3-Bet/Folding AQs – Permissible?

Ugh just dropped 7.7K. I was actually up 2.2K at one stage so really I just went on a one hour 10K downswing. I looked over the times I got stacked (six in all) and I don’t think any of them were that bad. Four of them were completely standard in my opinion – set under set for $1000, AK < JJ for $1000, QQ < KK for $1500 (admittedly a lot of bb’s but I was in the big blind facing a button open from a 54/23/1.5 fish), and QQ v 99 in a 3-bet pot on a 953r flop blind versus blind for $1000. The fifth involved me value-towning myself for another $1000 versus the same 54/23/1.5 fish, shoving KJ on the river on a J44T5 board after the fish limp/called preflop and then check/called every street postflop. The river bet is definitely a little thin but I’ve asked a few people and they’ve all agreed that it’s a fairly easy value bet against this particular player. Just another case of right play, bad result I guess. The sixth and last time I got stacked (I quit immediately after) was a lot closer. A 21/16 losing regular (down something like $30,000 in my database, quite extraordinary for someone with such normal stats) opened in the cutoff and I 3-bet AQs from the small blind. He 4-bet to $680 and I jammed for $2100 total. I got snapped off and failed to catch up to his kings. Now, the hand itself isn’t very interesting, but it’s actually a preflop spot where I’ve been having a lot of difficulty trying to work out what the best play is.

A big part of my preflop philosophy is that I hate 3-bet/folding hands with a lot of postflop value. Thus, whereas a lot of regulars automatically 3-bet hands like KQs, TT and AQs, I prefer just flatting with these hands and 3-betting with a more polarised range. Of course, against some opponents 3-betting and then 5-bet jamming will be super profitable, so against them I’ll continue to 3-bet/5-bet jam a hand like TT or AQs, but wherever I’m uncomfortable 5-betting all-in I won’t 3-bet in the first place, even if the 3-bet itself in isolation is +EV. The problem I’ve been having however is whether I can maintain this philosophy from the small blind.

There are several disadvantages with just flatting from the small blind. First, and most obviously, you are guaranteed to be out of position postflop. Now, this could be said for the big blind as well, but I don’t mind flatting from the big blind nearly as much as at least from there I know I’ll be closing the action and seeing a flop heads-up. This brings us to the other major problem with flatting from the small blind – you aren’t closing the action! If you just flat, you let the big blind squeeze or see a cheap flop. Neither option is particularly desirable. If he flats, you’re now playing a multi-way pot out of position to two opponents. If he squeezes, you face an ugly spot with a hand like 88 or AQs or even KQs; all are ahead of his range if he is a competent squeezer but at the same time you don’t really want to commit your whole stack (by re-shoving) to find out if he is squeezing this particular time. Calling isn’t really a viable option in this spot either so we’re now forced to fold our 88 or AQs – how gross is that! The third disadvantage of just flatting is that you’re letting your opponent dictate the action and allowing them to remain within their comfort zone. There is nothing a perpetual stealer hates more than being constantly 3-bet, yet nothing they love more than being constantly flatted. They know that in position they hold all the aces – they can value bet thin, they can bluff effectively, they can win big pots and only lose small ones. In short, you’re playing into their hands. And the final disadvantage of just flatting from the small blind (that I can think of at least) is that you fail to isolate the big blind’s dead money. This is obviously a much smaller consideration than the others, but a consideration nonetheless.

Anyway, what I’ve been experimenting with is mixing up 3-betting and flatting from the big blind but 3-betting my entire range from the small blind. This has worked pretty well so far but I’ve been getting really lost in those spots where I face a 4-bet with those TT/AQs type hands against relatively nitty opponents – the last hand for today’s session being a case in point. It seems blasphemous to 3-bet/fold them yet equally gross to 3-bet/5-bet jam them. At this stage I’m not sure what the answer is, but it might be that the small blind is an exception to the general rule – a position where, due to the various considerations that I mentioned above, 3-bet/folding a hand like AQs or TT is not only a viable option, but also the best one. I guess only time will tell.