A9s on button

[DcifrThs]

all players in this hand are betwenn 18-24/8-15/1-2

bb is 23/15/1.8

3 limpers to me on the button. i call w/ As9s (i think this may be a place to raise it b/c the game has been playing tight. i have shown down nothing but winners and may steal the pot. also, it may be one of those times that raising this would throw my opponents off and entice them to stay on w/ the promise of a bigger pot (poker essays vol. II i think) ) .....now the sb complets bb raises we all call 6 players for 12 bets.

flop comes 9d8c2c sb checks bb bets UTG calls MP1 calls MP2 calls MP3 calls and i ???. i called here. sb calls.

turn is gorgeous. the Ah sb checks bb bets UTG calls i raise sb folds UTG calls.

river is Tc check bet call i win.

utg sucks balls and had 33 and should have folded on every street for every bet excpet callint the pf raise after he limped UTG in a tight game w/ 33.

turn and river play themselves. but preflop and flop are up in the air for me.

i planned on raising a turn K (non club) b/c if i woulda been 3bet it means AK or KK or another set to which i dont have 5 outs...either dead or just the 9s, one of which may be tainted by the flush draw. i also think sb woulda folded to the turn raise w/ TT-QQ. but what about if it was a Q. simply call? what about a club blank, raise and fold to a 3bet?

-Barron

[DpR]

Lots of iterations we could talk about, but I like the way you played every street based on the cards that came. Preflop I am fairly indifferent to a call vs raise.

Your flop play is standard IMO. Draw heavy board, raise is folding no one. Wait till your equity increases before raising. Rest of the hand played itself.

In other scenarios the turn play is tougher. Obviously any 'safe' card is a raise. I do not see a lot of reason to get too aggresssive if a K or Q falls though. No chance you are against PP >9, so there is no fold to get. You most likely have BB reverse dominated so it is ok to let him stay till river. UTG is (normally) unlikely to call the turn with any hands you could get to fold with a raise.

So basically I think a lot of the options are reasonable on the turn. Raising vs calling down non club overcards on the turn seem close to me. A big club is the most difficult to play, I think I am more inclined to raise the turn if the big club hits.......

[The Truth]

I like preflop. Not raising gives you the advantage of keeping the pot small, and keeping people from getting tied to it, this inceases the chances your lone pairs will hold up when you flop them.

I like raising the flop. I think it allows you to find out where you are on the cheaper street, as well as punish everybody that is calling with any 2, plus you likely have the best hand here and it gets the most value out of your hand.

Rest is standard.

[bernie]

I think you played it fine. Though I might raise it preflop. A flop raise really isn't going to do much. You're not protecting anything with it and everyone has odds to call with anything reasonable. It's 18-1 when it gets to you. You raise, you're only facing the sb with 2 bets cold. The pot is big enough to try and find a way to maximize winning it. Forego the small value on the flop bet.

On the turn, if the original bettor bets out, if no one raises, I might raise even scare overcards. Anyone that an overcard hits would likely raise and since the initial bettor is betting again, he may not have it. He may just be betting again regardless of the card. People are more likely to fold on the turn after putting in one bet than they are on the flop. Especially if you wake up and raise. If someone else gets active on the turn with an overcard, then you have to think a bit more about where you're at.

Just some thoughts...

b