$10 NLHE 6-max: 99 in the SB vs high 3bettor

Ok so here I am with 99 in the sb. BTN, a 20/13/47afq steals(1000+hands), he has a 63% fold to 3bet %. I probably should've 3bet here right? Anyway, I call and then the BB 3bets. BB is a 20/17/68 over 140 hands. Normally i'd probably just get rid of the nines but the BB's 3bet % is 14%. Once button folds do I try and 4bet/get in all in here or should I still just fold the nines?


PokerStars - $0.10 NL (6 max) - Holdem - 6 players
Hand converted by PokerTracker 3

Hero (SB): $17.46
BB: $10.00
UTG: $10.93
MP: $14.88
CO: $10.00
BTN: $30.60

Hero posts SB $0.05, BB posts BB $0.10

Pre Flop: ($0.15) Hero has 9:heart: 9:club:

fold, fold, fold, BTN raises to $0.30, Hero calls $0.25, BB raises to $1.60, fold, Hero

Fold the 9's to his raise. Any card that comes out higher than your 9 on the flop will put you in a tough decision. BB's 3betting range at 14% is any broadway and a few of the pocket pairs. This also means that preflop it's a coinflip with equity that's only going to get worse if no 9 comes on the flop.

I don't like 3 betting here, no better hands fold and the hands that call that we do ok against are the AK, AQs type hands. These will be hard to play against oop in a large pot. By calling we can set mine or we have decent showdown value in a small to medium sized pot as long as the board doesn't get too messy.

When we get squeezed here I am not so sure. By folding we may well be folding the best hand but as said pocket 9's aren't so great oop in a large pot. This is a spot where if you feel you have a large post flop edge over your opponent then call it but if we feel he is a fairly decent player it will get tricky and would rather just fold it pre.

Another reason to call is if you know he is very passive post flop when he misses the flop, you could check/raise any low flop or even bet out. This is very villain dependant obviously but I find that when a lot of regs resteal or squeeze over a BTN steal and get called they generally tend to give up fairly easily post flop.

I agree with your instinct that the BB was making a play. Your stats back up your gut that he 3-bet steals a good portion of the time. But, when your unsure folding is usually least expensive option. And right now you do not have the implied odds to call hoping for a set and I would have a hard time continuing if broadway cards come out on the flop.

My typical backraise/stacking range is TT/JJ, AQ, and if I have a super squeezer I'll widen that range as far as I need (usually not past like ~88), and I'll flat KK+/AK to induce from them.

Your %14 3bet doesn't really mean anything given your sample size, and I'd assume people are squeezing a much tighter at 10nl than at 200nl, so I don't see how stacking 9s can be good here with the information you have.

Just fold. Sure, BB can be making a play, but he's not doing it nearly often enough to have to worry about it.