drawing to a 9 (2-7 td)

[NYplayer]

i was playing 3 handed with a bad player who routinely raises pf and draws 3. i've even seen him draw 2 on the last draw against 2 players who have been drawing 1 since the first draw.

he raises on button and i cold call in the sb with J-9-8-3-2. should i 3 bet? i dont want to bloat a pot oop but i also am not sure how important it is to be HU against him.

the BB folds. What should i do? draw 2 or draw 1?

[Bill King]

i would say 1. and see how the 2nd draw goes. use your observations from previous hands on whether or not you're going to need to improve to win.

[DustinG]

I think there are times to draw to a nine on the first draw, but I don't think this is one of them. Being out of position against an aggressive opponent drawing to a 98 can't be fun. Just calling and drawing 1 shows a lot of weakness and so if he decides to throw a raise out there at some point you can't be sure whether he has a hand or is making a move. 3-betting and drawing one can't be right either because you are only making the pot bigger and giving him good reason to stick around until the river. I would draw two.

I will draw to a nine on the first draw if I have position on someone who I think is likely to fold early in the hand unless they improve quickly. This situation comes up pretty rarely though outside of HU for me.

[DeathDonkey]

I would draw two in this spot. I also think there is a big difference between drawing at a 98 and a 96 for instance. I think you will destroy the player type you described by making real hands and getting paid.

-DeathDonkey