Running bad- time to post simple hands.

[muzungu]

OK, back to the basics here. Late-night 2/4 Party NL.

I'm in LMP with $180 and 99. I call a min-raise, as does a loose player behind me and the BB. 4 to the flop, all have me covered, i believe.

Flop: T87 rainbow. Min-raiser checks.

Q1: bet or check?

I bet $25. Loose LP calls. EP now c/rs to 75.

Q2: Now what?

I'm pretty sure I'm losing here, but there is $105 in dead $ sitting in the pot. If i push, loose guy folds, and EP calls, i need about 37% equity in the pot to come out neutral. I checked 2dimes- AT and AA-QQ are around 38 or 39%, TT and JJ are 24-25%, and 88/77 are around 32%. (each of these #s were about 5% lower than i had been thinking- i think I undervalued the boat redraw outs). I guess there's a chance loose LP could come along, which would help matters, or that EP is doing something wild or might fold an overpair, but this looks slightly -EV.

Oh, if i call: best case scenario is that LP calls w/o a 9. I'm then calling 50 into 205. Not quite enough for pot odds. Dunno what kind of implied odds i'm gonna get, and a 9 on the turn could help or hurt me. Also, EP could have redraw outs, LP might not come along, etc. Maybe calling is a little better than pushing, altho both seem slightly -EV.

So fold to the c/r?

(As it turned out, i pushed, LP folded, and EP called with TT. Ugh- time to play some scrabble.)

-muz