T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

I was reading through Brier and Ciaffone's Middle Limit Hold'em book, and they pose the following question in their pre-flop chapter.

Suppose you have Td9d on the button. Three people limp and the cutoff raises. What do you do?

They suggest that one fold in this situation. I figured this to be the safe play to make. But as I thought about it some more, I began to wonder: is this really is an auto-fold?

It seems like there may be a number of reasonable situations where calling makes sense. My thinking is that the limpers will almost definitely call, and there is a chance that one or both of the blinds will call. You've got a reasonable drawing hand with T9s (in what will likely be a five to six way pot) and you also have position the rest of the hand. (One disadvantage is that your relative position might not be all that great; in particular, the raiser is immediately on your right, so if the flop clobbers you, and if it is checked to him and he bets, a raise on your part might blow away the field instead of building a pot).

I guess my questions are: 1) What factors would you consider when deciding whether to call/fold in this spot. And, on a related note, 2) are there a reasonable set of circumstances where you might consider calling the raise? (e.g., can you justify a call if the cut-off is a maniac and raises every other hand...)

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

I think raising is superior to calling!

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

I hadn't really considered raising as a real option (or perhaps my sarcasm detector is broken? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]).

Can you elaborate? For a suited connector like T9s, I would think that you want a (preferably large) multi-way pot. If you raise, it seems far more likely for the pot to end up being heads up or two way. (Though I suppose that you might be able to create some deception value...)

Interestingly, this past weekend I saw a $4-$8 hand (details fuzzy) where (before the flop) UTG and UTG+1 limped, MP1 raised, MP2 re-raised, and MP3 four bet. Only MP1 and MP2 called. The flop came Qxx, and it was checked around. The turn was a T, and MP1 bet, MP2 raised, and both MP3 and MP1 called. The river was a 9. MP1 bet, MP2 called, MP3 raised, MP1 called, and MP2 folded in disgust.

MP3 showed J8o for the (second nuts) queen-high straight. MP1 appeared to mumble a few expletives and mucked in total disbelief.

I don't know how you could justify a pre-flop four-bet with J8o, but I suppose if you can do that, then you definitely ought to be able to three-bet T9s. [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img] So much to learn...

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

Raising only cost you one more small bet, but will:

1) make a bigger pot for when you hit and tie in the others.

2) Possibly give you a free card.

3) sometimes get you 3-way where you might win with a top pair type hand.

4) It will give you a more dangerous image (metagame).

All in all raising gives you more options

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

Thanks for clarifying that! Your post makes complete sense. Going back to Brier-Ciaffone, this is looking less and less like an auto-fold (as they suggest) to me.

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

I forgot one thing!

5) it disguises your hand!

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

It depends mostly on the raiser. I suspect in their games when the book was written that a raise generally meant a better hand. now, in the laggy games, especially online, it's a pot sweetening raise often enough that you can play a hand like this

however, one huge factor you didn't mention is that your relative position SUCKS and that makes your hand significantly less valuable. agaisnt an UTG raise this is an easy call against all but the tightest raisers

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

this is interesting. it doesn't seem right but you do make a compelling argument.

some things that go against it are that you likely make it a more shorthanded pot where you're still going to need to make the best hand. the dead money does make up for this though. also your pot equity probably isn't so great. but it's gotta be at least fair share. as I said, you make a really compelling argument. it just doesn't make sense right away.

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

[ QUOTE ]
your pot equity probably isn't so great. but it's gotta be at least fair share

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't this a contradiction?

I believe T9s will have more than fair share equity on average.

Re: T9s on button facing three limpers and a raiser
 

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
your pot equity probably isn't so great. but it's gotta be at least fair share

[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't this a contradiction?

I believe T9s will have more than fair share equity on average.

[/ QUOTE ]

Jesus! I love your aggressiveness, however, in the BB?!
Maybe we should tone it down just a notch and save that move for the Button or CO?
How do you continue after the flop hits you a little bit?