A Partial Hand

Was playing 8-16 when the following hand occurred:


The blind and UTG were both very good players. If they weren't on my immediate right I would strongly consider changing seats or leaving the game.


UTG called. I called with pocket 9's. Theplayer on my right called. Everyone else folded, so four of us saw the flop:


Jh 9h 6h


The blind checked, UTG bet and I raised. Theplayer on my right folded and the blind called cold two bets. The turn was the 8d. The blind checked and UTG bet.


At this point, I was in a bit of a quandry. What's my best course of action? More importantly, what issues should I be considering? Any/all comments would be GREATLY appreciated.


Thanks.


Michael

When a player calls two bets cold in a situation like this, I would usually put him on a single big heart. It's possible the small blind flopped two pair but I think a single heart is much more likely.


Therefore, you want to raise to charge the single heart more to draw out on you.


But...


When UTG leads out against you again on the turn despite your flop raise, he may be trying to protect a made flush which is vulnerable to a fourth heart on the board (8h7h?). It's hard to put UTG on any hand other than a flush. And, of course, he's properly betting for value to make you draw out on him.


Therefore, you want to see the river cheaply.


If I've put your two opponents on the correct hands (that's a BIG if), then there are up to 7 hearts left in the deck to improve SBs hand. But there are up to 10 cards which will make your full house/quads. You're drawing chances are better than SBs. But you may already be losing.


Hey! This really is a quandry!


I'd just call the turn bet since a raise isn't going to drive SBs big heart out of the pot any more than a 2-bet would drive out your trip 9s with a card still to come. UTG may also 3-bet you and you don't want that.


If a heart falls on the river, and either the SB or UTG bets, it's time to lay down your set.


If a blank comes on the river, I'd probably make the crying call if UTG bets after SB checks.


If the board pairs, it's obviously raising time.

What would UTG call with pre-flop and then bet out on both rounds after the flop? To have a flush now, the most likely hand for him to have would be KQs since he didn't raise pre-flop (he isnt going to play Axs early if he is as good as you say he is - same goes for other suited connectors since the J is on the board ruling out QJs or JTs limps. He most likely would have raised with JJ if he had it. The fact that he only called your pre-flop raise indicates that he probably doesn't have KQs since he would want to test your raise for Axs since it looks like it is likely that the other player is chasing with the Ah and he wouldn't want to give him cheap cards if that is the case.


Based on that I think he is more likely to have something like AJ with Ah or 66. He figures you are not going to raise a made flush on the flop, especially if you have the Ah. He might be doing it with AJ if he is holding the Ah, assuming that the other player is chasing with a smaller heart. I like 66 (especially if the game has been loose) because he can afford to bet into the raiser since he has 10 outs to the boat and knows that the other player is going to come along with his big flush draw so a raise from you is not as scary.


Having said all that, I would raise again. The BB is trapped on his draw and you will get a good read from UTG based on his play. You still have outs to a strong boat so play it fast until proven you are behind.

It sounds like UTG has a non-flush hand and he's worried that you were raising to get a free card on the flop. Callin two bets cold on the flop sounds like a draw, so I'd raise the turn to get people to pay to draw out against me.