99 in SB against possible steal raise

I'm in the SB with 9h9d. Cutoff, who isn't afraid to steal with less than top level holdings open raises. I 3 bet. Unfortunately BB cold calls. Cutoff calls.


Flop: Td 6h 4c


I bet, BB calls, cutoff raises. Who 3 bets here? I think if I had the hand would have been much easier to play.


Instead I just call like a sissy. BB calls also. My first thought for BB was AK. I don't know him well enough to know if he would have capped before the flop with it.


Turn: [Td 6h 4c] Kc


Checked to cutoff who bets again. The Cutoff has shown no fear despite my show of strength. Also, I'm still afraid of the BB behind me. I muck. BB folds also.


Please flame away.

Flop is raise or fold. In most situations I would probably fold here. Calling raises cold with marginal holdings is a losing play.


"The Cutoff has shown no fear despite my show of strength."


Cold-calling a flop raise is not a show of strength...

No advice but you just got smashed between two players. One being the LP bettor and the BB. I also like to hear all the different roads to this mission.

"Cold-calling a flop raise is not a show of strength... "


My threebet before the flop and betting the flop was the strength I was refering to.


I agree with your post for the most part. I wasn't very happy with the way I played the hand.

Blah... sorry.. I had a brain fart. I missed that you bet out on the flop... I saw you cold-calling a raise on the flop for some reason.


This is a tougher situation now. Assuming BB is a reasonable player, cold-calling the pre-flop raise to me says two big cards... maybe JJ or QQ. When he just calls your flop bet, I would put him on overcards. Would the CO raise the flop here with overcards just as easily as he would with a T? If so, I 3-bet the flop to drive BB out and put pressure on the CO. If his raise means top pair, then fold. I still don't like the call.


Calling the flop bet and not betting out on the turn doesn't really make much sense. Of course the CO is going to bet... if you are going to fold to the turn bet, don't bother calling the flop raise.

There are a few ways you could have played this hand, and your play was not especially bad. Yes, you might have thrown away the best hand on the turn but based on the knowledge available to you at the time you were probably beat by at least one of your opponents, with only two outs.


You said that the cutoff has loose stealing standards. Suppose he would steal with any two broadway cards or any pocket pair -- then on the turn there's a fairly good chance he has either a king or a ten (you could work out the probability exactly, but I'm too lazy). On the other hand, if you think he would steal with lots of other hands (e.g. 86 offsuit) and then bluff his way through the next two streets, you should definitely be raising him on the turn with your 99.


On the flop I think your call was okay. The main advantage to raising is to knock the BB out -- especially if he has something like two suited overcards with a backdoor flush draw. In that case he would have called your bet on the flop and will call the raise, but won't (i.e. shouldn't) call the raise and reraise. On the other hand the BB might have a smaller pocket pair than yours -- perhaps 88 or 77, in which case you don't want him out. If he has a ten, you probably can't get him out by 3-betting the flop. But if he has a ten, wouldn't he have raised the flop himself?


The big problem with reraising the flop is that the cutoff will call you and then you almost have to bet out on the turn. You hope that he has nothing and will fold. Best case scenario is that he has a ten (e.g. JT) and will fold that on the turn. But if he has a king (especially AK) he will probably raise you when the king hits -- this puts you in a very tough spot and you probably have to fold, having already put lots of chips in the pot. Much better to play as you did.


One strategy would be to 3-bet the flop and then bet out again unless the turn card is J through A. This way the cutoff might put you on a ten. If a jack through ace hits on the turn and you check, he will (hopefully) check behind you if he has less than a pair of tens, and bet out otherwise. Thus you can safely fold to his bet on the turn (whereas if you just call the flop and then check the turn, you aren't so sure about folding to his bet). If a 7, for example, hits on the turn, and you bet out -- having 3-bet the flop -- then he won't raise except with a hand that can beat your 99. Thus you could fold to his raise. He'll still call you if he has, say, JT, but there's nothing you can do about that. If he has two overcards, say QJ, then you have him beat but he has six outs to hit. You just don't want to give him a free card.


If you do just call the flop (as you did), then on the turn you should do the opposite: bet out if an A through J hits, and check if another card hits. For example, when the K hit on the turn, if you had bet out then your opponents would have been afraid you held a king -- your play to that point would have been completely consistent with AK, KQ, or KJs, for example. That's not to say they would have folded something bigger than your 99, but they would have folded almost anything worse that had five or six outs to beat you, and they also would not have bluff-raised you.


To summarize, here are two viable options for your play on the flop after you bet out, the BB called, and the cutoff raised:


(1) 3-bet with the intention of betting out on the turn if a deuce through ten hits, but checking the turn if a jack through ace hits;


(2) call with the intention of checking the turn if a deuce through ten hits, but betting out on the turn if a jack through ace hits.


Also let me repeat that I don't think the way you actually played it was that bad. You were probably beat, and got out of the hand without putting in many chips. Perhaps you did fold the best hand on the turn, but you were in the SB, and when you have poor position you will inevitably have to fold the best hand from time to time.