Re: Conceptual discussion question
 

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Statement i) When I have AKs UTG, I obviously raise because I have a pretty huge equity edge, and I'm hoping I'll get many cold-callers.

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Improved statement i) When I have AKs UTG, I raise because I have a huge equity edge. I don't care much if a players fold or a if they coldcall. If there are fewer players, I have a better chance of holding up UI and if there are lots of players I stand to make a lot of money if I hit a favorable flop.

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Statement ii) When I have 99 UTG, I obviously raise because I want to put as much pressure on overcards to fold as possible. While I'd have an equity edge against most calling hands, a fair amount of the cold-calls might even have an equity edge against me. But I still raise to protect.

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Improved statement ii) When I have 99 UTG, I raise because I have a huge equity edge. I don't care much if a players fold or a if they coldcall. If there are fewer players, I have a better chance of holding up UI and if there are lots of players I stand to make a lot of money if I hit a favorable flop.

Re: Conceptual discussion question
 

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If I raise 99 and get 5 cold callers, I'm still ok, because if it's the 1 in 8 times that I hit my set, I'm likely to be paid off big time.

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The probability of flopping a set or quads is about 4%. so you hit your set or better 1 in 25 times

Re: Conceptual discussion question
 

oops! no you are right. it's 8.3:1 flopping a set. My bad.

Beautifully put...
 

My posts are always too long and wordy. Very efficient. (I admire skills that I don't myself possess.)

nh

Re: Conceptual discussion question
 

In general I agree with those two statements. The AKs will play well HU and in multiway due to the reasons given.

I think the 99 hand is tougher to play UTG than in late position. Ideally you would either like to play this hand vs as small field or a large one; you'll win more often UI vs the small field and have a potential to win a larger pot vs a large field. The worst case for a hand like this would be to have 3 or 4 people in the hand, enough that you may win UI but, you'll be scared of any significant action with any flops containing any broadway cards.

If it's in late position you can raise/call depending on if you'd like the blinds along. UTG raises on a loose or tight table may generate the resulting number of players you'd like. UTG raises in a tough game may generate a 3 handed pot, perhaps raised again, against hands you probably don't have a large equity gain against.

Re: Conceptual discussion question
 

At a table where this is true, 99 is not an automatic raise UTG for me.

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While I'd have an equity edge against most calling hands, a fair amount of the cold-calls might even have an equity edge against me.

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I raise 99 UTG because I believe my hand is stronger than those of the cold-callers, so I'll trap them for 2 bets pre-flop.

Re: Conceptual discussion question
 

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I think the 99 hand is tougher to play UTG than in late position. Ideally you would either like to play this hand vs as small field or a large one; you'll win more often UI vs the small field and have a potential to win a larger pot vs a large field. The worst case for a hand like this would be to have 3 or 4 people in the hand, enough that you may win UI but, you'll be scared of any significant action with any flops containing any broadway cards.

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Do I mind getting scared off by flops containing broadway cards and significant action? Nope. I'm glad they do it because it allows me to bail out cheaply. As stated, I'm looking for favorable flops, and I'm going to get plenty of them (not all the time, but enough of them to make this profitable).

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If it's in late position you can raise/call depending on if you'd like the blinds along. UTG raises on a loose or tight table may generate the resulting number of players you'd like. UTG raises in a tough game may generate a 3 handed pot, perhaps raised again, against hands you probably don't have a large equity gain against.

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You worry too much about the wrong things. Any hand that would 3-bet an UTG raise is going to raise an UTG limp. In both cases, I'm probably going to be facing a couple tough decisions. But that decision is less tough if I'm 3-bet preflop than if I'm raised after limping.