Pot Odds vs. Hand Strength

i was wondering the other night about what you would call with when pot odds are good...

for example,
25/50 blinds
sitting in the small blind
2 callers with the BB left to act
pot is 175 and it is 25 for me to call.... so odds are 1:7

i have rags, 93o say....

would you call the 25 and hope the BB doesn't raise....?

why not? it's cheap...

any comments? am i an idiot?

position is horrible....

thanks.

jimbo

Depends how much of your stack it is as well, 93o is a horrible hand, so if that 25 for you to call is less then say %5 of your stack, you can do it, but if its more then %5 of your stack its probably a bit expensive even if odds are so good, because that hand is a trash hand for a reason.

I probably woudl just fold this hand even if i'm getting 1:7, i'd be happy playing hands like 3 gap suited connectors and even possibly unsuited and any pocket pair with these odds.
however like I said, stack size matters.

Preflop pot odds are a bit "overrated" because a) you still have 3 full streets left to play b) you are not guaranteed to be able to fully realize your equity.

you can certainly call. But I don't like playing a weak hand oop even if it's cheap. Even if you hit a pair, you're maybe a slight favorite against to overcards and a big underdog, if he has a bigger pair. But that's just my opinion.

I think you left out one important part of the equation. What is your stack size? Since blinds are 25/50, I'm guessing it's pretty early in the tourney and you have plenty of chips, so at that point, 25 chips isn't going to kill you.

But what if the same scenario comes up later? You've got 14K chips left (average stack is 19K), BB is 2K. You've got same pot odds (2 limpers with BB to go.) Do you risk 1/14th of your stack playing junk? That's why I don't play pot odds. I look at stack odds and then consider the pot size.

Pot odds aren't really relevant here. Why? There are lots of cards to come and many more bets to be called. 93o is ~ a 1 to 5 dog against a random hand, but the players in front of you aren't random They likely have over hards and ione has a pair bigger than 9 your odds are cut in half. That's if three hands go to show down, but they usually won't.

What happens when the flop comes QT9 rainbow? You hit your high card, can you call a 1/2 pot raise on the flop? Better to save your specualtive chips for a 65 suited hand or something you can call if it hits.

great answers.... thanks. more to consider....

so, % of stack size, good position and at least a marginal hand...

What can you hit for value with 93o? Your odds of flopping 2-pair are 1:47. You have to hit your 9 and it has to hold. If you do hit your 9, you need 1:4 to improve by the river, 1:8 to improve by the turn.

The 1:6 rule is a bit overrated. Especially when OOP.

Statistically you are -EV here. To be honest, and I'm sure some regulars will scold me for this, but if I were to do anything besides fold with 93o I'd bluff-squeeze. At least I have better odds of a single pair being good if I hit.

I WOULD CALL when blinds are low I usually call not to good % hands

I suppose this is 1500 starting chips and its in the early phase. If so, I definitely would call.

If not, I would change my action and bank on all the reasons given above by our fellow cc ers.