99 in the SB, 7 handed, FTP $1.2

[daviddem]

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 1.2 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop

Villain (Button) (t1335)
Hero (SB) (t1420)
BB (t1305)
UTG (t5820)
MP1 (t1050)
MP2 (t1185)
CO (t1385)

Hero's M: 18.93

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
4 folds, Villain bets t100, Hero calls t75, 1 fold

Flop: (t250) 7, 2, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Villain bets t50, Hero ??

Villain has been active before, but not outrageously loose. Only hand he showed down was a KJo, which he had min raised UTG+1 7 handed. He has won his other hands before showdown, playing aggressively postflop. He lost half his stack the last hand he was involved in, apparently chasing a flush or straight draw (overpaying for it).

What is your line here on the flop after his min bet?

[Nakamura]

I reraise to 200. He will often call here with a FD, SD or TP. If a blank comes out I'm happy to fire again.

[taipan168]

First of all, I don't check the flop with your overpair, I'd bet 180 and take it from there. After you checked I'd raise him up to like 250.

[Nakamura]

First of all, I don't check the flop with your overpair, I'd bet 180 and take it from there. After you checked I'd raise him up to like 250.

Whoops, I missed the fact that Hero was OOP. What Taipan said, don't check the flop with an overpair.

[daviddem]

Yes, I did hesitate to bet the flop. I suppose the main reason to take the initiative is to not give a free card, which is fair enough. Gotta make him pay for a card.

Now in spots like these, I have indeed taken the initiative in the past, but lots of preflop raisers seem to "take offense" if you do and next thing you know you are faced with a massive reraise which may or may not be a bluff. And what then?

My idea behind not betting, and it may well be wrong, was to 1) avoid the spot above 2) keep my investment in the hand to a minimum, as it is very vulnerable, and I am OOP. If he checks behind, I re-evaluate on the turn. If he bets 1/2 pot I probably call. If he bets 1 pot, I might well fold.

When I saw the min bet, it looked weak, so indeed I raised to 200 hoping to take the pot right there. Well, he called

Can I post the rest of the hand here or should I start a new thread for the turn play?

[Nakamura]

Now in spots like these, I have indeed taken the initiative in the past, but lots of preflop raisers seem to "take offense" if you do and next thing you know you are faced with a massive reraise which may or may not be a bluff. And what then?

Don't be weak-tight, suck it up and call. At a $1.25 this play will be made with TP, draws and even stone-cold bluffs. I don't even think twice about shipping this.

Post the rest of the hand here. Let's see

[Extremophile]

I'd shove preflop. After villian's bet preflop, the pot is already more than 15% of your stack. We are way ahead of his range, especially his button range.

Edit: I guess I miscalculated it. Our stack is big enough to 3-bet preflop. I'd make it 270 preflop and force him to define his hand. If he shoves back, get it in.

[daviddem]

Don't be weak-tight, suck it up and call. At a $1.25 this play will be made with TP, draws and even stone-cold bluffs. I don't even think twice about shipping this.

Yes I would call it too, but still not happy to risk my whole tourney on a very vulnerable hand. If I had a very big stack (or a very small one), it would be different of course.

I'd shove preflop. After villian's bet preflop, the pot is already more than 15% of your stack. We are way ahead of his range, especially his button range.

Edit: I guess I miscalculated it. Our stack is big enough to 3-bet preflop. I'd make it 270 preflop and force him to define his hand. If he shoves back, get it in.

I would quite happily make that play, also with a bigger stack or definitely shove with a smaller one. With my stack size though it is again risking my whole tourney on a little better than a coin flip. But it's true, that I am ahead of his range. Note that at these low stakes, it is quite rare that people fold to re-raises unless it was a steal attempt. Not sure it would very much define the hand.

I am sometimes tempted in spots like these, when my stack is no better or no worse than opp's to treat 88, 99 and even sometimes TT as small pairs: no set, no (or not much) more money in the pot. Is that being too tight? (keep in mind this is low stakes)

The other day, I picked up TT on the button first hand. UTG bet 400, almost a third of starting stacks and 13xBB. I felt he was the kind who would shove the flop no matter what, so that was basically all-in or fold. I just folded it. Turns out I was right, as he played very loose-aggro the whole time. I ended up stacking him on the bubble, and won the tourney, just being patient.

