[scottyy11]

i'm not gonna get to detailed but is a general question concerning middle pairs

how do you guys play say 99 in early position lets say the blinds are 150-300 and your stack size is about 3000

when the blinds are low i generally limp and hope for a set or fold, but when the blinds are about 15% of your stack i feel correct play is a raise 3 to 4x bb ...........what do you guys feel? or other suggestions?

[mad]

My 2 cents.

Don't limp, either play it or fold it. If you play it, raise. Assuming you're playing at a reasonably solid table, most players will fold thinking you're holding a monster. 9's ain't no monster but always waiting for KK before playing UTG is a bit predictable. Still you want to at least have something to back you up if you get called. Then it'll depend on who and how many callers you get, any lunatics?? But at least you should be able to narrow the field. Pocket 9's HU is a reasonable proposition even if you are out of position. Obviously you'll need help on the flop but with the pre-flop raise you set yourself up for a potential bluffing situation. Again a lot will depend on the flop and the playing style of your opponent(s). Since you are playing out of position, don't get too crazy if you get re-raised etc etc etc.

That's my take, hope makes some sense.

[scottyy11]

yep i just find this a brutal hand late in a tourn when the blinds are so high relative to stack...the only time i limp is early when blinds are 20-40 or something.......if you raise 3 or 4 x BB are you pot committed? or would you fold to a reraise its only gonna leave you say 2k or so with the blinds right on your tail you gonna have 1650 left? plus the odds you getting reraised with ak or aq or something less i would say is about 25-30% or so,as players dont mind mixing it up with a short stack......assuming the table is moderately tight.........this just always seems like a trap hand for me as i have trouble laying 10's or 99's in this spot giving your my stack size but agree no limping .......i guess the reraise is the big question

[QuickLearner]

When your M is that low 99 turns into a push hand for me. If you raise to 4 BB you've used 40% of your stack and are pot-committed, but your fold equity is pretty low.

Push and either accept the race or pick up the blinds.

I suppose another strategy would be to limp and then push to a re-raise. Either way, if I play the hand at all it's going to be for my stack with the blinds this high. I don't like the limp/push idea much because what happens if there is no raise and an Ace falls on the flop? I'd have to be pretty convinced that somebody would raise behind me.

[presley177]

I'd wanna know the stack sizes at the table. how many other players are shortstacked? I'd raise 3x and push to a re-raise like learner said unless you get a few callers & then a raiser.. and then again the guy who's raising if he's tight or agressive.. a lot more information on the table would be needed but being short-stacked you generally have to go ahead and make a move. imo

[scottyy11]

basically this was a wsop freeroll only 30 left from 70 and my stack was below average $3050 (started at 2500).......funny thing is though we playedd over 1hr one guy after about 30minutes said he had to leave andd raised allin everyhand for about 15 minutes str8 of course he got super lucky andd got to about 10k and was still going allin about 70% of the time then he got to 20k and decided he should stay and started to play normal but it made it hard to read the table........so i picked up 99 under the gun raised 4x bb (150-300 blinds) i was reraised allin from seat 6 ....everyone else folded figure i was priced in and called ...specially since tourn only payed top spot...........funny how a guy can literally raise about 60times allin and never get caught u do it once and your screwed....lol ..........

[Dead Money]

i would limp in if in early posistion. 10's or better i would raise it up.

My logic is 5 overcards hanging over you. i f you raise 3-4 times the bb and get called there is a good chance you will be dealing with a higher pp, AK, AQ..etc

A pair of nines is a very marginal hand ...imo.. i do not want to be pot commited with nines.

One of those hands where if you make the call, pray that no one raises.

[dvorak51]

The problem with limping in this situation is that a limp will cost you 10% of your stack. If the flop looks bad to your nines, you're probably going to have to fold. And since OP is in early position, he'll soon be about another 1.5-2 big blinds in the coming hands. Also, if the blinds are going up soon, that just reduces his stack even further.

I think the right play is to push. Seeing as how seat 6 clearly had a monster hand, though, you just have to chalk that one up to bad luck.

Just my $0.02.