Pocket 9’s …. is there another line i should have taken?

[Binh]

Hey guys, how is it going?

I played this hand @ 1/3 NLH which i thought the line was reasonable but i am not 100% sure.

Please help.

UTG limped. I raised to $15 in the UTG+ with pocket 9’s. The small blind raised to $31. Both UTG and i just flat called.

Flop: Q 6 3 rainbow.
SB raised $26.
UTG folded
I called the $26 putting him at AK or JJ or 10’s. Definitely not AQ

Turn: 6

SB checked. He looked semi nervous
At this point, AK is very likely.
I bet $75.
He reluctantly called, very disappointed.

River: 2

SB now led out for $125. Looking extra nervous.
I thought about folding but then the way he looked and the line he took just did not make sense. Seems like a desperate bluff.
Anyways, i called $125 and he showed AA….

He said he thought he was beat for sure.

What do you guys think ? Should i have just checked back on the turn and folded on the river ?

Thanks for all the feedbacks.

[mrviceguy]

I think this was a rather weak way to play AA – the 3bet is just too small to deny EV for UTG / UTG+1, which gives him a difficult time once the flop hits. Also the 1/4 pot sized bet gives EV for almost any hand to call, doing this on a board where only a set may have outflopped him is just plain bad poker.

On the other hand playing 99 can only be justified by the reads you had, as with a villain range of JJ+, AQ+ that flops leaves you to a 7 to 3 dog, with 2 outs and almost no draws to make a bluff on if he actually has a hand.
Even if the read would have been correct and he had air, villain has to be a solid player to lay down two suited overs on a dry board like this.
Stabbing the turn also seems to be out of line – the only hands benefiting from the paired board would not be flatted on flop, so from villains point of view it is an obvious steal attempt / value bet with a lower pocket.
The river call is dubious, as he leads out and already called a turn raise on a non-draw board – most people do not tend to do that with air, and anything he may have has you beat.

With no reads I would have folded the hand on river – with your reads I may have hammered him on flop with a re-raise to 75$ and see a cheap showdown from there.

[Paul Hewson]

I’m in agreement with MrViceGuy.

I like the call pre-flop. As the sb reraise indicates a lot of strength and 9s are an okay hand I’m looking to evaluate each street and not over-play my hand. The odd raise size suggests sb is possibly an under agressive rec player – and any raise is likely legit.

Flop having one over and facing a small bet i don’t see any value in anything other than a call.

Pairing the board on the turn puts you way ahead or way behind with one card to come. With this in mind i disagree with your bet. If you put v on AK – which i don’t think is wise (leave him on a range that makes sense, not a specific hand), then he only has 6 outs to improve, so there’s no need to deny equity. I think that bet just bloats the pot above the strength of your hand.

Once v bets the river and you are getting 3.5:1 on a call, you need to decide if he is bluffing often enough to call. After calling the turn and the preflop strength i can justify a fold, but i don’t hate a call either.

I think the big problem was with your turn bet. As I don’t know what worse hands call it or what better hands fold to it. I’d like to know what your thoughts were at the time.

Cheers
Paul

[Chris]

I would say a flop flat, turn check and river decide.

But with your line of call flop bet turn, then you likely need to shove river. His play already looks weak, paired with tour reads I would have shoved. Wired he would play AA so weak.

But best line is to check and realize and equity and bluff catch. So likely be checking turn planning on calling any river bet.

[Binh Ho]

First of all, thank you everyone for the feedbacks and discussion.

The player with Aces was extremely loose and definitely there to have fun rather than playing proper poker.

However, I do believe that checking the turn was definitely a better line. The river could be call it down or give it up.

But checking the turn is something I would have changed next time.

[Author]

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