Am I a total nit for thinking folding pre is the way forward? Fold>4bet>call for me sort of. We will have plenty of suited aces to call with.

As for villains range, I could easily imagine a hand like 87s there playing like that... Also some overpairs could still play flop like that. As well as 99/88 to my mind. In any case I would struggle to come up with a hand that we actually fold out or beat on the turn given action.

That said, I am just a beginner.

Folding A9o pre would be fine usually, but this guy's 3bet is quite high and his squeeze is even higher: 18 (forgot to post that). That's why I think a call pre is fine here.

I don't see him have a hand like 99, but 87/98 and 88 is certainly his value range (that's 18 combinations if you include offsuit 87/98). It looks like he can raise with many (combo) draws, but I'm not too sure. I think these hands include: T9 (if we include offsuit 87/98, then this one also offsuit), 76, AsXs, Kh7h. However, he probably won't raise this entire range 100% of the time. Question is: are there enough of these hands in his range to justify my shove with A9? And then there's still a non-negligible chance he can fold 87 since JT is definitely in my range.

One thing I didn't notice at first was your sizing on turn, which is smallish and could certainly induce a more aggressive player to raise combo draws to push fold equity. Are you betting your whole betting range to that sizing? You are probably right in saying 974tt is not a board many overpairs check OOP and give you free cards... Need to think more about the hand. Always amazes me, how deep even simple situations (not saying this one is) are when you apply thinking.

Id fold pre, if you want to exploit the high 3bet then 4bet imo

I agree to Bingo. Fold>4bet>call with a hand as weak as A9o.

As for reads justifying the call pre, I guess it is very important to check for how many opportunities the guy has had to actually squeeze. If it is 2/11 as in 18%, that is not much of a sample, although can ofc be indicative. Have to be very careful not to make too much out of single stats.

Nevertheless, for ranges, just for a theoretical exercise I have tried giving the guy some sort of an aggro range of A2s+, K5s-K7s, J9s+, 64s-75s, 54s+, 77+, 76o-98o, AJo+. Overpairs probably bet flop. Gutshots probably bet flop. So do OESD. Two overs+FD/BDFD would be decent candidates for x/c on flop for balance, weaker FD probably bet. Some sets could also check to balance the weaker checks on a board that hits your range as well, and in the case of a less aggro opponent - hit your range even better than the BB range itself. So let us say he arrives to the turn with one set of sevens and the lone set of 9s (top set on a board without broadways, why not), T9s,98s,87s,75s+,64s,54s,AsKs,AsQs,AsJs,AsTs,As8s,As7s,Kh7h,98o,87o,76o, against this range u have 44% equity. However, you are giving him decent odds to just draw with some of the overs+FD, so he might not play that part so aggro on a turn that as played, probably hits your range more than his. So,unless he is a proper maniac, I think you are facing a value range here, to which you are behind and the equity shrinks. Not sure that if he gives you a decent chance of JT, he would go for a check/raise/fold line, which means he is unlikely to fold the 87ish hands. Overall then, without reads I think you are behind here. Now I want the results :D

Sorry for the long rant.

Thanks Petey, a very helpful answer! His squeeze percentage is over 17 hands, however I have more hands on his 3bet and usually someone's squeeze is a little higher.

His hand was 88