Mid Stakes Shorthanded NL Poker Forums

SB is an unknown but most likely a reg.

I'm just clueless what to do in this spot, it feels like such a leak calling flop turn and then folding river on a board like this. I'm not even sure what I was hoping for, cause I would've considered a fold even if he 3barreled a complete blank.

This is probably the biggest leak of all time! How would you guys have played it!? Also what would have changed if we were 100 BBs deep, how does just shoving turn sound if that was the case?

Poker Stars $2/$4 No Limit Hold'em - 5 players - View hand 1349163
DeucesCracked Poker Videos Hand History Converter

BB: $414.45
UTG: $400.00
Hero (CO): $753.00
BTN: $881.00
SB: $573.30

Pre Flop: ($6.00) Hero is CO with 9 9
1 fold, Hero raises to $12, 1 fold, SB raises to $44, 1 fold, Hero calls $32

Flop: ($92.00) 3 8 8 (2 players)
SB bets $54, Hero calls $54

Turn: ($200.00) 5 (2 players)
SB bets $115, Hero calls $115

River: ($430.00) A (2 players)
SB bets $260, Hero folds

Final Pot: $430.00
SB wins $428.00
(Rake: $2.00)

why did you decide to call pre flop?

On the river he is valuebetting, he is not going to put you on AK or AQ after you called the flop and the turn. So he puts you on a mid pair most of the time. I think the river is a fold.

The turn, mweh. I am bit in dubio. On one hand I say fold, because most players wouldnt barrel the 5 in this spot since its a bad barrel card. But I am not sure how the dynamics play at 2/4, so maybe this is the type of player that does barrel the 5..?

You should start by assigning villain a range for each street starting preflop. By calling without thinking about ranges you are just clicking buttons and playing a level 1 game.

7% 3bet from sb against unknowns
i just assigned a range. now?

why not call preflop against anyone this deep? Give the guy a break

7% 3bet from sb against unknowns
i just assigned a range. now?

Everytime you make a decision you should estimate(take your best guess) villain's range otherwise how did you come to the decision on call vs 4 bet vs fold?

best i can assume is him 3betting AJo+, KQo+ and TT+, thats about 7%

best i can assume is him 3betting AJo+, KQo+ and TT+, thats about 7%

Ok then given that range do you think you should call, 4 bet or fold when you have 99? My choice would be to fold. Less than 150BB deep is not considered "deep" in 3 bet pots because it would not play out much different than a 100BB pot.

Wow really, 144bb deep? What is your reasoning if I might ask kind sir? We have about 1:17 call size:stack ratio

i think calling has most ev especially with these stacksizes

fold turn without a specific read that hes barrelling really loose.
otherwise you put yourself in really really bad spots on the river.

playing 99 here at its best requires a read on villain. still i would expect most unknowns to barrel nearly 100% against another unknown, so i would not fold the turn, but this river.


and to fold just because we are in a "bad spot" on that river is not really what makes 99 worth playing here.

I think that you played the hand fine.

Calling the turn is kind of close though.

The thing is that almost all reg. villains will cbet flop. Some of them will cbet turn. And only a very few of them will bluff river.

It's just unfortunate that an ace comes on the river. It feels up his perceived standard range (I know that he is mostly unknown to you) and 99 doesn't really beat too much. So you fold.

Had the river been a brick he would check most of his air and you would pick up the pot.
If he bets a brick on the river however he will most likely have a very strong holding (overpair+). So if he bets a 2,3,4,5,6,7,8,TJ on the river. You can just fold with the comfort of knowing that you are beat 90 percent of the time.

As an alternative you can raise the flop to 120 and be gone with the hand if you face any action. If you jut get called you may get to showdown.

best i can assume is him 3betting AJo+, KQo+ and TT+, thats about 7%

Why would this villain all of a sudden depolarize his sb 3b range vs hero if they are both unknowns?

It doesn't help to look at his 3b% and all of a sudden assign a range that is a "common" or your own 3bet range. It's not hard to find out what someone is 3betting. I'd just fold 99 in hero's spot until I there's a good reason to play it, then i'd decide whether I want to call/4b set mine or whatever.

@ OP
Calling to set mine 99 for 140bbs isn't going to be as profitable as you think it is. He'd have to have a premium when you hit your set and never fold. Also what if you flop 9tj? You won't get the kind of value you hope to get unless villain is bad. The better your villain is the less profitable it is for you to set mine him.

are you taking a shot at 2/4? i feel like a lot of 400nl players will have a plan and reason to play 99 in this spot.

Judging from most of the posts, ppl seems to think this is a no brainer call preflop. Imo it's the opposite w/o a reason or a read.

Thank you all for the replies. The reason I posted this hand is that I'm very uncomfortable in the spots where I call and count on that he won't bluff me on the river cause I knew that I would most likely fold any river there. But as some of you said maybe I have to appear in those spots every now and then.

And about the preflop play, I had no thought to ever fold that preflop, maybe I have to rethink my preflop ranges. My plan wasn't to just setmine though, I thought his range was loose enough for 99 to be in okish shape there.

And @nemeelucas, I've actually played like 300k hands of MSNL, maybe this is the reason I'm pretty much breakeven though