Pocket Pair in Mid Position

[Dr_Colossus]

Hi all
Last night I played a B&M 250+20 NL Freezout tournament with 116 entrants. When the action got down to 3 tables of 8 and blinds at 2k 4k I was faced with pocket 9s in mid position. I had around 24k chips at the time which was a little above average for the table. My question is what should I do in this situation???
Once the tournament got down to 3 tables people were generally playing very tight as 18 places were paid. Usually hands were folded around to the blinds or all-in raises from one of the small stacks took the pot. I had played three orbits of the table at this stage and was getting blinded away with a poor run of cards. With pocket 9s in mid position what would you do? (poll below)

[Dr_Colossus]

Many thanks for all votes. Despite the consensus of most people raising all-in here, I raised the BB to make it 8k to go. Everyone foled back to the big blind who then went all in for 22.5k. My question now is what would you do in this case??
Bear in mind that this player played through 92 players to get to this stage and my impression of him was as an experienced no-limit player. Also with six more eliminations to go the top 18 would be guarenteed at least 400.00 If I were to call I would have 1.5k left effectively knocking me out of the tournament if I lost the hand. What would you do???

[tigerite]

Because he's an experienced NL player, he's probably pushing you with any two - you've shown weakness. But do you want to take the chance that those 'any two' are above 9, and thus you're a coinflip? Your position now is one where you pretty much have to fold. Should've pushed preflop for this very reason - put the other guy on the decision.

[binions]

You have him exactly where u want him.

Most pros would raise all in with your 99 preflop.

Some amatuers and some sneaky pros would call or raise the min like u did. The sneaky pros are hoping to get played with.

U got played with, so it worked out.

As for the math on the call, there was 33K in the pot, and it cost u 14.5K to call. U are getting 2.3 to 1 odds. You are 11-9/11-10 favorite over overcards, 4 to 1 favorite over smaller pairs, and 4 to 1 dog to bigger pairs.

There are only 30 possible hands ahead of u (6 ways each to make AA-TT). Given that the BB is short stacked, and u showed weakness, it is unlikely his raise indicates a big pair.

Bottom line, you are pot committed here, and cannot afford to wait for a "better spot."

[tigerite]

Pot odds become suddenly less important to me when a call can knock me out of the tournament.

[zaxx19]

TRUE im constantly amazed at how many people quote pot odds in tourney situations were there are so so so many other considerations(especially at 2+2 ,gap theory, bust theory??)

It's a hard one but i think you have to call here i might have limped and looked to reraise or just moved half in or just moved in... it was getting to the point were just a raise by you really is meaningless unless you are willing to call an all in...

[Dr_Colossus]

Zaxx I would have to agree with you. In hindsight my min preflop raise was the mistake. I should have just called hoping for a decent flop (no high cards) or else have raised all-in. My thoughts were that the min raise could well take the pot as the blinds were pretty steep and people were playing tight with only 6 more eliminations to go to the money. At the time I didn't really want to flat call as then I would have absolutely no idea as to the BB's hand and it would be very difficult to play the hand. Also I didn't really like betting all-in as there were players to act behind me and anyone calling would certainly have me beat or at best it would be a coin flop situation. I didn't fell like busting out at this late stage of the tournament given the effort it took to reach this far and the money that was at stake once you did reach the money.
After the BB re-raised all-in I paused for quite a while trying to figure what to do. I eventually put him on A K-10 and decided I didn't want a coin flip situation. Some people will disagree with this play but I think it's a matter of preference and as to how you feel on the night.
I folded the hand leaving myself with a short stack but I survived to the money and busted out in 11th place with KQ raised all-in preflop in mid position with the BB calling with 7 2 offsuit. If I had survived the BB and table chip lead missing the 7 on the flop I would have made it to the final table with a chance of the real money on offer.
I'm still undecided as to the best preflop strategy with the pocket 9s. If anyone can shed further light on this or advise and explain what they would do in this situation I would be most grateful.
Thanks for all your help
D

[lastchance]

If he's a smart aggressive pro, you've shown a lot of fishiness and weakness with your bet. 99 is not a weak hand here. Call, 100% of the time. I like the bet you made, but you have to call all-in because your hand is too good to fold.

I like this play more than pushing because you get the same laydowns you would from weak-tight players, and you can make a great laydown here against some players. Against other smart, aggressive players, they sense weakness, and they're attacking you with a lot of cards.

So you've got to call here, because you could have a smart aggressive player dominated, and it is very rare you're going to be worse than a coinflip.

[binions]

[ QUOTE ]
Pot odds become suddenly less important to me when a call can knock me out of the tournament.

[/ QUOTE ]

Pot odds become MOST important when facing a decision for all your chips.

The factors are:

1) The range of hands you put your foe on
2) How your hand fares against that range
3) What is the pot laying you

For your bottom chip, there needs to be a significant overlay from the pot (vis a vis your hand v. your read of his hand) to make the call.

To me, getting 2.3 to 1 when I am likely 11-9 favorite or better is a gamble I take EVERY time.

[TheDrone]

[ QUOTE ]
I didn't fell like busting out at this late stage of the tournament given the effort it took to reach this far and the money that was at stake once you did reach the money.

[/ QUOTE ]

The first part of this statement is poor thinking. The "effort it took to reach this far" is a sunk cost and should not be factored into the decision in front of you.