TAG, 99 in the small blind nine handed

[prepare]

This is a hypothetical question, but I will be using a specific made up example

Game: Texas hold em NL cashgame.
table: 01/02 cent. 9 handed.

players: mostly loose but not crazy.


UTG: TAG stack size: 100 BB ( $2)
UTG+1: LP stack size: 102 BB ( $2.04)
UTG+ 2:LAG stack size: 52.5 BB ( $1.05)
MP: LAG stack size: 100 BB ($2)
MP+1:LP stack size: 88.5 BB ($1.77)
CO:TP stack size: 58.5 BB ($1.17)
BT: LP stack size: 70 BB ($1.40)
SB:TAG stack size: 94 BB ($1.88)
BB: LAG stack size: 175 BB ($3.50)

this is where normal ends, everybody except you (SB) are millionaires (not by poker). They suck very much in poker and do not care if the lose all their stack but the are not crazy poker players.
You are dealt 99 in the SB.

UTG folds
+1 raises 2 to make it 4
+2 calls
Middle position guy folds
MP +1 folds
CO folds
BT calls
YOU:

Okay this is my question, what to do. you raise it all in you know your being called by either a flip or something that is domination you so you know that is wrong.

You call, This seems very stupid if you ask me because your sure the big blind is going to call also, your play is to hit a set and nothing else. 4 things could happen (well the are more things but I have narrowed it down to four main things

Option One: you hit your set, you raised into by LAGs you decide that they would probably call an all in because the suck and will pay you off with any peice of that board, a straight or flush draw, a backdoor flush or with a lesser set.

Two: one or more over cards come, not set for you. normally you could take a continue bet and hope to take it down but that will not work because of:

(a) 5 people entered this flop and you are most likely betting with 2 outs.

(b) or you continue bet, you're in the lead but them being the very loose the will call you with anything, two over cards a pair hoping to hit two pair or a set, a flush draw or a straight draw.

(b continued) sure you could bet on the turn again but really, are going to, you have second pair on the board at best, 3 people called your flop and you know that the will call the turn bet and know it really comes down are you going to bet the every street with only second pair.

(c), under cards comes, loose passive players love you right now because your just about to pay off them off because the just hit sets, straights two pair with 86s and straight draws will still probably call you hoping to get payed off, (why would the not, there probably getting 5 to 1 to call that all in of yours and everybody else that call with anything the hit)

were not done yet.

option 3, you raise those pocket 9s all in, your getting calls by anything that beats you or flipping or everybody folds and you won about a 9 cent pot. either way your pocket nines are not being payed off or you inviting people to take all your stack.

option 4, you 3 bet to 20 BB. the fold, congratulations. again you won 9 cents or this time you get called by the two players. your in the small blind, no postion, your first to act, the flop comes overs, you c bet they raise, you fold which the will probably do because again theses people suck. (the will try to out "ivey" you by bluffing you because the think thats what the pros do is always bluff).

continued from above, you check the flop, the bet, you fold or you call but if you call they will bet the turn (which the will most probably do) Then you will fold.

okay, what I just described are play chip tables and some really donky lowest real money tables. especially play chip tables.

I wrote all this because I am currently limited to play chip tables. if I asked how to play 99 in the SB in play chips you most of you could not tell me, mostly because none of you play the play chip tables or none of you know how to play this type of table.

my question, now that you have a sense of play chips, how would you play this hand? on this table?

I do not the way I play in this situation. I'll call and hope to hit a set but I would not recommend this unless you can fold an overpair, which I know by losing too many times in this position by doing something wrong. what I do not like is that I basically will win the same amount in the long run with pocket twos vs. pocket nines because I have to hit a set.

my strategy needs improvement so I will ask you guys. what is a better way to play with basically any mid pair in early position against the opponents I have described to you

if anyone answers this ridiculously long post based on play chips I solute you.

 

[wrung24]

That's is a very precise made up situation, lol.

this is where normal ends, everybody except you (SB) are millionaires (not by poker). They suck very much in poker and do not care if the lose all their stack but the are not crazy poker players.

