Middling pairs in bb.. how do you guys play ?

[Andymac37]

How do u play middle pairs in bb .. I faced a open and a 3 bet and I had 99 in the bigger 7.50 on stars .. the 3 bet was 4x the open and folding seemed to week .. I called .. flop came k2j 3 better c bet and i folded.. i felt as though I just tossed a bunch of chips away trying to set mine... what do you guys do

 

[_xgeb_]

How do u play middle pairs in bb .. I faced a open and a 3 bet and I had 99 in the bigger 7.50 on stars .. the 3 bet was 4x the open and folding seemed to week .. I called .. flop came k2j 3 better c bet and i folded.. i felt as though I just tossed a bunch of chips away trying to set mine... what do you guys do

It all depends on the phase of the tournament ... I think it would be well played if it is at the beginning of the tournament, since you could catch the opponent if you link a 9 on the flop. If the tournament is already advanced and you have few blinds, maybe you can consider folding 99.

 

[popstani]

In situation when you got raise and 3bet before you, 99 probably are not good enough to call. Depending on previous actions of a two players you have decision, fold or 4bet all in. By my opinion it would be the best play.

 

[fundiver199]

Against a 3-bet its usually fine to just fold a hand like 99, if you are not yet involved in the action. Its different, if you are the guy opening, because then you are getting a price and closing action, which makes calling a lot more profitable. Against a normal open raise I would often just call with 99 in the BB. Maybe against BTN or SB it can be a 3-bet, because their steal range is probably wide.

 

[Andymac37]

In situation when you got raise and 3bet before you, 99 probably are not good enough to call. Depending on previous actions of a two players you have decision, fold or 4bet all in. By my opinion it would be the best play.

This reply has been ringing in my ears wen ive been playing. The 4bet all in has helped , got a few folds thanks bud, also the fold depending on the players . Thanks .

 

[thehangdude]

When you call with small/medium pairs, you want a set. That happens about 12% of the time. Your villain should have 20-25 times the bet size to make this profitable. With the 3bet, I would not call because the opener still has the chance to re-raise. At best, you are facing two players in bad position.

Your other option with middle pairs is raising (4bet here), hoping the villains fold. With a raise and 3bet here, I can't see both folding. Not a good option, especially from bb.


The winning option here is a painful fold.

Having played and missed your set, you were right to muck the 9s to this flop.

 

[royalburrito24]

How do u play middle pairs in bb .. I faced a open and a 3 bet and I had 99 in the bigger 7.50 on stars .. the 3 bet was 4x the open and folding seemed to week .. I called .. flop came k2j 3 better c bet and i folded.. i felt as though I just tossed a bunch of chips away trying to set mine... what do you guys do

Every single time you are faced with a decision before the flop, you must consider many factors.

How many big blinds did the initial raiser have? From which position did they raise? Do you have any reads on this player? If they are loose, raising a wide range and calling a tighter one, they are more likely to fold to a 4-bet shove. If they have a tight opening range, then you are less likely to be ahead in this situation.

How many big blinds did the 3-better have, and again, from which position was the 3-bet? Any reads? Again, all of this matters in your decision. If the player 3-bets with a wide range, and the initial raiser has a loose image, you might have some fold equity here if neither of them are calling stations.

How many big blinds do YOU have? If you have 5bb, I shove every time. If you have 125bb, I call or mayyyybe 4-bet. If you have 35bb, I'd fold or shove, depending on my reads. Generally, set mining with 22-99 and less than 40bb will get you into trouble. Your play also depends on how you think your opponents view you. Do they see you as tight, or loose? Your image will effect your fold equity.

Before deciding to simply call in this situation, you must consider what the initial raiser might do. If you're confident they would just call or fold, then a call is fine. But if you think they are the type of player to shove here most of the time, better save your chips for a better spot. You may be getting the correct odds to call the shove when it comes back around to you, but you are likely dominated, putting you in a very difficult position.

When relaying hand details back to the cardschat community, try to include all stack sizes, the positions that each player are in, and if you have any reads on your opponents. This will help us answer your questions more thoroughly, and will help you to think about each and every hand in this way too

 

[vashsv]

How do u play middle pairs in bb .. I faced a open and a 3 bet and I had 99 in the bigger 7.50 on stars .. the 3 bet was 4x the open and folding seemed to week .. I called .. flop came k2j 3 better c bet and i folded.. i felt as though I just tossed a bunch of chips away trying to set mine... what do you guys do

Not enough information, but with 99 its usually all in or fold for me. Especially if the players are agro and are trying to push the table around. But its all situation dependent. On the bubble easy fold, provided you have enough bb to cash. If you're the monster stack on the table easy shove, and so on. If your goal was to set mine you did everything correctly and made a discipline fold. I assume that if that opponent was a total maniac you would have called him at least one street.