Patiently waiting Raph and other wizards...

I realized after letting it soak in that my 3-bet was kinda small, shoulda been more like 28-30k. As it was though it induced a spewy 4-bet (results oriented, doh.)

What is the average stack of the table ?

Given how unlikely is to BN/SB/BB squeeze against UTG and two flats I am probably flatting AQ sometimes and shoving sometimes.

Against this particular opponent, who is likely to be opening a bit wider (well 22 this late...) collecting 25k chips without showdown is a major result for this hand and even when called it has reasonable equity.

Also, by shoving you deny equity realisation with the hand he is peeling to play a pot with SPR near to one and small pairs.

Of course, sticking in 33 bigs pre isn't astonishing but there are around 8 out there with enough fold equity to make this a very profitable shove with AQ. AJ/ATs is closer but on this spot I guess shoving and praying is good.

Are you planning to 3B/fold against some and GII against others? If yes, then your small 3B gives you the option to fold later. If no, you will not have that option and you should just jam right away (unless you are 3B'ing small to induce a shove that you plan to call).

Because by 3B'ing small you are giving them more options (to flat and play postflop). If you don't plan to fold to a jam, you're not getting any extra options in return, so why do it (unless it is to induce).

Also, jamming means you get to realize all your equity (we have position, but playing AQ postflop against good aggressive players isn't all that attractive). We're not happy to get our jam called, but we always have 30%+ equity unless we run into AA. Against a wide opener and a flatter we should have considerable fold equity in a $25k pot that we don't mind picking up.

Flatting is another option, and would be my default unless I thought the raiser was bit loose. We're not particularly worried about the flatter, unless he likes to slowplay big pairs like that.

Also:

I'm not one to be pushed around and struggle into a min cash.

I agree on that approach to MTTs. And I think it's a good mindset to plan hands so that I am not giving my opponents the chance to put me in difficult situations. Taking my profitable jams puts them in a spot to make some mistakes, whereas I can't make any (if I have evaluated the jam spot correctly).

Thanks guys.

Average stack of table was 150-160k.

I think in game I was weary to jam since it was an UTG raiser. Agree with both of your reasoning why jamming is good though. Adding 25k is a great result and puts me over 40 bigs. Flatting isn't a bad default either if I feel that UTG is only opening a narrow/tight range ( I didn't).

It was kind of a brainfart moment. I went into this tourney trying to learn from past mistakes, and in game didn't want to hate myself for jamming/punting 33bbs and running into KK here. 33bbs is plenty to work with, but it's also critical to leverage the stack size against the other stacks at this table in good spots- which this was a good spot.

As played, against described player, would you call off the remaining 75k? Like I said- he acted quickly so I discounted big pairs, and this pot puts us with a top 10 stack.

As played, against described player, would you call off the remaining 75k? Like I said- he acted quickly so I discounted big pairs, and this pot puts us with a top 10 stack.

I honestly don't know :-) What I can say is that I would have made that decision before i 3-bet. After all, getting jammed on is the only future decision we have to plan for at this moment. So we can plan for it before we put ourselves in that spot. Before we commit any chips we can ask ourselves who (if any) are we folding to and who are we getting it in against?

Now you are wondering does he have a kings, queens aces jacks etc instead him worrying whether to call it off with lets say his 99s
When you don't jam and it gets back to you , you are the one in the difficult spot.
Since both players are good aggressive, it is safe to assume that they are opening wider then AA KK AK QQ, hence better play for you at spot is just to jam that AQ and more often then not you will get folds and when not you wil usually have good equity regardless, and also you could flat and play post flop, since you shouldn't be scared of playing post flop IP. If you are, work on your post flop play.

Great feedback here. I love this forum.

What I can say is that I would have made that decision before i 3-bet.

Thanks. Big flaw that I lacked a plan. My plan was to reevaluate who I'm calling/folding against etc. I should have a plan and a reason for 3 betting.

Now you are wondering does he have a kings, queens aces jacks etc
instead him worrying whether to call it off with lets say his 99s
When you don't jam and it gets back to you , you are the one in the
difficult spot.

Totally agree and I'm familiar with this concept.

you could flat and play post flop, since you shouldn't be scared of
playing post flop IP. If you are, work on your post flop play.

Certainly not afraid to play post flop IP against anyone. I think I prefer jamming over flatting though with this stack size and aggro players. Flatting isn't bad though.

Certainly not in love with calling, but from his quick action looks something like AJ/ATs/88-22 and we are somewhat committed by now, even tough I see folding as perfectly fine against some opponents after 3betting, but not this kid.

I like 3betting some similar 25bb-30bb spots with a well polarized range, so this is a spot that having two 3bet sizings is probably beneficial for your overall play. If I am on the spot, probably shoving 66-99/AK-AJs and 3betting small something like AA-TT/A5s-A4s.

Specially live, this squeeze jams have much more impact on table dynamics than online. People usually tend to respect more when you are in late position or avoid opening too wide on your blinds. You may have a different experience, but this may net you more than only 8 blinds with some probability.

Better luck next time, Ralph.

Hey guys,

I would think that aggro regs love a spot like this to reshove and go for some FE. I have been having issues with sizing pre, but on the larger side. I would think that 28-30k is a good size, because of the flatter, and that you're 3-bet folding against either. I personally like calling, followed by shoving, followed by 3-betting. When calling obviously you get to realize your position.

In fact, I had a similar spot in a $350 satelite 2 weeks ago against a habitual limper, followed by a 3.5bb raise. I had 27.5bb on button and jammed AQs. Lost to AK.