Stars $5.5 - bubble play with 99, small stack raise, big stack waiting - Page 2

Maple Leafs · #11 03-13-2006, 06:07 PM

I'll give the epilogue on this since it may be vaguely interesting to low-stakes players.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (4 handed) internettexasholdem.com

UTG (t1889)
Button (t3031)
Hero (t3420)
BB (t5160)

Preflop: Hero is SB with 9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
UTG raises to t800, 2 folds, BB raises to t1400, UTG calls t600.

Flop: (t2850) K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB bets t600, UTG folds.

Final Pot: t3450

(Yes, UTG folded on the flop, leaving him with about t500.)

BB showed 44. UTG hit the ceiling, claiming he had 66. I mentioned I had folded 99 and all three players expressed shock that I would make that move, calling it very poor, which may be correct.

While it's frustrating to know I folded the best pair, I honestly don't think I could have played that flop well enough to win the hand. I would have checked it and probably folded to BB's raise. Bad play maybe, but that's where my game is at right now.

The postscript is that, after that hand, my table image seemed to change substantially. It was as if all three villians made immediate notes on me along the lines of "Folds 99 -- donkey!". Suddenly they wanted no part of me in any hand, and I could take pots with even min-raises.

UTG busted out shortly after. I ended up heads-up with BB and did end up winning (although I was wrong about being better than him heads-up ... I actually needed some lucky hands to stay with him.)

Thanks for the feedback.

tigerite · #12 03-13-2006, 08:11 PM

You aren't a donkey for folding. Ignore them.