party poker 1/2

i am UTG dealt [9h] i raise 4x to 8 bucks
two calls, one is a loose-ass one is unknown new guy

[Kh][Th]
i bet 15 at 27 pot, loose guy folds, new guy calls

[Kh][Th][Js]
pot is 57, what should i do?

i dont think this guy had KA im sure he would have raised me preflop or on the flop, he shouldn't have JA or TA so i think my Q or 8 outs are good. he doesnt believe i have KA, but should i have bet more on the flop if i wanted to take it down?

CocaCola, what's up dude?

First I would like to ask is it noraml to raise 99 UTG in the 1/2 stakes, 10 10 maybe but 99? I don't play that high of stakes yet but I would think this would be a limping hand and then calling a reasonable raise to try and set it or forget it. I would think it would be way to hard to play this hand UTG. To many things could go wrong. Now if I were in MP or LP and the 1st one opening the pot then I woudl raise for sure but a raise UTG with it just seems a bit much, but thats just me. Maybe your table was uber tight.

Flop, ok if I had AK and raised PF and that was the flop that came out I'm betting the pot no matter what. You bet almost 1/2 the pot which if I was in the hand I would raise you even if I missed the flop because your bet looked so weak. You bet looks more like you flopped a set and are trying to get some money out of it but again if I was in the hand I would not believe that either because I would think you would check the flop and then check raise a bet. So I got to put you on something a bit weak.

Turn, dude this is hard to play- I would check and fold to any sized bet because there are so many more instances for you to get your money in on better spots then this. It almost feels like your trying to force yourself to win this pot-even from the beginning. The villian could easily have the and your just drawing almost dead. Any heart and your done. If the 10 does come how are you sure that he does not have the higher straight? Are you gonna bet if you do hit your straight? And what are you going to do if you do hit it and you bet and then he raises you?

I think he might have , I know I would call a PF raise with that hand and if I flopped a Royal flush draw and I think you like your hand enought to raise it up in EP then I will let you hang yourself and let you bet away. I'm not saying that he does have a royal flush draw but any draw you he he might have the better one.

On the turn if you bet again I woudl definatly raise you, depending on the size of your bet, and then you have to fold. Are you really going to BTP on the turn with your pair on 9's. This would be really a really aggressive play that might be used if you had more of a read on your opponnet but.... Your flop bet just reeks of weakness, plus you gave anybody witha flush draw the proper odds to draw to it on the turn.

I think you're only drawing to 5 clean outs here. The three 7's and the two 9's, so you have 5 outs to hit your hand, seems prettty slim for being OOP and no reads.

I just don't like the road this hand is going down. I woudl check, fold the turn and wait for a better spot. Maybe thats weak/ tight but I don't think so. I think thats good poker playing. You need position for this type of hand or atleast a really good read and you don't have either of those in this hand.

Good luck man, I hope this hand worked out ok for you no matter what you did.

-DS

What's the 2+2 forum you speak of? I thought BTP was the only poker forum in the world

Well Coke (if I may be so bold to call you by the new formula name) I would say this...

First, if you could include the stack sized next time it would really help out alot in being able to analyze the hand more. That being said......

If they are talking about getting a good ratio of rasing hands that are not always big PP then I would suggest what Ice says he does and it's a concept that I also apply. Raise suited connectors instead of these lower PP.

Why?

Because they will much easier to dump if you miss completley so you are not faced with tough decisions like you had in this hand.

Also, another benefit I have found with raising SC is that if you do hit the flop and get some action, you are probably going to make more $ off the hand then raising a lower PP because you raised from up front so people are going to be putting you on big hands and never believe you when you fire into a pot with a straight draw or flush draw and then when you do hit your hand and fire again they really won't believe you so you are going to have people with 2 pair raising you or people with a TPTK and a draw calling or even raising your bets, which is a good thing because you are giving yourself a chance to win a really big pot.

As far as balancing your bluffs with big hands, who are they to talk? So everytime you make a bluff your are supposed to show it so that you are showing alot of bluffs? I have no problem with bluffing but when I do I like to do it in postion or a check raise rather then trying to play a difficult hand from up front, barring any reads. I may be way off base on this point and am just speaking personally, and there might be a time and a place for a play like this...say late stages of a tournament or some other type of situation but deffinalty not here.

Anyways I woudl say this to you....moving AI on the turn was probably not the best play in the world. You were trying to represent a made straight so you just go all in? This play reeks of desperation.

Like I said, I would have checked the turn and folded to any serious sized bet and move on.

You also said that you are half asleep and tilting from not getting any hands all night. I think you needed to stop playing as soon as you realized you felt this way, because what happened was you got caught in a rut, decided to get tricky on a hand and then could have lost your whole stack because of it. Now I'm not you, but if I'm not playing optimally and I recognize it, I quit. You need to play when your focused and not on tilt. The game will be there tommorow.

Anyways, I'm glad you took down the hand and hopefullly I've given you a bit of worth while advice. Good luck in your next session-have a good one.

-DS

yeah the Q is probably not an out i really am drawing thin to just the 8s here. you know when you actually playing some things can look like a good idea when they're not and you can miss a lot of things too