does it make a difference?

I'm playing in a 10-20 game where UTG is a tight very solid player who is aggressive and has only played 2 or 3 hands in the last couple of hours. The game has a couple of loose players but they are also somewhat perceptive.


UTG raises. To me this means AA,KK,QQ,JJ,TT,99,AK,AQ,AJ,ATs,KQs


next guy folds, I look down and see 99. I don't have an indication of what the other players will do. Normally a couple will call a raise but i think they realize that this player is playing tight so it may end up heads up.


rank my options of raising, calling, or folding in order from best to worst. Does it make a difference in expectation?


Rob

A tight very solid player who is aggressive would only play a couple of hand in early position. You need a very strong hand to play. It's real easy; if you can't reraise fold! I would only play AA,KK, QQ, JJ, AK, AKs and fold everything else. I might even fold JJ to the right player. You need to adjust by playing tighter and more aggressive against this type of player, and if you have more than two at your table it might be a good idea to find a softer game:)

"To me this means AA,KK,QQ,JJ,TT,99,AK,AQ,AJ,ATs,KQs"


Many tight, good players won't raise UTG with TT, 99, AJ, and KQs. They will also frequently limp from this spot with JJ.


Your only option is to fold. Against a loose raiser, it becomes correct to reraise. If you can anticipate several other callers, it may be correct to call and try to flop a set.

In general, you need a very good hand to call a raise pre-flop from any position against any position raiser. Now add to this the fact the the raiser was UTG and that he is very solid and also that he is very aggressive and your 9-9 does not qualify as a very good hand anymore. I would fold.

Rob- If I were playing your hand in the game you describe, I would fold the 9s without hesitation.

Even if the players behind me had bags over their heads, I'd still have some idea what to expect from prior play. If lots of folks are calling two-bets, especially after one caller starts a snowball effect, I'd call. Otherwise, I'd raise. I'd almost never fold. The circumstance that might make me fold is if I had just lost two significant pots in close succession.


Tommy

if the player is as solid as you say. and he plays well after the flop, i would muck. if you play you should raise, but a muck is better. no reason to get involved with a good player with a hand he might have dominated, or is not much of a dog against.

If you favor the math, fold.


If you can get three callers behind (or two who will raise and/or call way too much), call. This is easy with two loose aggressive blinds behind you.


Raising is a "classic error" in the texts (see John Feeney) because you often fail to isolate. With Tommy, that is not an issue. No one's gonna call his early position reraise.


Assuming a raise can isolate, factor in position. Is your pair of nines really dominated by that preflop hand range? Maybe in a cold sim, but not in heads-up poker. What about when your opponent has QQ, JJ or TT and two overcards to his pair fall? You win. What if your opponent has AK/AQ/AJ and none of his cards flop? He bets, gets raised, then typically calls. On the turn, typically either he hits his six outer or you get the pot. Provided you play position well and UTG will lay down hands, his "preflop advantage" isn't nearly as great as the word "domination" implies.


Matt

"Is your pair of nines really dominated by that preflop hand range? Maybe in a cold sim, but not in heads-up poker."


Agreed.


"What about when your opponent has QQ, JJ or TT and two overcards to his pair fall? You win. What if your opponent has AK/AQ/AJ and none of his cards flop? He bets, gets raised, then typically calls. On the turn, typically either he hits his six outer or you get the pot."


While I value it's usefulness, I still have a hard time with the now-common usage of "dominated" as pertaining to cards, such as A-10 vs AJ, or pocket pair vs pocket pair. Seems to me that anytime someone is the last preflop raiser and has position heads up or three way, that's domination.


Tommy