Short Stacked with 99 against 3 callers.

[Philuva]

I have $850. Avg. stack is about $2,500. Blinds are 100/200 with 25 ante. There are about 350 of the 600 players left.

UTG who has $1,700 in chips calls.
UTG+2 who has $8,400 calls.
Button has $3,100 in chips calls.

I have $725 left after posting the SB and ante. I have 99. The BB has $2,800 in chips and has been playing tight.

There is now $1,150 in the pot. What is your play?

[Henke]

I'm a noob at NL, but I'll post my idea and let others post the correct move. /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Anyway, I think you should move all-in. You have only about 1 round to go before you're out, and if you just call, there will be four to see the flop so 7.5 in 8.5 times you're dead (although if you flop a set, you'll probably be called given that your bet will only be half the pot). On the other hand, if you go all-in and get lucky, you might tripple your stack (or even more), and might get some shaky drawing hand (button?) out..

Just my guess though, please educate me /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[Philuva]

I think 99 is a fairly easy hand to move all-in on in this situation. My only concern is that my raise would only be an additional $625 for the BB and 3 other limpers to call. Would this be enough to knock any of them out?

Would it be better to call and then push in with a favorable flop?

I decided to go all-in pre-flop. 2 called, the other 2 folded.

Flop came 567 turn was a 2 and river was a 9. The button took it down when he turned over 34s for the flopped straight. Obviously I lose the hand either way and I am not concerned about the ulitmate results as that was a great flop for this hand.

Is this an easy all-in preflop. Or is call and push on the flop a potential play?

[JDO]

I think you have to move in. You can't call and fold the hand if the flop misses you (your stack will have zero power) so you might as well push all in. Also, you might get a couple of guys to fold their hands, making it more likely that your hand will hold up.

[Cornbread Maxwell]

Going allin with 99 is a good move there for several reasons:

1. It is likely that one or two of the limpers will fold, giving you an extra $200-400 in the pot of dead money, in addition to the $25 antes, which is important and improves your pot odds significantly.

2. These people limped, so it is unlikely that they are holding big hands. What you really want is for someone to call you with a dominated hand like 43s or a smaller pocket pair (88,77,66, etc). You got your wish but it didn't work out.

3. The most important reason of all to go allin here is that you are short stacked. It is imperative that you 'gamble' here, since you can not afford to let the blinds hit you again. A pair of 9's is a great hand to get in your situation.

Better luck next time. /images/graemlins/smile.gif