$4 NLHE Full Ring: $ NLHE Full Ring: Right move with Mid-Pocket Pair

$4 NL HE Full Ring: $ NL HE Full Ring: Right move with Mid-Pocket Pair

I had this hand come up a couple days ago. The villian had everything going his way the past 5-6 hands. I wanted to call because I felt like my hand could have held up, but didn't want to go with the gut and be wrong.

Here's the hand:


poker stars $0.01/$0.02 No Limit Hold'em - 7 players - View hand 744105
The Official DeucesCracked.com Hand History Converter
BTN: $3.00
SB: $2.44
BB: $0.72
UTG: $2.06
UTG+1: $1.88
MP: $5.20
Hero (CO): $2.53
Pre Flop: ($0.03) Hero is CO with 9 ♠ 9 ♣
UTG calls $0.02, UTG+1 calls $0.02, MP raises to $0.14, Hero calls $0.14, 4 folds, UTG+1 calls $0.12
Flop: ($0.47) 6 ♥ 4 ♠ 8 ♣ (3 players)
UTG+1 checks, MP bets $0.50, Hero folds, UTG+1 folds
Final Pot: $0.47
MP wins $0.45
(Rake: $0.02)


It's the flop that made me want to call. Would any of you guys called seeing the cards on the flop?

Call flop. Bet $1 or shove on the turn, stacks in by the river regardless.

You have any conceivable range crushed.
Before any flop action you have an overpair with a stack to pot ratio (SPR) of 5, and after you at least call his bet the SPR is 1.3. You need to pay attention to the SPR because it pretty much dictates how light you should be stacking, as the stacks get smaller relative to the pot your requirements to shove/call an all in should become more relaxed.

if you dont like this flop, why even play 99?

seriously though, this is the flop you want to see with 99. you have to call on the flop, if not raise!

To me that looks like a C-bet I'd make on a flop like that with A10+ because you called the preflop raise instead of 3 betting. Being in your position I would have 3 bet to 35c to see exactly how strong he is. 99 has a huge chance of beating Ax in my experience especially when its represented strong.

Honestly I just fold the 99 preflop UTG. your out of position and if your not willing to raise yourself how can you reasonably call his raise.Since you did play the hand I think a better play would have been to raise 3x and then fold if he re raises. By raising yourself, you put him tr a decision and if he re raises you can fold to what must be a premium hand. I think your fold to his .50 flop bet was correct but I think you could have saved some $ in the hand by betting and defining his hand earlier.

Thanks for the input guys, I was at work so couldn't respond any sooner.

Dave - I was the CO, UTG+1 was villian. Slight correction, but I understand where you're coming from on your viewpoint.

However, I am kind of leaning towards the others advice of playing more aggressive.

Again, thanks guys.

davejs1671@yahoo.com said:

Honestly I just fold the 99 preflop UTG. your out of position and if your not willing to raise yourself how can you reasonably call his raise.Since you did play the hand I think a better play would have been to raise 3x and then fold if he re raises. By raising yourself, you put him tr a decision and if he re raises you can fold to what must be a premium hand. I think your fold to his .50 flop bet was correct but I think you could have saved some $ in the hand by betting and defining his hand earlier.

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What? hes not utg, hes co. he called a raise. if you are suggesting he 3bets preflop, that has some merit, but other than that i dont even see what you are talking about. and there is no way he should be folding that flop. hes an overpair to the board. we shouldnt be playing 99 postflop only if we hit a set.

rssurfer54 said:

What? hes not utg, hes co. he called a raise. if you are suggesting he 3bets preflop, that has some merit, but other than that i dont even see what you are talking about. and there is no way he should be folding that flop. hes an overpair to the board. we shouldnt be playing 99 postflop only if we hit a set.

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I don't see the point in 3-betting 99 here, sorry. Unless it's against someone really spewy that calls 3-bets with most his range and is not a station post flop. If you want to 3-bet light, there are better hands for that.

I like pokerkid's thinking, the only thing that gives me pause is this was a multi-way pot, and people cbet less in multi-way pots. He definitely has a narrower range here than if it was HU.

ComplexPlaya said:

I don't see the point in 3-betting 99 here, sorry. Unless it's against someone really spewy that calls 3-bets with most his range and is not a station post flop. If you want to 3-bet light, there are better hands for that.

I like pokerkid's thinking, the only thing that gives me pause is this was a multi-way pot, and people cbet less in multi-way pots. He definitely has a narrower range here than if it was HU.

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I wasnt trying to suggest we 3bet, i just said that made a lot more sense than the rest of that guys post, and from his comment I didnt even know what that guy was saying. I also think pokerkid has the right idea.

Thanks for the clarification rssurfer and complexplaya. Like I said, I tend to agree with playing it the more I look at it.