Setting:
Orleans Casino
1-3 game

Players:
Most of the table is loose-passive.
SB is an old man who just joined.
LJ is tight-passive. When he bets, it is usually true strength

EP limps - MP limps - LJ raises to 12 ($500 behind)
Hero is in the HJ with J 9
Hero Calls (500) - Btn calls (300) - SB calls (200) - EP calls (400) - MP calls (300)
6 Players
Pot = $75

Flop: J 5 3
SB bets $10 - EP calls - MP calls - HJ raises to $35 - Hero ??

I love my hand's potential.
But surely I am not ahead at the moment.
And I don't close the action with four more players active behind me.
Shall I fold/call/raise?

Please advise

--CM

H is ahead of just about any 1 V but not so against the field. I probably raise fairly large, say $175 or so and jam literally every turn if called. Surely there are smarter low variance paths available but fast playing here puts pressure on V’s with non-nutted hands which, with our holding, are hands we have decent equity against.

I like a 3B ... strong equity, small raise by LJ, some fold equity vs better heart draws.

Pre - fold ... LJ is tight-passive ... And I don't close the action with four more players active behind me.

pre is typically a mistake unless blinds are fishy & deepish

bombs away otf/reload when its over

Bet pot. 200$ or so.

Fold pre.

AP, I think we raise to an amount that will force naked Ace-high heart draws in SB to fold and set up a turn jam. $140 is fine. Assuming we get it heads-up we can check-back turn and see a free river or jam turn.

I think HH is mixed up a bit. I'm assuming it's the PFR who raised the flop. He is described as being as deep as us, and only bets when he has it.

I think it's a tightrope we need to walk to try and blast this pot. Our J is likely no good unless we make 2-pair (or fold out better J) and our flush is possibly no good plus we are almost certainly facing an over pair or AKhh from the raiser.

I think AJhh or even KJhh warrant the raise/shove advocated above, but here I think we should either call and hope we bink the turn or fold.

Obviously we are put in this situation with a bad call pre.

I'd probably fold preflop, but I'm nitty. Our relative position being first to act after the raiser will often put us in sucky spots postflop; for this reason, there may even be a decent argument for 3betting postflop, but in the HJ that simply might be too early with 4 players still to react. Also too good a chance that flatting here leaves us OOP to someone else, or someone reraises preflop and blows us out. I'd also rather have a more nuttish making hand if this will often go multiway; we have some some poor RIO on some really good hands we can make. Overall, I'm almost never the first person to flat a preflop raise with a speculative hand when I don't have the Button.

Against some of the shorter stacks I'd be pretty comfortable probably just ripping it in here. But against some of the deeper stacks (such as the HJ), probably less so. Typically with TP + flush draw I think we should play fairly passively with a made showdownable hand until we improve to better. But in this case, it is fairly obvious we're behind and thus may want to flex our FE with our decent hand equity, and go after the huge dead money / make people forfeit their equity. The issue becomes exactly how much hand equity we have with so many still interested in the pot (and this is why I think it is important to have a more nuttish making hand preflop).

But I think overall I lean to getting it in. Against better flush draws, we're ahead with our TP and put them to a tough decision. Against better pairs, we have decent equity and also put them in a horrendous spot. It's possible someone is sandbagging a made monster, but even against those we have ok equity.

GcluelessNLnoobG