Trouble With 9's

[toby]

How do you all play pocket 9's? They seem too low to play unless the flop is all low cards. So would you hope to flop a 9 and otherwise fold to an overcard? Also what positions do you play 99 in? Would you raise early to knock out a weak face card, limp in and hope to catch a set? Would you raise or limp in LP with many limpers/few limpers?

[ScottTheFish]

In EP I limp and hope to flop a set. In MP or LP I will limp, or possibly raise if I think it will thin the field and/or buy me the button.

On the flop I wont necessarily fold to an overcard, but a pair of 9's arent very strong, and have little chance to improve, so I tread lightly. 99 won't win unimproved very often.

Standard Lee Jones strategy, adjusted for how many plyers I'm up against, and how they play.

[Rico Suave]

Hey Toby:

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Also what positions do you play 99 in

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I play 99 from any position for 1 bet.

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Would you raise early to knock out a weak face card

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If the table is pretty tight, I will raise from ep with this hand. If the table has cold call syndrome, I think limping is better.

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Would you raise or limp in LP with many limpers/few limpers?

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I if there were 1 or 2 weak limpers to me and I was in lp, i would probably raise if the blinds were tight. If there were a several limpers, I would limp along from lp--although some people like to raise these kinds of pairs from lp with lots of limpers.

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How do you all play pocket 9's? They seem too low to play unless the flop is all low cards. So would you hope to flop a 9 and otherwise fold to an overcard?

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IMO, 99 is much tougher to play than most pocket pairs. It is to strong to just simply "flop a set or fold", and it is vulnerable to overcards. How you play it when an overcard flops depends on what the overcard is, the # of opponents, your position, etc. Basically, it is hard to generalize post flop play. It may be best to post some hands and get some feedback that way.

--Rico

[mickblueeyes]

99 is a group III hand and is somewhat strong. I think just limping is too weak in most cases. As long as you have established a fairly tight image at the table and if the table is loose-passive, then you can raise the pot if you are the first one in from EP. The same is true of MP, if you are the first one in.

If you are in LP, with 1-2 limpers, I would go ahead and raise to knock out the blinds, leaving you possibly heads up or against two players max, who will more than likely check to you on the flop, giving you a free card if you don't like what you see.

However, if your raises are getting no respect or you are at a wild table or you have a loose image at the table, then you must limp.

[scotnt73]

if im first in from middle position i raise..otherwise i limp..im gonna see the flop regardless