How do you play this?

You're in a multi-table SNG and about half the field is gone. You have a pretty good read on the players at the table and the blinds are getting to the point that they're getting significant. You have been playing tight/aggressive and pushing good hands, folding more often than not. Now the situation:

You're in middle position and are dealt a pair of pocket 9s. UTG limps in and everyone else folks to you. What do you do and why?

This situation happens to me all the time and it's never one that I'm comfortable with. How do you routinely address this common occurance...

I'd put in a standard 3xBB raise here and have a look at the flop, and make any further desions from here, judging on how UTG has been playing you should be able to put him on a range of hands, probably not AK or AQ, maybe AJ A10 KQ KJ K10, or any pair etc, if the flop is dangerous looking get out. But then again he may have you on AK, and fold pre-flop or if an ace comes on the flop.

You would have to check and fold if he gives you any major action on the flop. Otherwise limp in and hope, but i feel that this is a weak play.

well you didn't say what your read on that player was.

also just how big is the stack in compared to the blinds, if a 3x raise is a fair chunk of your stack you may as well shove it all in

the blinds are significant and you have another limped call you could pick up as well

I would just shove it given the info you stated, though that may change with more info on stack sizes and the typical play of people behind you.

I would make a raise at least double the bet. The player limped in so the player probably has a marginal hand.

Easy raise. I would make it at least 3xBB, maybe 4xBB due to limper depending on my stack size, his stack size and the amount of chips held by the players behind me.

Why? Because i would like to take the pot down right there (with the blinds being sizeable) or at least create a situation where more than one caller is unlikely.

One opponent on the flop is far easier to deal with if you hold 99 and this situation also presents less variance than multiple callers (even considering the fact that you raised rather than limped) which is always desirable as your M (number of rounds you can survive before your chip stack is blinded away) becomes lower due to increasing blinds.

You've got position. Keep it that way. Bet 2-3 x bb. Beware if you get a late position caller.

I would raise 3x BB or a little more depending on other variables. Youre in position, so if the flop comes out with no face cards or only a J , etc I would raise and probably take the pot. If he calls your raise (if its big enough to tell you something), he probably caught an overcard or high pp, but you still get a chance to see a possible 9 on the turn if he is slowplaying his hand.

In this particular hand last night I did raise 3xBB and got no callers. Had I been called I would have been quick to lay down if I didn't improve on the flop...

I disagree. Many times when the blinds get big, players will limp in UTG with monsters, hoping for someone in late position to raise. In this situation, that was not the case, but I have seen AA and KK limped in UTG SO many times because they want to get action.

Chicago, aren't you the one who advised to fold KQ in middle position if someone in early position limps in?
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Where do you get this stuff?

So what are you going to do preflop? Fold just because there's a chance UTG might have AA? Limp after him and gain no further information about his hand before the flop?

Raising (and folding to a UTG reraise) is obviously the right move here - I'll bet if checked to on most flops that aren't something silly like AKQ as well if he calls. If nobody calls preflop I've just won a few BBs with 99, which I'm more than happy to do.

Raise it, see what he does.

Flop comes no over cards, go for it..
Over cards, check it up and see what he does...

You cannot be serious!

You raised pre-flop meaning you must make a continuation bet on the flop. Suppose the flop came AK2, if you bet half the pot your opponent would lay down KQ in a decent quality tournament.

There are very few boards i would not bet into unless i had a read on the other player ("villain check-raises with top pair"). If i was first to act i would bet in this situation online 80% of the time and if it was checked to me i would wager 90% of the time.

As the pre-flop raiser your bets are far more likely to garner respect.

ahhhh I am not sure you can say it is appropriate to bet every flop that you raised preflop. Yes MOST of the time that is a good rule but when playing online ring games the sheer loosesness of the tables requires that to be a winning player proper assessment of the flop and your opponent before betting is much more important than always betting after the flop! The main reason the flop is not an auto bet in very loose NL games is because of the high likelyhood of a suckout and all the calling stations.

This may be true...but that does not apply in this situation! I agree with astuzias in a continuation bet after a hypothetical flop of AK2. Continuation bets are a vital part of a player's arsenal in a TOURNAMENT situation such as this...

