Rasing Q9s on the button.

[Oblivious]

Recently a fellow player related a hand to me. This players numbers are 35vp$ip and 20%pfr, and this conversation was in the context of how he should be playing fewer hands and which hands he should be raising of those which are correct to play.

Here's the hand. No reads on the limpers or blinds were related to me, so I guess we should pretend we're new to the table. 1/2 soft online game. He finds Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] on the button after two MP players limp. He raises and both blinds fold. The limpers call. The flop comes 7[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]. Both limpers check to him and he bets. Both opponents fold.

The reason he noted this hand is because he was unsure of weather or not this flop was a good spot to bluff. I claimed that the flop bet was a no brainer (eventhough he'd prefer a less coordinated board), given the rest of the hand. But I was curious if he could make a good case for raising preflop. I stated that without a read on the blinds, limping would have been better than raising. Often times when he raises, the blinds will call, and he will find himself in a five way pot with a hand that he will have to muck far too often to invest two small bets. He stated he wanted to "take control of the hand" and agreed with the idea that the preflop raise makes the hand easier to play post flop. I claimed that raising isnt horroble, but limping is better since he's only investing one small bet on a hand he will likely have to fold on the flop. Also he preserves opportunities to raise opponents on later streets when he does hit his hand.

Arguements for either side?