ here was too tight, but as you can see from the hand playing it in a 3bet pot OOP just sucks balls.

Comments on all streets are very appreciated...

Full Tilt - $1 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

UTG: $101.80
Hero (MP): $94.60
CO: $102.70
BTN: $104.80
SB: $41.30
BB: $220.85

SB posts SB $0.50, BB posts BB $1.00

Pre Flop: ($1.50) Hero has A Q

fold, Hero raises to $3.50, CO raises to $10.00, fold, fold, fold, Hero calls $6.50

Flop: ($21.50, 2 players) 6 Q 4
Hero checks, CO bets $13.50, Hero calls $13.50

Turn: ($48.50, 2 players) K
Hero checks, CO bets $29.00, fold

CO wins $46.10

I'm thinking a better line preflop would be either 4bet/fold, or just fold to the 3bet right away...given I have no reads on the guy

call<4bet<fold

Why?

I think a fold is best, you're oop against an unknown with reverse implied odds.

calling is bad, you are going to play a 3bet pot OOP.

4 betting is better, because you fight back and have an opportunity to win the post.

Folding is best, we are oop with a non premium versus a unknown villain. We have no clue villain is being out of line. F O L D!

given that you have no idea how villain plays and what to expect from him on certain boards there's not really any reason to be calling here preflop. fold pre if you're not going to like boards like this imo.

as played i'd probably end up calling and c/f rivers as most villains at 100nl aren't firing 3 barrels, but are willing to fire two (especially at this board when checked to twice).

What if I had JJ?

Very similar hand happened today with JJ...no reads, OOP....same thoughts as AQ?

given no reads JJ could also be a fold preflop depending on the relative positions between you and villain.

i.e. CO v btn, i'd often 4b and get it in (similar with AQ), but if you were utg i'd be very willing to fold.

another thing you could do is do a quick search on villain to see how many tables he is playing to maybe give you an idea of whether he is a reg or not and what it MIGHT say about them as a player (4-6 tables is more likely to be a laggier reg, 9-12 tables more taggy, etc.) obviously those types of reads are very hit or miss, but they might make your preflop decisions slightly easier. and if you find that they're playing only 1 table, you can infer some stuff about that, also.

yes

don't listen to the above nitty advice imo

readless, call AQ and JJ

you probably played the hand fine

can you explain your thought process and how you'd play certain flops with those hands OOP (assume 100bbs deep)?

you're going to put yourself into many crap spots post flop if you're calling just to play post flop here OOP without any reads. it's not like villain is exploiting you by 3betting you super wide over and over again; you're both unknown to each other and he also doesn't have any hands on you but he has an advantage in here because he's IP.

It's harder to play, sure, but then ask yourself are you trying to do what is most +ev or are you just trying to avoid tough spots. I think folding AQ and JJ to every unknown oop is throwing lots of $$$ away over time.

it's throwing away money over time if you're doing this against known villains. against unknowns it is probably good for you to just fold.

imo you're putting yourself into -EV spots if you're forced to make these tough decisions that are basically guessing games. there are ways you can try to make it less of a guessing game by searching the player to see # of tables etc etc, but those don't help all that much.

just because it is +EV to do it against a known opponent does not mean that it is +EV to do it against an unknown. the reason it is +EV to call is not because you have a super strong hand, but because you have a hand that can play well even OOP given that you know villain. i'd be much more okay with AQs than AQos or JJ. AQs just has many more options post flop.

I'd rather fold or 4bet/fold.

man is the full ring forum?

I typically call AQ/JJ OOP readless and expand from there as reads set in.