Interesting Stars SnG Hand

[SnakeRat]

Seat 2: Promoe (2611 in chips)
Seat 4: TakeTwo (6751 in chips)
Seat 6: bbjtad (1903 in chips)
Seat 9: SnakeRat (2235 in chips) blinds 75/150

Im Dealt Rockets as dealer. I double the blind since they have been coming over the top just about every raise that is made. Promoe cold calls. Taketwo in the SB calls. Not what I wanted.

Flop is Q 9 9 rainbow.
Promo checks. Taketwo bets 450. I double that to 900. Now Promo pushes in, and Taketwo calls.

Decision time for me. I think I might have the best hand, but I am worried about A9 K9 99, not so much QQ i think they would have reraised preflop.

I folded ,promoe was knocked out, and I managed to get second place.

As it turns out Promo had KQo and Taketwo had AQo. Blanks came on the turn and river. I would have more than tripled up had i called.

I think I was too conservative and probably horribly misplayed my rockets in this situation. What do you guys think about my play?

[kerssens]

You probably did misplay them, but given the situation, you were attempting to win a huge pot so I don't fault you for it, were it not for the second nine you'd have definately tripled up.

[DougBrennan]

I'd say you were a shade on the conservative side, but you had a thought process and followed through on it, so I don't see a lot to criticize here.

In a SNG I'd be likely to shut my eyes and hit the call button here; lots and lots of SNG players bet top pair very hard.

[Utah]

Your problems started with your preflop bet. I think a 2X bet here is the worst possible option. You let them call cheaply and their call doesnt do anything to define their hand. Now if you had come in with 4X and they called. Now your preflop decision is very easy and a 9 is very unlikely.

Also, if they are coming over the top each time then I would have limped in and looked even weaker. That way, if you get popped, and you set them allin, they might call because they are thinking, "That guy is sick of me coming over the top and now he is making a stand and trying to resteal and slow me down. He could have anything. I will call."

Also, lets say they have an A or a small pair, if you come in with a 4x raise then there is money for them to steal and they might push allin. However, with an A and little kicker they are more likely to just call and try and catch their A instead of risking their whole stack.

Finally, there is the information in the bet itself. When someone comes in on the button for 2x then I am thinking, "Hey this guy is trying to extract money and he doesn't want to lose me. Watch out!" If you come in for a big raise or a pushin you look like you are trying to steal with a little pair or an A. The players will be much more likely to call than you think.

Of course, it really depends a lot on your previous play and how the other players perceive you.
My two cents

[SnakeRat]

Thanks for the great advice guys, next time I will either limp or make it 4XBB. I think If i had limped or raised 4X I would have been raised and ended up all in preflop, which I like.