Live 10 handed 5/10. Table is very loose and somewhat passive. A preflop raise usually means ak or jj+. Post flop people (including villain) lead out with any decent pair or draw but seem not willing to raise, the weakest raise I've seen was TPTK, more frequently two pair+.

Hero has 97 in middle position.
UTG+1 calls, hero calls, two late position playes + sb calls, villain checks in bb.

Flop 3 4 6
Villain bets, UTG+1 folds, hero calls, two LPS call, sb folds

Turn K
Villain bets, hero folds

Fold pre; you're too far away from the BTN to be limping in and hoping to equity realize cheap, and this isn't the kind of game where raising a hand like this after a limp seems like a good idea.

Rest looks standard.

Agree with fold pre

Raise sometimes but mostly fold pre. Don't call.

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He describes the table as being " very loose and passive" whats wrong with limping medium suited gapped hands early?

Playing them out of position a lot after the flop.

We really need to be kind of nitty in the early spots of a ten-handed game. The good news is that our nitty opening range is still going to be wider than {JJ+, AK} and we will still look fairly aggro to the rest of the table.

Aside: I don't think a gutshot with two overs is a "weak draw."

Calling is better than raising. Raising pushes players out of the pot that you want to have in the pot. This is taking that "raise or fold" mantra to the wrong place and demonstrating why you shouldn't play poker by mantra.

But folding is better than calling. You're just too far out of position for this hand.

News flash, 9 high doesn't hit a lot. I'd rather take control and knock those people out to potentially win unimproved. Just because you raise pre doesn't mean you need to put in another chip. You could potentially see 4 cards for that 1 small bet. 9 high is not a good multiway hand.

Full disclosure, 97s is my favorite hand and I tend to play it like aces.

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And I'd rather be dealt aces every hand than the garbage I normally get. In a typical live 5/10 loose passive game, you're just not going to be successful.

And you could potentially flop a straight flush. You're not really making a good argument for raising in these game conditions. Also, if most flops are only going for at most one bet anyway, you'll probably see the turn for the same price as raising preflop. And sometimes, you'll even get to the turn for free in a limped pot.

A random 9-high, sure. But 97s is a great multiway hand.

Full disclosure, I honestly can't tell how serious you are about the argument for raising instead of calling. Because the argument is pretty craptacular.