Playing Live $1-$3 in Oregon and I have been struggling with this hand, I am curious to get your thoughts.

The Game: 9 handed, earlier in the day during a series, the game was playing straight forward and no one getting too out of line. Most players do not play full time and play solid (other than playing and continuing with too many hands).

I have $600 to start the hand and I am UTG+1 with 9d,9h and I open to $12, MP ($250 - older gentleman) calls, CO, primary villain, ($900 - Another older gentlemen that has been running over the table, winning many pots uncontested) calls and BB ($250) calls. 4 handed flop, Pot: $48.

Flop is the 6h, 5h, 3c. BB checks, I bet $30 which is on the larger side into a 4 way pot, but people tend to call too wide and wanted to go for value on this flop. MP folds, CO flats, BB folds, hu to turn, Pot: $108

I pause here because although this is the first time I have played with CO, he didn't appear to be overly deceptive (could be wrong) and he had shown down some hands in which he played in a straightforward. I say this because when CO flats my flop bet, I think my 9's are ahead on the flop as he will likely raise his sets and two pair combos on a textured flop multi-ways with players left to act behind him.

Turn: Qc (6h, 5h, 3c, Qc) bringing in the club BDFD. I bet $45 ($513 behind) into $108 pot. CO, who covers me, min raises to $90.

This was a weird because other than Qhxh, I do not think CO has many Q's in his range and I am hard pressed to see how the turn improved his hand, but he would likely raise on the flop with two pair or sets. Straights seem unlikely because only combos are 42s and 47s and he called a raise out of the CO (not impossible).

I end up tanking a while and I call the extra $45 (have to call $45 to win $243). The river is a brick 8s, board is 6h, 5h, 3c, Qc, 8s I check, CO bets $100 into $288.

Can 9's ever be good here? Am I putting too much stock into the fact that I believe CO will raise ALL his flopped two pairs and sets? My only thought is that maybe CO min raises the turn with certain combos that pick up backdoor clubs, he totally bricks the river (say with 87cc) and just fires $100? Maybe this is too optimistic.

I ran the hand through Flopzilla and if CO has bricked club combos, I am more or less getting the right price. Let me know what you think. Thank you.

Don't like turn sizing, much bigger or check. Also may induce bluffs with small sizing which opens you up for a guessing game
AP Im calling brick River after calling the min click
Given your read of no showdowns and no slowplaying otf his line looks like Qxhh or air

Agree with above. Turn sizing was ackward and puts you in a tougg spot here.

Yes, turn sizing is too small. Let's draws in cheap, induces raises, etc.

Whether to call the river is a soul-read.

I just limp here but that's my preflop style. Is the open mostly a juicer for if we hit? The smaller our pair and the more passive people are facing EP raises, the more we might not want to get stacks in against non morons this deep if we hit.

Another part I'm not terribly fond of with regards to preflop is that we mostly hate every runout that goes to deeper streets that doesn't contain a 9. Which means we just start playing bloated pots OOP and get in gross spots.

With that in mind, I don't hate the flop bet. But it mostly gets us into the exact situation we were often going to get ourselves in on the turn: a big bloated pot OOP with a very marginal hand. Now what?

With that said, I'm cool with continuing on the turn and I now fold to the raise. With a much stronger hand (say with TP/overpair) I'd be cooler with checking and just attempting to get to showdown. But with this already fairly weak hand that can easily get even weaker on the river, I'm cool with putting in my last bet now and hoping that ends things. Yeah, a minraise is weird, but it's a raise on a later street and we have a meh hand and the river ain't gonna get any easier OOP.

GplayingbigpotsOOPwithmediocrehandsishard,imoG

puke call riv against described villain getting 4 to 1 on your money, sure he might have QhXh but make him show it to you imo. I'd actually be happier calling a larger sizing against most aggro villains. Are you going to let him run you over too?

Hi there, interesting hand ,.

pre: UTG +1 with 99 is kinda weird, I dont mind a limp here once in awhile too, as played raise is fine too I guess, perhaps slightly bigger though, maybe $15-$18

flop: betting here for value is fine, as long as you realize you cant really take much pressure with your hand, 99 on that board can probably only go for 1 or 2 streets of value, 1 depending on your opponents,

turn: I dont like a lead here , you should not have value betting range on the turn and you would get raised alot in tougher games if you have a lead range here , better line could be to check call and try to keep the pot small with this connecting board, this keeps all his bluffs in still while maintaining a manageable pot size, his min raise is weird line, but probably just 2 pair or set likely, V doesn't necessary have to polarize on flop and can call behind putting you in tough spots such as you are now in, he can actually get tricky and flat your turn bet and if river bricks show up on the river with some heavy action, I actually prefer a flat on the flop if I have position and flop 2 pair / sets here , keeps my range wide and allows me to represent front door cards such as straights and possible flushes that may come in while still allowing all my sets and 2 pairs to possibly be in there, this all depends on your opponent and his tendencies, as you mention he is straightforward so likely its 2pairs and sets that he decided to slow play until the turn, playing disciplined and waiting for better spot you can just fold out the turn , but likely im flatting the min raise and reevaluating rivers,

river: your putting too much stock into believing he wouldn't flat with value on the flop, I think its quite close but likely just a fold vs a straightforward player,

Thank you KID777777, twitcherroo, Javanewt, gobbledygeek, bovadafiend, adummmm. Your replies and insight mean alot to me.

It appears the consensus is the turn is a good check spot OOP. Initially, I viewed the Qc as a card better for our range and there are not many Qs in Villain's range. Also, some interesting comments on sizing with respect to smaller bets come along with the risk of inducing raises from our opponents. I have anecdotally noticed a similar pattern from random opponents playing live low stakes cash. Does this mean we should exploit by looking to under bet (25% - 35% pot) an unbalanced range with more nutted combos? I ask because I tend to default to betting 75% - PSB with nutted combos to try and max value, but if we can induce, maybe mix in under bets?

Thanks again!

Interesting question. I suppose I open pre because I just don't ever open limp. Thus, If I am opening the action and going to play a hand, I am coming in for a raise. 99 is in my range so we auto-pilot raise. Additionally I am 4x'ing pre because that is going to be a standard open for my entire range. I am making it $12 with AA, KQs or 99.

It is a good question because we flop an over pair (using an over pair as an example b/c that is more or less an auto continue with the hand) only 16.6% of the time. Maybe time to get rid of absolute rules such as "no open limping."

On wet boards like this, I'd avoid betting small with nutted combos because the majority of the players will profitably call with their draws not bluff raise.

You can bet small only when you know with a high level of certainty that V both can and will be induced to bluff raise vs you. This is a pretty rare scenario and something you shouldn't consider without considerable history.

Focus your sizing on the majority of llsnl players who call too light and raise too tight and deviate only when you have solid reads

Raise pre w/99 is absolutely fine btw

Raise pre is fine and good.