PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t50 (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB (t1140)
UTG (t1685)
UTG+1 (t1565)
MP1 (t990)
MP2 (t2045)
MP3 (t1555)
Hero (t1360)
Button (t1575)
SB (t1585)

Preflop: Hero is CO with Q, Q.
1 fold, UTG+1 calls t50, 1 fold, MP2 raises to t200, 1 fold, Hero calls t200, 2 folds, BB calls t150, UTG+1 folds.

Flop: (t675) 3, 2, 3 (3 players)
BB checks, MP2 bets t400, Hero ???

Villain had been in a few PF raising situations previously. On Level I he made a small raise and then folded to an opponent's flop lead, and more recently he made a minraise, called my AQ reraise, and then raised me on a garbage flop. A few hands prior to that, he raised 3BB, made a CB on a 7-8-7 flop, and then raised his opponent's turn lead. So my read on him is that he tends to back off when he misses, but plays made hands aggressively.

Given this, and the fact that the flop likely didn't improve either of our hands, do you assume you're behind KK or AA here? Should I have reraised PF to test the strength of his hand? I decided to call his raise since I had position on him postflop and I could see how he reacted to the flop.

I assume you played your QQ that way for trapping reasons - so you got what you wanted, now: shove it in!
Apart from a q high flop, this is as good as it gets, I might even consider just calling on the flop and push/call all-in on the turn.

The call preflop: I think it is ok when you try to mix it up a bit, but it shouldn't be the standard play imo - there are too many flops you wouldn't like, you give the players behind you decent odds and you probably lose some value preflop as well.
I wouldn't be afraid of KK/AA here at all - if he has you beat, it is a cooler. I go broke here 100% of the time if he has one of those two hands. No way his range here is even close to just AA/KK and you (reasonably) are only behind in that case.

What flop did you want when you called 1/7th of your stack preflop?

Get as many chips in the middle as you can, if you're beat there's nothing you can do about it.

I donk raise this one. MP2 is not quite stack committed yet, so let's give him every reason in the world to put the rest of his chips in.

The question that was underlying my uncertainty in this situation was: should I be prepared to go broke with QQ in this situation? So far the consensus is yes.

I think I've lost a bit of my confidence, probably because of my recent cold streak, and I'm letting people push me around. This is the 2nd hand I've posted in the last few days that I played very timidly.

[quote name='jmbreslin' date='Thursday, July 19th, 2007, 6:36 AM' post='2019796']
The question that was underlying my uncertainty in this situation was: should I be prepared to go broke with QQ in this situation? So far the consensus is yes.

Uh you mean double up?

I'm shoveling this preflop like 100 percent of the time

A lot of yours posts I have noticed you calling with big hands like JJ and QQ after a single raise..Honestly, your not going to be up against AA and KK nearly as much as you feel you are, and if you are, then its a coldeck...Its amazing the hands that are going to pay you off on low level sngs, so just play your strong hands straightforward...As played, I don't know what you are waiting for to ship em in..This is a dream flop for 88-JJ, which is what he probably has..

Also in your original post, you said "should we have re raised preflop to see where we are at"

A normal re raise would commit half of our stack approximately..If he shoves after we made that reraise, I would never, ever fold QQ, or for that matter, any hand pretty much considering the pot odds we would be offered at that point...Because the standard re raise pf commits us, I would shove

i wouldn't try to trap pf here, villain has shown that he is willing to call your re-raises so i'd just shove pf and try to get called


as played, i think i would just call and try to get the BB involved, because it doesn't make much difference to the MP because he has to call almost regardless if we shove...i prefer trying to triple up here, but maybe that's because i'm a donk

You're right, I've been playing scared. I should keep reminding myself how slim the odds are of someone at the table having KK/AA. One website I found says the odds of someone having a better hand than you when you're holding QQ in a 9-handed game is about 9.5%. In other words, I'm a 90.5% fav here!

*Edit: misread the odds, the actual odds are 10.5/1, which is about 8.7%

QFMFT

Agreed. Trapping is ok with AA, sometimes KK, but QQ you are asking for a difficult decision post-flop. You are relatively short, so get them in pre-flop and avoid the tough decision. Also, I agree with sentiment of those who asked what kind of flop you are looking for here if not this one? It's a perfect flop for you. If you were ahead, you still are. If you were behind, you still are, but that's a lot less likely. So shovel it.

I have also noticed this in the majority of your posts recently. Key to winning texas hold em? Aggression. Stop being scared of monsters, what kind of flop are you hoping for here flat calling?

Thank you. I am so sick of the wimps trying to put every one on a monster.
If you are actually putting him on AA or KK fold preflop. Quit putting people on
the hand that will beat you. I admit when you run cold you get tenative but that
will only add to your cold streak. You are on reverse tilt.

This is me being nitpickey (or however you spell it).

Lets say, for arguments sake, that 8.7% of the time someone has either AA or KK when you have QQ at a 9-handed table. You can still outdraw them the 8.7% (or whatever % it is) of the time that they do have one of those 2 hands, and likewise they can outdraw you when your Queens are ahead. So although you're are a 91.3% favourite to have the best hand preflop, it is not the same as being a 91.3% favourite overall once hand ranges have been accounted for.

You're right, it would be more accurate to say that preflop my hand is 91.3% likely to be the best hand at the table.

Do you hate money?