Part: Part Five - Betting Before the Flop

A-Q facing a three-bet

Pre-flop
Blinds 100 / 200Pot 2,600 (13 BB)MPA♥Q♠● 25,000 (125 BB)YOUyou opened to 500BTN● 25,000 (125 BB)Solid 3-bettor3-bets 1,800 (9 BB)SB● 25,000 (125 BB)posts 100 (0.5 BB)BB● 25,000 (125 BB)posts 200 (1 BB)D

You open to 500 from middle position with A♥Q♠. A solid button three-bets to 1,800.

A solid player three-bets to 1,800 (9 BB); you hold A♥Q♠ out of position. Best?

WhyA tight player's three-betting range is A-K, A-Q, Q-Q and up - look at what that does to your hand: you're crushed by the top of it and flipping at best against the rest, all while playing every street out of position. Calling bleeds chips into a dominated spot, and four-betting just turns a decent hand into a bluff. Let it go.
What happensYou fold, out only your open. The lesson stings a little - A-Q feels strong - but that feeling is exactly what loses stacks when it runs into a re-raise.
A-Q offsuit opens well and folds well - the trap is treating it like a premium after a solid three-bet. Dominated and out of position, big offsuit broadways are the hands that cost you money when you refuse to release them.

A-Q offsuit is a raising hand, not a calling hand - against a solid three-bettor out of position it's dominated by the very range that re-raised, and folds without shame.