how to to play a set

[Nealyh_02 0]

Just curious as to how you guys/gals would play this had. Head to head I am dealt a pocket 9. small blind raise it 4 times the blind, I just call flop comes all clubs K-J-9. Small blind raises puts out a very small raise....what would you do?I double his bet and he fold...since I had no club, I was right not to slow play the set..right?

[Suited_Up 2]

Right.

[Spence 0]

You take the small pot.

[Longshanks 0]

never minimum reraise

[nickforgot 0]

make a good size raise and take the pot right down...too scary of a board

[Suited_Up 2]

never minimum reraise

Can't say never.

[clingfree 0]

Pot sized bet here at least. No question.Minimum raises in most cases are worthless, however, there is a time and place for everything.

[SpeedKills 0]

yea u definately go stronger than the min raise.

[scottyno 0]

min raise doesnt give you any information about his hand since with anything decent (flush draw, 2 pair, lower set, maybe even straight draw or top pair, hes pot commited to see another card. Raise more and make him pay to chase you down, and if he comes back over the top then he probably has the flush and you determine your play based on pot odds.

[HoosierAlum 0]

Just curious as to how you guys/gals would play this had. Head to head I am dealt a pocket 9. small blind raise it 4 times the blind, I just call flop comes all clubs K-J-9. Small blind raises puts out a very small raise....what would you do?I double his bet and he fold...since I had no club, I was right not to slow play the set..right?

Ok, Im in a good mood today so I will try and be nice. You played this hand very poorly sir. Very very poorly. The preflop play is questionable, depending on if it was a tourney or cash game situation. If it was a tourney Im almost always re-raising with 99 here, but I dont know the situation so I guess calling is OK.Flop comes K J 9 all clubs. You have bottom set. You do realize you have like the 50th nuts right? Just because you flop a set, it doesnt mean you have the best hand. So he leads out with a smallish "bet". (Its not a raise, its a bet) Your set is EXTREMELY vulnerable here. In fact, I can't think of a flop where a set would be more vulnerable. Since I don't know any more details such as stack sizes, etc. I will give you some general advice. DONT MINIMUM RAISE. You do realize that by minimum raising you are pricing him in to call with a club to crack your set right? Minimum raising is a horrible play and in this spot its even worse. You probably currently have the best hand, so I would advice you to raise by the size of the pot. (This is kind of irrelevant since I dont know if its tourney or cash game, or what the stack sizes are. )Please don't take offense to this, but you would be best off to read a few books before you play for 1 more dollar of real money. Based on the 3 sentences you wrote, it is obvious you don't have much clue what you are doing, and you would save money if you quit playing and did some studying. My recommendations:Harrington on Hold em Vol 1 and 2 for tourneys.Super System 2Read the strat forums for good NLHE cash game advice.good luck

[Suited_Up 2]

Just curious as to how you guys/gals would play this had. Head to head I am dealt a pocket 9. small blind raise it 4 times the blind, I just call flop comes all clubs K-J-9. Small blind raises puts out a very small raise....what would you do?I double his bet and he fold...since I had no club, I was right not to slow play the set..right?

Ok, Im in a good mood today so I will try and be nice.

Swing and a miss, lol.

[loogie 115]

Hoosier's correct. You need to pop it up preflop. Any pocket pair heads up is a big hand and should be raised.On the flop, pot it. If he reraises, I muck it.

[scottyno 0]

Just curious as to how you guys/gals would play this had. Head to head I am dealt a pocket 9. small blind raise it 4 times the blind, I just call flop comes all clubs K-J-9. Small blind raises puts out a very small raise....what would you do?I double his bet and he fold...since I had no club, I was right not to slow play the set..right?

Ok, Im in a good mood today so I will try and be nice. You played this hand very poorly sir. Very very poorly. The preflop play is questionable, depending on if it was a tourney or cash game situation. If it was a tourney Im almost always re-raising with 99 here, but I dont know the situation so I guess calling is OK.Flop comes K J 9 all clubs. You have bottom set. You do realize you have like the 50th nuts right? Just because you flop a set, it doesnt mean you have the best hand. So he leads out with a smallish "bet". (Its not a raise, its a bet) Your set is EXTREMELY vulnerable here. In fact, I can't think of a flop where a set would be more vulnerable. Since I don't know any more details such as stack sizes, etc. I will give you some general advice. DONT MINIMUM RAISE. You do realize that by minimum raising you are pricing him in to call with a club to crack your set right? Minimum raising is a horrible play and in this spot its even worse. You probably currently have the best hand, so I would advice you to raise by the size of the pot. (This is kind of irrelevant since I dont know if its tourney or cash game, or what the stack sizes are. )Please don't take offense to this, but you would be best off to read a few books before you play for 1 more dollar of real money. Based on the 3 sentences you wrote, it is obvious you don't have much clue what you are doing, and you would save money if you quit playing and did some studying. My recommendations:Harrington on Hold em Vol 1 and 2 for tourneys.Super System 2Read the strat forums for good NLHE cash game advice.good luck

