How to play a medium pair in blinds facing a raise - Theory

[cooker3]

A situation I have been thinking about a bit lately which can come up a bit.

Say a guy raises from late position, he is say 26/21, steal% of 40$, very aggro and tends to call 3 bets somewhat lightly and cbets a lot.
You have 88-TT in the blind, what is the best play?

The argument for raising would be that your ahead of his range and also you don't want to be run over against someone like this but on the flip side, you have to fold to a 4 bet and if he calls then your put a rather tough spot. There is nearly always going to be overcards on the board and your oop.

The argument for calling is you keep the pot small with a somewhat marginal hand oop and there is more room for manouvure as you have less of your stack committed.
On downside you may end up folding the best hand a bit if scary flops hit and your in danger of being run over.

Which is better, is it just a matter of preference or is there 1 definate superior line?

[tubasteve]

mix it up, vary your play vs opponents postflop tendencies, there is no right answer. except that i tend to 3-bet most of the time with TT.

[AshleyC]

3 bet a high % of the time and c-bet a very high % of flops.

The fact that overcards come most of the time post flop argues for 3 betting instead of calling OOP, esp if he is aggro and can 2nd barrell if you C/C the flop.

[bubaloo]

i agree youve gotta mix it up. there is nothing wrong w/ making a pure equity play and 3betting, which is always profitable vs his range. there is also nothing wrong w/ taking a flop while under-repping your hand.

i think taking a flop and playing pokah would make more money in the long run, there would be more variance to this play tho(being oop, not knowing where you are at a lot of the time) whereas 3betting gives you the lead and makes it a lot easier to get away when you are behind.

[sh58]

i agree with above. mix it up. however, i am 3betting TT at least 90% in this spot, with 99 and 88 not far behind. they just crush his range so bad.

if i call, i am c/r alot of flops

[VPIP100]

[ QUOTE ]
i agree with above. mix it up. however, i am 3betting TT at least 90% in this spot, with 99 and 88 not far behind. they just crush his range so bad.

if i call, i am c/r alot of flops

[/ QUOTE ]

Also call down light if hes real aggro. Like 99 on a Q52 board etc.

Also make notes that he either goes in pot control with a mediocre made hand or keeps aggro with it. If he doesnt keep aggro with those hands he either has the nuts or a bluff, and more often than not the latter.