Anyway, here is the first part of the rest:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 1.2 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop

Villain (Button) (t1335)
Hero (SB) (t1420)
BB (t1305)
UTG (t5820)
MP1 (t1050)
MP2 (t1185)
CO (t1385)

Hero's M: 18.93

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
4 folds, Villain bets t100, Hero calls t75, 1 fold

Flop: (t250) 7, 2, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Villain bets t50, Hero raises to t200, Villain calls t150

Turn: (t650) 8 (2 players)
Hero ??

[Extremophile]

I would quite happily make that play, also with a bigger stack or definitely shove with a smaller one. With my stack size though it is again risking my whole tourney on a little better than a coin flip. But it's true, that I am ahead of his range. Note that at these low stakes, it is quite rare that people fold to re-raises unless it was a steal attempt.

We should definitely raise it preflop. This is an excellent spot to double up. You can't expect to get your chips in as an 80% favorite in all tourneys.

Text results appended to pokerstove.txt

782,522,928 games 0.829 secs 943,935,980 games/sec

Board:
Dead:

equity win tie pots won pots tied
Hand 0: 64.772% 64.36% 00.41% 503609958 3245298.00 { 9c9d }
Hand 1: 35.228% 34.81% 00.41% 272422374 3245298.00 { 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 42s+, 32s, ATo+, KTo+, QJo }

---

[rong]

Are you suggesting that range for villain to call AI pre? Even at the $1.2 level I'd say that is way out. Just to call a 300 bet I'd say his range is more like

22+, A2s+, K5s+, Q8s+, J9s+, 56s+, 97s+, A5+, K7+, Q9+, TJ+, 78+, 97+.

[Extremophile]

That is his open minbet range on the button. it might be a little exaggerated but it should be close.

[rong]

Whoops, thought villain was BB and calling a bet from button.

[linaker]

Yes, I did hesitate to bet the flop. I suppose the main reason to take the initiative is to not give a free card, which is fair enough. Gotta make him pay for a card.

Exactly. The chance of an overcard on the turn is 43%, an overcard or lower diamond is 53%. You should bet this flop, which is a very good one for 9s.

As played, I would also fire again on the turn. The villain's minbet on the flop seems pretty weird with a set or an overpair to your 9s - either checking or betting bigger would be more usual. It looks like he is chasing again.

[taipan168]

My idea behind not betting, and it may well be wrong, was to 1) avoid the spot above 2) keep my investment in the hand to a minimum, as it is very vulnerable, and I am OOP. If he checks behind, I re-evaluate on the turn. If he bets 1/2 pot I probably call. If he bets 1 pot, I might well fold.

Why are you worried? You flopped an overpair! If you bet and get raised big time, you can then think about folding (particularly because Villain raised and you called). However, until that time, I wouldn't assume your hand is beat

As for the turn, I know you bet again because the Hero ?? is in red, and I agree with your decision. 400 or so seems good (and call a shove).

[daviddem]

Hand 0: 64.772% 64.36% 00.41% 503609958 3245298.00 { 9c9d }
Hand 1: 35.228% 34.81% 00.41% 272422374 3245298.00 { 22+, A2s+, K2s+, Q2s+, J2s+, T2s+, 92s+, 82s+, 72s+, 62s+, 52s+, 42s+, 32s, ATo+, KTo+, QJo }

OK even if I remove all the hands that don't have a paint from his range, I am still a 56% favorite, so yes, re-raising this preflop would be reasonable, especially as I had not yet played a single hand and probably had a very tight image.

Why are you worried? You flopped an overpair! If you bet and get raised big time, you can then think about folding (particularly because Villain raised and you called). However, until that time, I wouldn't assume your hand is beat

I will definitely open on the flop next time in this spot. Probably got too shy as I got beat too often with my medium pairs recently. For some reason, I am uncomfortable getting these early when I have a medium stack. I never seem to find the optimal play with them.

Yes I did bet the turn (t500). Sorry for the red characters, I did not realize...

Here is the rest:

Full Tilt No-Limit Hold'em, 1.2 Tournament, 25/50 Blinds (7 handed) - Full-Tilt Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com

saw flop

Villain (Button) (t1335)
Hero (SB) (t1420)
BB (t1305)
UTG (t5820)
MP1 (t1050)
MP2 (t1185)
CO (t1385)

Hero's M: 18.93

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9, 9
4 folds, Villain bets t100, Hero calls t75, 1 fold

Flop: (t250) 7, 2, 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, Villain bets t50, Hero raises to t200, Villain calls t150

Turn: (t650) 8 (2 players)
Hero bets t500, Villain raises to t1000, Hero raises to t1120 (All-In), Villain calls t35 (All-In)

River: (t2720) 3 (2 players, 2 all-in)

Total pot: t2720