Did I Play this wrong?
1/2 NL cash game at the local casino. I've had a bit of a tough time and my stack is down to $103. There's a $5 Straddle on the button. I'm in the hijack and get dealt pocket nines. The SB and the BB completes the bet to $5 and another caller follows suit. A loose aggressive player with a $600 stack immediately to my right raises to $21. Except for him it's a typical small stake table, mostly loose passive. Although he's raising hard, I've seen him raise with lousy hands before, and I figure that if I call I'll open up a flood of calls. Low and behold 2 other callers stay in the hand behind me, making the pot $89. I'll be the last one to speak after the flop. The flop comes 7 8 T rainbow, giving me 2nd pair and an open-ended straight draw. Everyone checks to me and I decide to go all in for my remaining $82. I get one caller. The turn is an Ace and the river is a 5. I miss my straight and the caller shows 9 T offsuit, winning the hand with a pair of Tens with a 9 kicker. Did I really screw up here? Thanks for your thoughts.
Comments
Maybe I'm just in a feisty mood tonight but I'm looking at this setup and I'd be totally fine shoving my $103 over that raise here. We already know that the SB, BB and other caller aren't in love with their hands because they just flatted the straddle. The straddle is a random hand. So, there is a good amount of dead money out there waiting for someone to take it ($20). That agro-player is probably thinking the same thing so he could be attacking it with a very wide range. His raise is pretty puny considering what's already in the middle, indicating to me a less than premium hand. He should be raising strong with JJ+, trying to take the pot down uncontested. Now you actually have a real hand, but not one that plays great multiway (and not great with these effective stacks). I'd attack what I see as all dead-money with maximum pressure pre-flop, knowing I still have a great chance of being ahead even if called by the raiser.
Interesting idea. I didn't think about it that way but it might have been more efficient to go all-in PF than trying to take down the pot after the flop when my stack with just the pot size anyway.
I like the way you played it. Because with a medium pair preflop, you are basically set mining. Right? And you don't really know where you are preflop with 4 contenders in the hand. The other thing I like about your shove on the flop is that you could be getting really great fold equity here. Plus you don't really mind a call here at all with your basically semi-bluff. I like the shove where YOU did it. There is a lot better advise out there than mine, however.
Agree with this. You didn't say who called your jam. If you ship 10/9 folds probably. Calling allows others to call and build the pot BUT reduces your equity.
Winning the pot uncontested increases your stack by more than 30%.
I have actually done this 1warlock. Utg opens to 10. 3 callers. I jam JJ. All fold. Increase my stack by good % uncontested.
My jam actually tilted the UTG player.
Bonus!!
Good point. Waiting for the flop was giving me a 1 to 1 SPR, which for anyone with a decent draw was going to give them the right odds to call my shove. Something to really keep in mind going forward