Please knock some sense into me...

[sonicblue]

Hello everyone, new guy here. I'm on Party Poker at a $50 NL table and I'm up to about $125. This is a pretty loose game, and so far patience and tight play have paid off. I am on the button and my hand is -

A /images/graemlins/heart.gif 9 /images/graemlins/heart.gif

UTG- raise to $4
UTG+1- fold
MP- fold
MP- fold
MP- call $4
LP-fold
LP- call $4
Dealer/hero - call $4
SB - Call $4
BB - fold

I figured with 3 players betting $4 to my call, pot odds justified me entering the hand (with the SB call being a bonus). I thought it better not to raise here because the flop could well be ugly for me, and it came --

3 /images/graemlins/heart.gif 9 /images/graemlins/club.gif K /images/graemlins/heart.gif

OK, a playable hand. The betting continued --

UTG - bet $4
MP- fold
LP-call $4
Dealer/hero - call $4
SB-fold

I considered raising, but I did not think it would buy me a free card and I was sure I had at best a 2nd best hand at that point. Nice to have a nut flush draw and a mid pair; maybe I should've loosened up and raised. The turn card comes -

5 /images/graemlins/spade.gif

UTG - checks
LP - bets $9
Dealer/hero - calls $9
UTG- calls $9

And now the river is -

8 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

UTG - all in with $37 and change
LP- calls the all in
Dealer/hero - fold

THe ensuing mayhem reveals -

UTG has 3/5 off suit for 5's up, and the LP has K/5 off suit for K's up. I have no idea why the BB+1 raised to $4 pre flop with this hand, but I figured in hindsight if I had raised strongly right after the flop I might have taken the pot - which I think was my biggest mistake in that hand. The UTG and LP players were pretty loose though, so I was unsure.
I'd appreciate any criticism, thanks and have a good New Year's everyone.

[theredpill]

[ QUOTE ]
I have no idea why the BB+1 raised to $4 pre flop with this hand, but I figured in hindsight if I had raised strongly right after the flop I might have taken the pot - which I think was my biggest mistake in that hand.

[/ QUOTE ]

I doubt you could have taken him off that hand. That guy is a gambler or just someone very good who has amazing reads on people. It looks like you were getting odds to call but you just didn't land it. It happens. With about 14 outs, ( I say about because I still mess up when calculating outs), you might have thought about going all-in on the flop or making a big raise. Problem with that is that you don't know if someone has flopped two pair or a set.

[soah]

That's a fold preflop. Despite how truly horrible your opponents seem to be playing, even horrible players will get hands that beat A9 rather frequently in a full ring game. The raise kills your ability to play it very well for flush value (you want to draw at it cheaply and have money left to get paid off with if you hit).

On the flop I like just calling to close the action. Against these types of opponents you probably have very little chance of getting anyone to fold a better hand (and it's fairly likely that someone does have a better hand). Going all-in will probably get you called by a hand that you're only a tiny favorite over. Pushing here is +EV but just calling and then dropping the hammer later in the hand if you hit one of your outs is much better +EV. This is especially true if you don't expect to face a large turn bet.

On the turn you're getting something like 5:1 or 6:1 to call (quick counting in my head...) so you're getting good enough to call.

On the river you whiff again and two people go all in. Can't ever call that with second pair.