Pocket Pair #2 From the Weekend

[magic_man]

My opponent opens with the classic Ruy Lopez, and I reply with the Morphy Defense. He goes for the Exchange Variation, but after I recapture and he castles, I activate my queen bishop to g4; little does he know I'm about to go for the Alapin gambit, a dubious move...

Whoops, wrong game. I'm in MP with pocket 9's. Good, somewhat aggressive player raises UTG. There's a caller in MP, I call, and the BB calls.

Flop comes 5-8-2, two spades. BB bets out and UTG raises. The other MP player calls. What now? I can't fold and assume UTG is on a bigger pair, but if I reraise my hand will be much more exposed. Thoughts?
I reraise, and now the BB caps it. Both players call, and I follow suit. Now the turn card is the two of spades, a terrifying card, but it checks around. The river is the Ah, and it checks around again. Should I have bet at some point? Results to follow.

~Magic_Man

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"If the whole idea is not to show how it's done, how does anybody ever learn card tricks?!"

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[Homer]

Preflop - I would fold unless the game is loose and you can expect a coldcaller or two behind you. The coldcall would be more acceptable if the raise hadn't come from a decent player UTG.

Flop - Why can't you fold? That's certainly what I would do. UTG likely has you drawing at two outs, and if he doesn't you still have MP's (presumed) flush draw and BB behind you to contend with. If I was going to continue playing, which I wouldn't do unless I was on tilt, I would reraise.

Turn/River - No, I wouldn't bet again. I can't believe no one else bet.

General Comments - There's nothing wrong with folding an overpair when it is likely that one player has a higher overpair (UTG), one player has a flush draw or a slowplayed monster (MP), and one player has something that was worth betting into a PFR with (maybe another flush draw) (BB). It is going to be expensive to get to showdown. You will pay out the nose when you don't have the best hand, and when you do you won't make any money (reverse implied odds situation).

-- Homer

[Tyler Durden]

Couldn't UTG easily be pushing his AK here? In which case our hero would have the best hand. I suppose you could say it's unlikely, since UTG may have called or folded to the BB's bet with only overcards. What do you think?