99 - ITM vs. Loose Big Stack

[El Maximo]

Big stack has been playing very loose. 50% VP$IP so far. But he has just called my raises in the past. He hasnt come over the top yet. I just called the re-raise and was planning on calling or pushing any non scary flop.

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t300 (3 handed) converter (http://www.selachian.com/tools/bisonconverter/hhconverter.cgi)

SB (t4310)
BB (t565)
Hero (t3125)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9/images/graemlins/diamond.gif, 9/images/graemlins/spade.gif.
<font color="#CC3333">Hero raises to t900</font>, <font color="#CC3333">SB raises to t1500</font>, <font color="#666666">1 fold</font>, Hero calls t600.

Flop: (t3300) 2/images/graemlins/club.gif, A/images/graemlins/heart.gif, 3/images/graemlins/club.gif <font color="#0000FF">(2 players)</font>
<font color="#CC3333">SB bets t1500</font>, Hero cusses and ??

[slickterp]

ITM you push 99 every time.

[El Maximo]

Normally I would push 99 without hesitation. But I had over just over 10BB and the small stack was on life support. If small stack would have come along I would have pushed over top big stack.

[ericlambi]

If you think that you are better than the other players at the table and you have &gt;10BBs, then why would you want to autopush 99. You are a coinflip or worse to anything that calls you.

In this particular hand I might consider pushing after getting re-raised if you think the villain is putting a move on. I don't mind the call and then folding when that damn Ace hits. Its unfortunate, but you still have more chips than the short stack and it will only take one small break to put you back in contention for the win.

[slickterp]

i push every time b/c the difference between 2nd and 3rd is small and you need the chips if you want to win. i think that the villain will call w/ alot in this case, and you are not neccesarily a coinflip or worse. he may have only one overcard, a lesser PP, or some low suited connector or something, especially given that he seems to be loose.

[ColdestCall]

I would push the 99 pre-flop and put the big stack to a decision. In this particular case it looks like you would have been called by a better pp, or overcards including an A, and you would have been unhappy on the flop. Most of the time, however, you will end up heads up with the BB for the remainder of his stack, and you will be a favorite. The SB won't call your push without a real premium holding, given that the small stack is so close to busting out, and you will end up heads up with similar stacks. That being said....

The minraise from SB is trouble. It could be a monster hand that he is looking to get action on, or it could be a play to test your resolve, which illustrates another problem with your raise. I would have to seriously consider folding to this re-raise preflop given that the small stack only has 265 left after this hand, and the fact that big stack had not yet come over the top of one of my raises could easily mean a better pp. Plus, when one or more overcards flop, as they are likely to, I'm in a tough spot on the flop. There are a whole lot of ways I can get outplayed in this situation if I dont push preflop, and I am not going to open up those possibilities. So, because I am going to fold to this 1500 bet on the flop, I am also going to fold to the reraise pre-flop, but none of this is going to happen, because I will have pushed pre-flop and let the chips fall where they may.

[willie24]

fold.

almost certainly should have pushed preflop, but if he NEVER raises, then you may have played this right.

calling this flop makes zero sense. if you are thinking about calling this flop you certainly should have reraise pushed preflop.

[schwza]

i like how you played it as long as you folded the flop.

one reason i want to raise 3x (i'd probably have made it 2.75 or 2.5) instead of pushing is that all the positional advantage goes out the window if you push.

[Phil Van Sexton]

I believe that Sklansky used 99 in TPFAP as an example of a hand that "hates to be re-raised". If you had AA or 72o, a re-raise isn't that big of a deal. With AA you push, with 72o you fold. No big deal.

With a hand like 99, a re-raise puts you in an awkward spot. Making it worse, since he acts 1st on the flop, your 99 is likely to look pretty bad if you don't flop a set and he bets out.

Bottom line, if you are going to be unsure what to do when raised, you should just push in the first place. There's no sense in playing for 2nd place.