Quick question back to you first. What difference do you think it makes that the other players at the table are millionaires, the big majority of players that will be playing bad at 2NL don't worry about the money anyway, debatable but I think mostly true.

I'm writing this response as I read your post so that I can make unbiased remarks step by step rather than in retrospect.

you raise it all in you know your being called by either a flip or something that is domination you so you know that is wrong.

I wouldn't raise it all in at this point for the same reason you said (coinflip + rake at 2NL just not really worth it at this point in the hand, that said you could be called by undercards but not often enough IMO, again debatable), but you could still raise it quite a bit to try and get some of these millionaires out of the pot, if not then at least you're building a decent sized pot to make hitting a set worthwhile. Calling in this spot isn't terrible in this spot I don't think (if they're bad players chances are they will help you build a pot anyway)

you hit your set, you raised into by LAGs you decide that they would probably call an all in because the suck and will pay you off with any peice of that board, a straight or flush draw, a backdoor flush or with a lesser set.

Calling an all in when you hit your set is of course the right thing to do, but you have to take a good look at the board texture (straight possibilities, three suited cards). I would also like to say at this point that analysing a situation 5 handed is almost impossible (for me anyway), but I'll still continue.

(b) or you continue bet, you're in the lead but them being the very loose the will call you with anything, two over cards a pair hoping to hit two pair or a set, a flush draw or a straight draw.

In your scenario you said you call preflop, but you want to c-bet that flop. You're not c-betting when you're not the preflop aggressor. Plus betting here really isn't an option, you're throwing money away. Even check calling at this point isn't very good. With this many people in the pot it is very much hit your set or leave. If it's a minbet then calling isn't so bad (take a minbet like a check).

(b continued) sure you could bet on the turn again but really, are going to, you have second pair on the board at best, 3 people called your flop and you know that the will call the turn bet and know it really comes down are you going to bet the every street with only second pair.

(c), under cards comes, loose passive players love you right now because your just about to pay off them off because the just hit sets, straights two pair with 86s and straight draws will still probably call you hoping to get payed off, (why would the not, there probably getting 5 to 1 to call that all in of yours and everybody else that call with anything the hit)

b and c are irrelevant if you did the right thing and folded the flop.

option 3, you raise those pocket 9s all in, your getting calls by anything that beats you or flipping or everybody folds and you won about a 9 cent pot. either way your pocket nines are not being payed off or you inviting people to take all your stack.

Discussed earlier, I would like to add that you might be overrating a hand like 99, good but not great unimproved.

option 4, you 3 bet to 20 BB. the fold, congratulations. again you won 9 cents or this time you get called by the two players. your in the small blind, no postion, your first to act, the flop comes overs, you c bet they raise, you fold which the will probably do because again theses people suck. (the will try to out "ivey" you by bluffing you because the think thats what the pros do is always bluff).

If everyone folds, not a disaster, you won the pot. If you get 2 callers then treat your 99 like just a pair, c-betting at this point is very board dependant, and just because they're fish doesn't mean they don't have a hand.

continued from above, you check the flop, the bet, you fold or you call but if you call they will bet the turn (which the will most probably do) Then you will fold.

Calling a bet on the flop and then folding the turn isn't good at all (that is one of my biggest problems), you were probably not getting the right odds to hit a nine. (Again very board dependant, I guess you could call (or raise) with only undercards on board, but as said before fish have hands too.

I do play with play money sometimes, the play is very different (People rightly don't treat it like real money). It also depends on the level you're playing at, if it's micro play money, then I don't know. Middle stakes play money can already be compared to 2NL a bit in skill levels, but not in the way people value money (even millionaires).

Next time say it's play money at the start, I do think my response is still fairly valid.

Hope I made sense, I got a little lost while writing this, and don't hesitate if you've got any questions.

Oh and also don't forget to use the Auto-top up option so you always have 100BB at least