I was all ready to agree with this untill I read your thoeretical flop. AK2. I raised pre flop and got called? By what? A middle to low pair? Possible, but unlikely. A flat call with anything lower than QQ would be a mistake. A higher pair, more likely. A couple of over cards? More hand combinations, thus more likely. Suited connectors J-10 to 9-8? Also possible. With AK on the board there's a good chance it hit your opponent or your already beat by a higher pair. I would save my continuation bet for a garbage flop.

Somehow I'm not surprised.

I agree that continuation bets are far less successful in ring games, but in tournament situations they are absolutely vital. The AK2 board represents the worst flop i would bet into and i explained why i would do so aginst most opponents especially if it was checked to me.

Would anyone call a pot size bet without a big ace? Also IMO there are many hands that a pre-flop caller could have that would miss this board. QJs/JTs are plausible hands for one of the blinds to call with, but in the middle stages of a tournament they would be unlikely to chase an inside straight draw.

A lot players would fold a wired pair in this situation, facing two overcards and a sizeable bet from the pre-flop raiser and several opponents would release KQ.

The combination of all of these possible outcomes makes a bet almost mandatory. You could lose a bet of half the pot, but you stand to win the entire pot more than 50% of the time IMO.

More than anything, I would look at the opponents tendancies. Has he been chasing hands? Beaten the last hand? Lots of things to consider, but I agree a bet is in order if it is checked to me. A reraise? fold, a call? see the turn, a fold? you get the pot with your 99. It's worth a bet, and it's not going to hurt you a lot if you bet it.

i personally would just limp to try to flop a set and trap them for all their money, and if the flop is like AKQ, you can fold easily and just lose a blind instead of a preflop raise.

Limping for the implied odds is not a good play when the blinds get big, you will not hit often enough.

What you said is certainly true - by the book. The problem is folks tend to play and bet with anything. I've been called down before by 4-5 offsuit when the flop was A-Q-9 and there were no flush possibilities. Yes they lost that hand but these freaks have a bad habit of catching the runner-runner and ruining your strategic play...

Opinions are like everybody's got one so here's mine. Raise 4-5x BB, make him want to catch that big A or K. Several things can happen which I think are mostly in your favor. You catch a set and hopefully he caught his A or K. He will then bet into you and you can re-raise and take him out if hopefully he wasn't holding a pair of overcards. Mind you this is pretty aggressive, but with one other player in hand this is a pretty good scenario. Secondly, the flop turns up lesser cards which gives you upper hand to bet hard again and make his decision even worse to try to catch his cards. With it being late enough in the game maybe he's tilting and you can double up.

In this situation pp's are very powerful and should be played differently than when playing a ring game where the blinds are low and limping in to try to catch a set that will give you huge implied odds.

At this stage of the tournie, there are not going to be many limpers consequently you are less likely to have somebody catch a good part of the flop with which to bet into your set....these are the conditions that create monster pots in ring games.

I'm with Grum....push it all-in and hope for a caller with AQ,AK or AJ or a small stack with Ax or Kx etc - this is a time to make your move and accumulate some chips and this sort of hand in these sorts of conditions are almost ideal to push with and set yourself up to WIN the tournie.

Limping here will allow UTG and LP to beat you on the flop too many times with worse pre-flop hands. My alternative play is to fold. All-in or fold for me here as it sounds like the blinds are too big to keep losing chips on speculative holdings.

If UTG has AA, KK, QQ....too bad if your all-in bet is called....thems the chances you take.

...[/quote]The problem is folks tend to play and bet with anything. I've been called down before by 4-5 offsuit when the flop was A-Q-9 and there were no flush possibilities. Yes they lost that hand but these freaks have a bad habit of catching the runner-runner and ruining your strategic play...[/quote]
This is a sign that somebody has been sucked out on far too many times in a short space of time but also a sign that you are becoming too cautious as a result....this is like a cancer in NLHE toiurnaments and you must discipline yourself to play the cards you have for their value, not on the basis of how people could possibly suck out on you - if you allow your game to be changed like this, you will never WIN a tournament.