99 on big blind

[peterc]

I have 99 on the big blind 3 others limp from middle position, I raise and they call. The flop is uncoordinated with 10 being the highest card. Do I check or bet here? A check might encourage a bluff, but a bet could wasted against a pair of tens.

[deception5]

Bet.

[RiverTheNuts]

If one of later position players is aggressive then check/raise a button bet, otherwise, lead

[deception5]

I don't like going for a check/raise after I raised preflop.

[Greg J]

I bet the flop here... but I also don't raise 99 from the blinds, for the same reason I don't raise AJo or KQo -- I don't think the equity you are maximizing is enough to make up for poor position you will be in the rest of the hand. I will raise TT+ though, and AJs, KQs.

Anyone agree/disagree?

[deception5]

I do actually raise 99 from the bb here although 88/AJ/KQ I'll check so it's probably pretty arbitrary. I also raise it from early position, but I guess that has a chance of thinning the field. Perhaps I'm being too aggressive here.

[hemstock]

Be aggressive and bet

[xenthebrain]

[ QUOTE ]
I bet the flop here... but I also don't raise 99 from the blinds, for the same reason I don't raise AJo or KQo -- I don't think the equity you are maximizing is enough to make up for poor position you will be in the rest of the hand. I will raise TT+ though, and AJs, KQs.

Anyone agree/disagree?

[/ QUOTE ]
That's my line, AJs and KQs are the lowest hands I raise from the blinds.

[Henke]

I think Ed Miller might disagree [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I don't think the equity you are maximizing is enough to make up for poor position you will be in the rest of the hand.

I'm not saying that I agree or disagree, but how will you make up for the lost equity postflop? The only way I can see is by folding more on the flop. That would imply that you check all flops with an overcard, right?

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
I think Ed Miller might disagree [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

I don't think the equity you are maximizing is enough to make up for poor position you will be in the rest of the hand.

I'm not saying that I agree or disagree, but how will you make up for the lost equity postflop? The only way I can see is by folding more on the flop. That would imply that you check all flops with an overcard, right?

[/ QUOTE ]

With regards to picking up postflop equity, there are a few ways to do it when you raise preflop:

1) You pick up a couple extra pots that you normally wouldn't take. This happens more against weak-tight opposition than against loose players.
2) You get paid off a little more when you flop a set. This happens against loose opposition who see a big pot and start to chase it down.
3) You get paid off a little more by aggressive players. I've bumped into this sort of thing at 5-max, because you'll get raised more often on ragged flops as people immediately put you on high cards. So they see their J6o flop middle pair 863 and think it's great. (Some of that comes from 5-max being more aggressive than a full game.)

What postflop equity do you lose when you raise preflop?

1) You overplay a losing hand. This happens to just about everyone. You bet the flop, turn, and river only to find a passive player is calling you down with top pair.
2) Sometimes somebody picks up a weak draw and catches you when they normally would have folded due to the pot size. In the long run, I don't think you actually lose a whole lot in a 4-way pot, because the long draws are very marginal. In a 6-way pot raised preflop, those weak draws become more valuable.

The way I started out was to raise preflop (because I know I have equity there) and then play postflop exactly as I would had I not raised preflop. This way (most of the time) I'm not spewing chips. But as your postflop game progresses, you can begin to find the right places to play more aggressively postflop (very opposition dependent).