Queens in the SB, live cash game

Game type: 2/5 no limit cash game, live
Your image: You just ran a significant but unsuccessful bluff last hand
Opponent’s image: The straddler is clearly frustrated and Player B seems pretty loose.
Your hand: Q♦Q♣

The setup: You’ve been pretty aggressive in this no limit cash session, and last hand you ran a fairly massive bluff against Player B only to get caught on the river.

This hand, UTG straddles for $10 and Player B makes it $30. The table folds to you and you call. Then the BB folds and the straddle makes it $110 to go. The original raiser thinks a little bit and then quietly calls. You’ve seen player B open for 30 with Q8 suited, and the straddler has been making a lot of calls and losing a lot of pots, rebuying short about 3 times in the last hour.

There’s over $250 in the middle and you look a little frustrated. What’s your play with QQ in the SB?

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13 COMMENTS (Jump to comment form)

blue

Raise and call any shove. Player B rarely has AA/KK in this spot and the straddle can easily be making a play or raising worse (ie JJ/AK).

If either shows AA/KK its just a cooler.

Folding is out of the question.

Calling leads to playing QQ out of position which is never good.

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Negreanu Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 3:24 am

I don’t see the point in raising without shoving. Any raise is committing us to the pot. Shove and simulate a squeeze play.

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blue Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 7:54 am

ye thats wat i meant i just didnt see stack sizes

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Negreanu

Perfect situation for a shove. We have good image (we run an unsuccessful bluff last hand), good hand (only KK/AA are ahead), a lot of dead money in the pot and our QQ is well hidden (a TT/JJ might call our shove). So shove and let the cards speak

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Groundhog day

I’m shoving here. No way do I want to play this hand oop. I hate the flat call which should have led to a 3 way flop but the straddler bailed us out.

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Aces n Eights

First off – why would you just call the 30 knowing you’ll be FTA against 2 others, unless you “know” the straddler likes to “protect” his straddle.

So you got “lucky” and the straddler did what (I’m assuming) you hoped he would. Given player B’s history (seeing him pop it w/Q8) and he can probably also can see the “straddler’s frustration”) you certainly aren’t folding here. He could very well be calling light. Calling is also bad for the same reasons as before (OOP against 2 players). What do you do on the flop? Since almost any descent raise will commit you – get it AI now. If player B woke up w/Aces or Kings – so be it.

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Jeff

Can someone please make an argument as to why anything but shoving is appropriate.

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Pirate21 Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 8:51 am

Nope. I don’t think anyone will be able to make a credible argument for that.

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Major Dude Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:08 am

Totally agreed if we’re just talking about how to play the hand. This is an insta-shove.

The only other factor . . . has nothing to do with poker. I try to avoid live games with straddlers because they are usually unstable human beings. If the straddler is now “clearly frustrated,” I’m wanting to know if he’s
a) carrying weapons
b) drunk
c) capable of bench-pressing more than my body weight.

If so, we aren’t playing poker any more. It’s time to cash out, get to the parking lot and head home before it all gets very ugly.

I’m being half facetious, but not totally so.

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Groundhog day Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 10:41 am

LOL. Those are excellent questions. Now is probably not the bat tome to be funking of them.

Aces n Eights Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 11:06 am

LOL – had this question been asked 10 yrs ago – I could make a stronger argument for calling (and possibly folding). The game has changed alot over the years. Back then – an UTG raise followed by a “quiet call” of a re-raise with still another player left to act screamed monster. Much more likely to be holding AA/KK or AK. Not so anymore in today’s “hyper-aggressive” style.

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Funny that the first time in a while we get extensive reads, they are quite irrelevant. This is a shove in pretty much any circumstance.
Thanks for the good laugh Major Dude!

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Jeff Reply:
February 14th, 2011 at 9:02 pm

haha, yea I know right (about the reads)

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