but, in terms of what holdings he may continue with after a 3 bet, i can see that trimming the field in a positive way.

now these are my thoughts, so they may be out to lunch, but if i 3bet with the QJ Villan can’t call 3bet with KJ, probably won’t call with KQ/AJ, also makes continuing less likely with AQ all for fear of being dominated.

now our Q’s are not dominated, nor are our J’s. still, i believe “We almost never want to play for stacks with QJs oop in 3-bet pots”, fwiw.

It’s one of the problems I can grind through Range View ( http://dwarrior.110mb.com/poker/rangeView.html )

For example, if we give him a loose steal range:
22+,A2s+,K9s+,Q9s+,J8s+,T8s+,98s,87s,76s,65s,54s,43s,A8o+,KTo+,Q9o+,J9o+,T9o,98o,87o,76o,65o,54o

and an aggro call range (mine would be tighter, since I’m a nit):
55+,ATs+,KJs+,QJs,JTs,T9s,98s,87s,76s,AJo+,KQo

Then if we 3-bet some XX hand, he’ll be calling/4-betting us 35.6% of the time, whereas if we 3-bet QJs, he’ll be playing back 35.5%. The card removal effect is negligible

If we give him a tighter range (something like mine if I felt villain wasn’t a mindless nit):
TT+,AJs+,KQs,QJs,JTs,T9s,98s,87s,AQo+,KQo

Then vs XX he plays back 23.3%, but vs QJs it’s 23.11%. Again negligible.

If we give him a nitty range:
JJ+,AJs+,KQs,AQo+

Then vs MX it’s 14.61%, vs QJs it’s 14.65%, negligible still.

Granted, this isn’t entirely complete because I’m only looking at percentages, but it seems like “card removal” isn’t a valid reason, there must be more. Does our hand fare better vs his calling range? We almost never want to play for stacks with QJs oop in 3-bet pots, afaik.