I was playing in a 2-4 game on Party Poker. When a guy berated me for being a bad player. Here's the hand...
Position: Mid
Pot Status: Called
Hand Held: 99
Action: Call
The SB raises to $4....I call....and 5 players see the flop.
Flop...8, 10, Q (rainbow)
SB bets $2
2 players before me fold....here's my thinking.
There's $22 in the pot. I put the SB on AA or KK, because he raised from the SB with so many callers (He could have had AK, but based on previous play, I didn't think he would raise with AK).
I am getting 11 to 1 on my $2 bet. I figure I have 6 outs... the two 9's or the 4 Jacks. Probability wise, cards work out to 6/47 or a little better than 8 to 1. Hence I call the bet. (So does the other player behind me which gives me a little better pot odds.)
The turn comes...now the board is 8, 10, Q, 10.
The SB checks.....why???? I don't know why he checks.....guess what?? I check too!!!! So does the other player.
Three players see the river. 8, 10, Q, 10, J
I now have a straight to the Q...not the nut straight, but worth the $4 call from the bet of the SB.
SB has AA...loses to my straight. This player then proceeds to tell me what a bad player I was for calling on the flop..."How could you call on 99? You are an idiot!!"
I don't really care what he said, but is my thinking wrong...should I have not called the pre-flop raise...the flop bet??
What do you think??
I think you played the hand extremely well. I would have maybe raised with 9's depending on how many people called in front of me. But what are you supposed to do when the small blind raised? Fold, I think not, especially getting 9 to 1 for your call.
The flop isn't a terrible flop for you, you have six outs and are getting the right pot odds to call, or maybe even raise if you think you might be able to get a free card. But hey the guy gave you a free card anyway. Not your fault he played it stupid.
The river you hit your money card, I like the call here since the board had paired and yours wasn't the nut straight. If the guy had any class or self control he would have said nice hand instead of berating you. I can't stand these guys who insist on talking shit at the table, it's bad poker. And they obviously don't understand that if you truly were a bad player they need guys like you to pay them off. I say well played too bad the guy was an asshole.
Calling with pocket 9s from the middle is fine depending on your style of play.
Calling the raise from the SB is fine.
You have the odds to see 1 more on the flop so the call there was fine. But, this can be dangerous against 5 players seeing the flop. I definitely wouldn't get cocky here.
The second T on the turn would have made me very nervous against 2 other players. Many people play QT and T8. Hell, I do on occasion. The fact that the SB checked means he was scared too. Hence, the free card.
As for the call on the river...I would have.
Nice play.
Thanks gentlemen...I would have folded on the turn had there been a bet....but what's a person to do....fold when there is no need??
I heard this somewhere on this board.... it would work well in this situation...
after he has blurted some crap about how bad you play... wait until the middle of the next hand... then type...
"I'm sorry, were you saying something... I couldn't hear you... I was stacking your chips."
He'll either shut up, or more likely go on tilt!
Of course you played it right. You won! Not only that, you got him on tilt which is a bonus because he may not play very rationally at least until he wins some money back. You can't always play by the book (if there is just one book) so being unpredictable is an asset also.
You're defenitely not a bad player, if anything, he's the bad player. Not because he "misplayed" AA (which I believe he did), but because he does not have the capacity to read or understand other players reasons for being involved in a pot. He decided AA was invincible, and then he froze when the 10 on the turn came, only fearful of trip 10s. He then proceeded to ignore the even more dangerous J on the river and bet right out. If you had even decided to be daring and raise on the river I'll bet you he would have gone even more ballistic! (and may have re-raised you). He just put too much value on AA with no respect to the other players and the board.
If you can rationalize to me why you play any 2 cards against another player/field, regardless of what you hold, and you take down the pot, then I respect you.
I agree with how you played the hand. Strong cards than yours were on the board, so playing it tight is the way to go.
I was playing in a SNG on Party the other evening and some guy said to me: "keep raising Dave you are winning these hands on BS anyway." What does that mean? This is probably the same guy. He was out in 2 more hands anyway.
I definately don't think you played the hand badly, but I do disagree with the calling of the bet on the flop. I understand that you had 'pot odds' to call the bet. However, there was also a good chance that even with any of the cards you were drawing to, you could have been drawing dead. That is the problem with computing pot odds and basing your play off it; your read of your opponent's hand has to be perfect or pot odds don't mean $hit.
For example, if he held AK, and one of the 4 Jacks hit, then you were toast. If one of your 9's hit then you'd still be smoked by anyone holding two 10's or two Q's. The pre-flop raise could have easily been two 10's, two Q's, or big slick. Just something to remember.
I play NL more than L so my comments may be flat wrong here. Comments??
A somebody else said, you won the pot, so nice job and congrats!
No one has mentioned the third guy in the hand yet. He's the one I would have been concerned about. On the flop, he could have held any of several hands that tie or dominate your 99.
The way the hand played out I suspect he had KJ or AJ, flopped a two-way straight draw with it, and didn't improve. (Other possibility: pair plus inside straight draw.) A nine probably would have made you an expensive second-best hand.
