99 on Button 20+2

[Dan Rutter]

Blinds are $25 and $50, 9 handed.

Folded to MP1 ($3,715) and he calls the $50. Folded to me on button ($1,295) I raise it up to $200 with 9s 9d. SB folds, BB ($1,280 before posting) raises it up to $450 to play. MP1 folds. So far the BB has not done anything out of the oridnary or anything that really has me noticed way subpar hand values. What is my play?

[lastchance]

I would raise first in. And I doubt you can fold 99 in position here given very good pot odds. I think I just call

[Isura]

I'd usually limp behind on the button with this hand. You have position, so it's not necessary to play the hand too strong preflop. I think you I would cringe and call the raise. But I really don't like it since we don't have the odds to play for set value, and we're usually a 4:1 dog here. I think folding is probably the best move. Those extra 250 chips can probably find a better use later.

[The Don]

[ QUOTE ]
I'd usually limp behind on the button with this hand. You have position, so it's not necessary to play the hand too strong preflop. I think you I would cringe and call the raise. But I really don't like it since we don't have the odds to play for set value, and we're usually a 4:1 dog here. I think folding is probably the best move. Those extra 250 chips can probably find a better use later.

[/ QUOTE ]

same here

[ilya]

Ugly situation. If you call, the pot will be so huge on the flop that you will have to push if you decide to make a play for the pot. I would be afraid of calling if my opponent was difficult to read post-flop: I want to have a fairly good idea of what his flop bets/checks mean, since I won't be able to bet & fold to a raise. On the other hand, your pot odds are good, and folding will hinder your efforts to steal from late position later in the tournament. Difficult decision.

In thinking about situations like this, I think it can be useful to consider what you might have done to make your decisions easier. In this case, I think a smaller raise to 150 might have done the trick. It's true that the limper is more likely to call if you raise to just 150, but that's not a terrible outcome: your hand plays pretty well heads-up in position. More importantly, a smaller raise will keep the pot smaller. Say the BB re-raises to 350. The limper folds, and you call. The pot is now 775 instead of the 975 it would be in your situation. Your stack is also a big bigger, 950 instead of 850. Now you will have a bit more flexibility on the flop. On dangerous flops, you might be able to fold to a raise after making a continuation bet of about 400-450. Folding getting 3:1 is ugly, but if the BB checks a K-high flop to you and then check-raises you all-in, you can be pretty sure you're making the right fold.

Then again....oh, I dunno.

[johnnybeef]

in this situation, if i have 20+ bb i call, if i have <10bb i push. if im in the middle, i fold.

[Scuba Chuck]

Dan, consider your preflop strategy. I assume your intent was to "steal" the blinds and the limper. Once that strategy is lost, you need to change gears. I just noticed that you're probably playing with a t1500 starting chipstack. Well that doesn't change my mind here much. I think the hand range of players who make this kind of raise is very narrow AA/KK most likely, and maybe AK.

I think that correct shift here is to save your chips, and to next time just limp. 99 is not that strong postflop, and can get you into trouble. If you don't hit a 9 on the flop, it will be difficult to do anything other than fold.

I'm confident you will hear others say "but you're getting the right odds" blah blah. ~3.1:1 odds. But I think it's already been eloquently said in this thread. Save your chips, they can be put to better use later.

Scuba