I still hate pocket pairs...

[Amerretto]

[ QUOTE ]
Change the flop to 996 and I raise.

[/ QUOTE ]

Noob question but, why does the change make any difference. I take it, you are then counterfeiting the 6's and it's less likely he has a 9 for trips.

Would you still raise, say if it was 6TT, or 6JJ and above or would you give him credit for having at least one high card?

[Jaran]

Hmmmmmm...tough without a read. Well, there's no way I'm calling here. Raise or fold, and without a read I prolly fold, but a raise isn't bad.

-Jaran

[jrz1972]

When villain bets, he is saying he has some piece of the board. If the flop is 966, I cannot beat anything villain could have. I am ahead only of a smaller pocket pair, a draw, or a pure bluff.

When the flop is 996, I am now beating any 6, which is frequently what villain will be betting. So now that I'm beating a broader range of hands, I want to play, and if I'm going to play, I might as well raise.

Basically, if you hold a pocket pair and face a paired flop, you should be much more inclined to get involved if your pocket pair outranks the unpaired card on board.

[aces_dad]

And, many villians will not lead out, when flopping top trips into a smallish (3 people) field. So I do agree that the 966 flop bet represents two hands you can't beat much more often than 996 does.

[Disconnected]

I will mix this play up. Folding is probably the best play, but I don't think it's the best by a lot, and reads on the BB will help. Folding is good because the pot is small, and if you're ahead now, there are a lot of ways to be behind. Plus, you don't know what MP1 will do.

Calling is bad. But sometimes I'll raise here. If I do have the best hand, I want MP1 out. If BB is aggressive, he might be taking a shot on a scary board to pick up the pot. Again, usually I'll let him, but he could like to bet draws (either for value or as a semi-bluff). If he's betting a flush draw, if you do get a miracle 7, it won't put 3 to a flush on the board (if the 2-suit on the board isn't the same as one of my pair, I'd probably fold). If BB does like to take shots, I don't mind letting him know not to do it automatically against me.

So, while a fold is probably the prudent thing to do in this hand, I think there are some reasons to raise that make it not a terrible play against a relatively unknown bettor. Once you have established a decent read on BB, the fold/raise decision gets a little easier.

[Henke]

hadn't really thought about the situation that way...