Pocket 9s

I have a bit of a love-hate relationship with pocket 9s.  Often, even from late position I’m nervous to raise with them, although they win often enough that raising is almost always justified.  There are a couple of simple situations that make raising the right decision.  First, is if you think you can narrow the field; often pocket 9s win unimproved against a smaller field.  Against several opponents, they will get outdrawn easily, as overcards (A, K, Q, J, T) will almost always devalue the hand.  Against a large field, you’re hoping to flop a set, or 3 of a kind.  A set of 9s is a monster hand, that has a great chance to win!

So today, on the love/hate spectrum I have to admit that pocket 9s has moved considerably towards the love side of the spectrum.  :)  I had pocket 9s today, on the button at a loose/passive table.  There were no real tricky players, and several people saw the flop during each hand.  So in this particular hand, 5 people limped before I looked down at my pocket 9s.  There’s no way I’m going to narrow the field; I can’t reasonably expect anybody to fold, after I raise since there will be at least 6 people in the pot, probably 8 including the blinds.  I decide that I’m just going to raise for value, and hope to flop a set with overcards to keep people in.  If I miss the flop completely, I can easily fold and be done with the hand.  Isn’t there an idiomatic phrase about the best intentions?

Well, as expected I raised, and everyone called, including the blinds.  The pot was huge preflop, with 16 small bets.  This was an 8/16 game, so that amounted to $128 before we even saw the flop.  I knew I was going to have to put up a fight for this pot, and stood a good chance to lose a lot of money.

The flop did miss me completely, although to my surprise there were no overcards!  The flop was 5d 3h 8c.  There was no flush draw yet possible, although there was the prospect of a straight draw.  Somebody could have had a small pocket pair like 33 or 55 or 88 and made a set.

The action was checked around to me, and I knew I had to bet.  I was really afraid of what the turn would bring, but at the present time I had reasonable evidence to believe I was ahead, so I had to bet out.  Everyone called.  So at this time there is now 24 small bets in the pot, or $192.

The turn was the 5s, meaning unless somebody had quad fives, the prospect of one set is now gone.  Nobody raised on the flop, so I had a pretty good feeling I was still way ahead, but extremely vulnerable to overcards and the ominous straight possibilities.

I only needed to survive one more card and I’d win this huge pot!  Nobody was trying to outplay me, or put pressure on me, so I was pretty sure I had a good chance, although I remember I kept reminding myself that I might easily lose this pot, and that it would be okay.  Everyone checked, and I bet again.  I think one, maybe 2 people folded, so there was about 18 big bets at this time.  I also remember telling myself that with 18 big bets in the pot, any reasonable draw would have pot odds, so I resigned to the possibility that I’m going to be outdrawn.

The river was a great card for me – the 2d.  Someone with 4-6 now had a straight, but I didn’t think that was such a great possibility.  Everyone checked, and fearing I was beat by such a large field, I also checked and showed my pocket 9s.  Everyone mucked and I raked a monster pot!  I estimated that there was nearly $300 in that one pot alone (now that I’m at my computer and can think clearly without adrenalin running through my blood, I know that there was 18 X 16 = $288 in the pot).

Anyway, I thought it was funny that I had resigned myself to losing this huge pot, but escaped some big draws and won the pot anyway.  Sometimes, pocket 9s can win in a multiway pot unimproved!  :)