$5 NLHE 6-max: Pre-flop action with medium pocket pairs?

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YellowHeart

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Hi guys. I just started playing microstakes online at ignition about a week ago. This is a hand I played in the .02/.05 6-max zoom tables:

Hero limps UTG with 99

MP raises to .20, SB 3 bets to .45, BB flats, hero 4-bets to 1.50.

MP folds, SB shoves ~4.00, BB shoves ~5.50, hero calls.

SB has TT, BB has AQo, hero hits a 9 to take the pot.

What do you guys think about my play here, specifically:

1. Limping UTG with 99. I've noticed that people tend to play tighter than usual against raises from early position, so I've been limping in sometimes in with some strong hands with the intention of 3 betting a raise from the button/blinds. Does it just make more sense to adjust my open-raise to a smaller size/play a wider range? If I do decide to limp, are 9s good enough for this play or should I be selecting some stronger hands(JJ/AQ)/ weaker pocket pairs to limp-raise?

2. The 4-bet. I didn't like playing 99 multi-ways, but I thought it was too strong to fold so I opt for a large 4-bet. Do 9s have enough equity to just flat against the ranges of the other players in the hand? Am I only getting called by better hands? Does it make sense to go for a smaller 4-bet size?

3. Calling the shoves. My initial instinct was to fold since I'm getting crushed by a lot of hands in the SB's range, but decided to call because the BB re-shoved after only flatting the 3-bet, and I'm getting a bit less than 3:1 odds. I checked the equity of 99s in a few scenarios afterwards and I'm about 15-20% against a stronger pocket pair but ~40% against broadways or smaller pocket pairs. I thought I was likely at least ahead of the BB since I doubt he'd flat with TT+. Obviously, it worked out in the end here, but I'm not really sure how to feel about this decision since I did end up getting it in with only 17% equity.


My personal feelings are that the 4-bet was the most questionable play, but let me know your thoughts.
 
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PaxMundi

PaxMundi

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I don't like the limp or the 4bet just raise preflop.
 
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YellowHeart

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What hands would you pick to limp, or should I be raising/ folding with all of my hands?
 
PaxMundi

PaxMundi

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If i'm first to act id just raise my whole range from each position.The only time i really limp is over limping if a short stack has already limped and the spr doesn't warrant a raise with my hand.Some people have a SB limping range vs very aggressive BB's as'well but i haven't found ive ever needed a limping range from the SB.

99 also isn't strong enough to limp 3bet as a trap if that's your intention. People sometimes play AA like it which comes from Doyle Brunson's super system i believe.But it's not the best line to take in 6 max online poker.It probably isn't the best line in any form of poker these days.
 
CRStals

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Personally limping UTG with 99 I'm not a fan of, doing it with AA or KK fine but only if you know the type of players you are against.

I get the whole not liking to play post flop three way, but if you are overaggressive with your 99 pre like that you're losing value long term IMO. You are only getting called by the high end of ranges in this spot - like you did X2 which doesn't work long term. Raising doesn't make sense, so this is a spot where calling might make more sense, especially with the pot odds you are getting there to do so.

However how you called the five bet shove with 99 is a little scary. Micro stakes are what they are, but I don't like calling off my stack pre knowing I'm behind...especially behind two players. You're drawing to two outs and that's razor thin as is

Good job winning the pot - but really think through your aggression. Especially in zoom poker, aggression like that doesn't always yield positive results.
 
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YellowHeart

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Appreciate the replies!

Limping 99 here was experimental-- I'll definitely be far more selective with the hands I choose to limp-raise in the future. Also-- is it worth it to have a limp-call or limp-fold range from UTG/ SB? Or is it just too much effort with not enough tangible benefit?

Reviewing my decisions myself, I realized that whatever equity I could get to fold the 4-bet was kinda trumped by the equity I would have to fold to a jam. Raising here, like you said, didn't make much sense when I'm up against ranges where I'm often a 4:1 dog.

Regarding calling the shove/re-shove: How do you guys evaluate the BB's call -> re-shove? I took it as a sign that he's capping his range and that I'm often ahead. Am I missing the mountain for the mole hill here (that I need to just fold 99 against SB's range regardless of what BB does)?
 
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Joey1998

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I don't like it from the start, to be blunt. Limping here has no advantage. Then again, you would have been in a betting war with TT so in retrospect, a raise would have been risky as well. Anyway, outcome awesome, congrats and use the profits to cash in more.
 
PaxMundi

PaxMundi

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is it worth it to have a limp-call range.Or is it just too much effort with not enough tangible benefit?

No real advantage to it and a couple of big disadvantages. Which are you end up in more multi way pot's your range becomes very capped and you can't win the blinds uncontested.
 
John A

John A

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You can do whatever you want pre-flop, as long as you flop sets. That's the moral of this story. ;)
 
Giovanni Planas

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I don't like limp the posición utg 99 pockets
 
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RobQQ

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I wouldn't have limped to start. I would probably of raised to $.20-$.25 hoping to try and limit the playing field and try to get a read on if anyone else has a hand. Mp probably would have called SB would have probably raised BB probably would have called and I would be thinking my 99 looks pretty small so I would have probably folded. Ya I would have won a monster pot if I stayed in but I would have put at least one of them on a decent pair and the other one on over cards. It's a ring game you can wait a long time/take on less risk. I would have waited. Especially having pretty much only 2 outs.

or Instead of raising BB calls if this happened I would have probably just called to try and see a flop. In this case to me it would all be about what MP does If he re-raises. If he does, I would wait and see what SB does if he comes over the top I would have folded. If he just call I might come in to see the flop. I wouldnt have wanted to go all-in with this hand...not preflop with this many players.

Most cases I would have folded and missed out on a monster pot but I would have felt the odds were against me. Anyways, Thats kinda how I
would have played it. Congrats on the win tho
 
elflake

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Though you got lucky and won here, obviously getting all-in pre-flop on hands where you have a 17% chance of winning is a long-term losing play, unless you win pots with more than 5 times what you put in with 5 all-ins.
 
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