i agree with everything said here, except that a 3 suited connected board: 9TJ etc would be more dangerous than this board. Also, he said "head to head I am dealt 9-9" which I assume means he was playing heads up cash or sit n go, if this is a sit n go, depending on the blinds I might be inclined to shove all in here, especially if the other guy has been playing relatively loose. Calling isnt awful though, the other guy probably has at least 2 overs, and the best way to win heads up matches against worse players is to avoid race situations and just chop away at their stack.

[mk 11]

fold.

[screech 0]

fast or slow

[scottyno 0]

Hoosier's correct. You need to pop it up preflop. Any pocket pair heads up is a big hand and should be raised.On the flop, pot it. If he reraises, I muck it.

might be potstuck to call at this point if you pot it, even against a made flush or straight you're only a 2-1 dog.

[loogie 115]

might be potstuck to call at this point if you pot it, even against a made flush or straight you're only a 2-1 dog.

You're totally right. Tricky spot.

[nell789 0]

I fold pre-flop, pocket 9's are just too vulnerable.

[scottyno 0]

I fold pre-flop, pocket 9's are just too vulnerable.

if this is heads up 99 is too good a hand to fold.op should post against concerning chip counts to begin the hand, blinds, and style of play (cash game, tourney, hu sit n go, or hu cash) as well as any comments regarding the style of play of the other player.If he were a very loose player that likes to bluff a lot, and the stacks are very deep, I might be inclined to take a risk and just call his flop bet hoping for a blank on the turn where I can fire again (if he already has a made straight or flush theres a good chance you're going to end up all in anyway, if not on the flop then on the turn) and if the turn blanks you can get more money out of him when you push back. this all depends on his style though, Im not making this play against a tight player, only a very loose one.

[Shizzmoney 0]

Hoosier's correct. You need to pop it up preflop. Any pocket pair heads up is a big hand and should be raised

Agreed, although if you want to vary your play, you can sometimes smooth call* with Queens or better (some like Jacks or better, but I like to re-raise with Jacks just because some people like to raise with any A-x, Kx, or Q-x preflop heads up, and you don't want them to catch their 29% on the flop without making them pay for it).*And this is mostly an advanced play, and it sounds like you still have some inexperience in you, which is OK - it just dictates that you have to play more straight forward - which means putting more pressure on your opponenet preflop. Smooth calling with pocket pairs like 9's are for players who are exceptionally good at reading people, which is hard to do as it is, never mind heads up).

[BlueDev 0]

What in the hell is discussion of actual poker play doing on the front page??? Confused the living crap outta me. :wink:

[Ron_Mexico 4,219]

never minimum reraise

Can't say never.

never.Personally, I woulda pushed more preflop heads up with 99. Just calling is leaving yourself wide open to that kind of flop, minus the 9 of course.Thats just me, I'm relatively aggressive hu.You shoulda reraise to define his hand.

[Spence 0]

I figured it was a cash game? Folding 99? where is the SW? If it was a cash game, calling to see what develops is not the worst thing you can do. Three clubs comes on flop, you can't assume he has 2 clubs when he bets out minimum. Yes its the 50th nuts if you count EVERY SINGLE FLUSH he could possibly have. Maybe he'd play 27s, probably not. Min-raise is definately not the best option, and a pot sized re-raise would probably be best. If he calls it gets a bit scary, just hope for a club that pairs the board.

[Nealyh_02 0]

I think understand. Even though I won the hand, I overvalued the strenght of my hand. I guess I wasnt thinking about there was a lot of other hands that wound have beat me. One question, before preflop, if he bets four times the blind, which he did. you are saying I should raise? because he could have a monster hand and I would committing a big stack of my chips . I called....isnt that a smooth call? I think if he would have checked, I would be more inclined to worry thinking he flop a higher set. but his bet some so small, I really thought maybe he was on a draw or top pair. I am still learning, but also know that as much as I over valued my hand strength, a lot of players that play 5 - 10 head to head at bodog play stupid cards very aggressively, and value a lot worse thanks for the input

[Joker 0]

If he calls it gets a bit scary, just hope for a club that pairs the board.

That is impossible on turn. Unless it's rigged! 8)