DECISION POINT: Preflop you raise from UTG with Q♥Q♣. UTG+1 reraises and it folds around to you. Action is on you, what do you do here?

PRO ANSWER: In a 9-handed No Limit Hold’em cash game, the range of hands that a player should open raise with under the gun (UTG) should be fairly narrow. When an unknown player in early position 3-bets the UTG raiser, we should assume they have a big hand (QQ+, AK+) since most opponents in a live $1-3 cash game would reraise only with big hands in these positions.

If our opponent only holds pairs QQ or higher or AK, we are an underdog with QQ. We are not getting the right price to call for set value, so we should fold. If we believe that our opponent has a wider range than this, then the best play is to call and be willing to get stacks in on any flop that doesn’t contain an Ace or a King.

Our estimate of our opponent’s hand range dramatically affects the ideal play with QQ in this hand. Against an unknown opponent in a live $1-3 cash game, this is a fold by default. Against opponents that reraise with more hands, we can continue with our QQ.

However, with early position reraises in a full ring game, we must be capable of folding big pairs preflop.

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