Protecting your hand?
 

I've been running into this a lot lately. I'm having trouble trying to protect hands like these when people cold call the flop CR. Do you CR again on the turn and try to knock them out? UTG+2 is a decent player. His flop 3bet is telling me he has an overpair, and I believe him. I'm obviously not folding to the turn bet, but if I don't hit my straight I'm not going to win the hand (there's some chance I'll win if a 9 hits the river).

Party Poker 5/10 Hold'em (10 handed)

Preflop: Hero is CO with 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Hero posts a blind of $5.
<font color="666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="CC3333">UTG+2 raises</font>, <font color="666666">3 folds</font>, Hero (poster) calls, <font color="666666">1 fold</font>, SB calls, BB calls,

Flop: (8 SB) T[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(4 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, <font color="CC3333">UTG+2 bets</font>, <font color="CC3333">Hero raises</font>, SB calls, BB calls, <font color="CC3333">UTG+2 3-bets</font>, Hero calls, SB calls, BB calls.

Turn: (10 BB) 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] <font color="blue">(4 players)</font>
SB checks, BB checks, <font color="CC3333">UTG+2 bets</font>, Hero ...

Re: Protecting your hand?
 

I would 3-bet preflop.

I would play the flop the same.

I would just call the turn. You have at least 6 clean outs and as many as 10 possibly tainted outs. With just the 6 (3 J's, 3 6's no diamonds) you have the odds to call the turn. If you 3-bet preflop, the blinds will probably fold so you won't have to worry about them later on in the hand. If one of the blinds is on a diamond draw, they will still have correct odds to call even if you raise. Also raising the turn opens you up to another 3-bet which you don't want.

Nit-pick: You didn't check-raise (CR) the flop, you just raised.

Re: Protecting your hand?
 

The first place to protect your hand was preflop: 3-bet or fold. By allowing the blinds to stay in, you really put your hand at a disadvantage. If UTG+2 is decent, I'd actually prefer to fold this because while you are a marginal favorite against any non-paired hand, it is hard to let go of this if you are against a bigger PP.

The rest looks good. The only hand UTG+2 could have that you're ahead of is A [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. You obviously have the outs to call the turn, and check-fold the river if you miss.

Re: Protecting your hand?
 

If your read tells you that you are behind then you don't have a hand to protect - you are drawing and you want the two other people to remain in the pot. You should call on the turn and if there is a blank on the river you can make a decision about your read and whether the pot warrants a river call.

Also, with regards to the pre-flop play - this is not a raise or fold situation. Hero is a poster in the CO with 99. Folding is simply rediculous and unless UTG+2 is a loose raiser than 3-betting is slightly reckless, although not horrible. I would call in this exact spot everytime and would probably reraise with TT and definitely reraise with JJ but 99 is a call.

Re: Protecting your hand?
 

How about a 3 bet preflop? Isn't that a good spot to protect?

[ QUOTE ]
I'm obviously not folding to the turn bet, but if I don't hit my straight I'm not going to win the hand (there's some chance I'll win if a 9 hits the river).


[/ QUOTE ]

This is why id just call the turn. With all the chips they withstood on the flop, they're likely going the distance to the river. The only card you're trying to get out is a J so your 9 would be good if it hit. If anyone has a J they'll usually have something else to be calling with that a raise won't get them out with. Not to mention, you may get 3 bet here which isn't what i'd really like to face. What's real fun is when you call this bet and it gets c/r behind you. Strap your helmet on for that one.

btw...You're not c/r'ing anywhere in this hand. You're only raising.

b

Re: Protecting your hand?
 

I'm probably 3-betting this hand pre-flop as a poster. I'm getting nearly 3:1 on my re-raise with a chance to isolate the raiser. And the majority of the time, I am over a 50% favorite in the hand. This seems like clear +EV to me.