PokerStars 1/2 Hold'em (6 handed)

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
UTG raises, MP calls, Hero calls, Button 3-bets, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG caps, MP calls, Hero calls, Button calls, BB calls.

Flop: (20.50 SB) , , (5 players)
BB checks, UTG bets, MP calls, Hero raises, Button folds, BB calls, UTG calls, MP calls.

Turn: (14.25 BB) (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP bets, Hero raises, BB folds, UTG calls, MP calls.

River: (20.25 BB) (3 players)
UTG checks, MP bets, Hero calls, UTG folds.

Final Pot: 22.25 BB

Results in white below:
MP has 9h 9d (one pair, nines).
Hero has 5s 4s (one pair, fours).
Outcome: MP wins 22.25 BB.

Well if you're calling all that preflop then the flop raise is fine, I don't like it so much on the turn, you're drawing and trying to push the other guys out of the pot. i guess the pot is huge so you have to call on the river but you aren't beating much here... certainly didn't expect 99 there.

Flop raise is alright - combination of free card/semi bluff opportunity, but trouble if some has a big PP

I don't like the turn raise. there's zero chance that you'll take this down without a showdown and you're only driving people out and taking a hit on your drawing odds.

river is a fold...

btw - MP's play isnt exactly stellar. guys lke that sometimes try those plays with draws... but with other callers and the preflop action - you should have slowed down

about raising with draws - some good advice from this book i'm reading: mizors such as myself congratulate ourselves when we jam it up heads up with a gutshot and get paid off when we hit, but sometimes we need to realize the play failed miserably as a bluff and even as a free card play. if you do it too often, especially at shorthanded where it feels so right - you're just pumping money in against the odds, because your fold equity drops drastically.

My comments in italics.

Preflop: Hero is CO with , .
UTG raises, MP calls, Hero calls, Button 3-bets, 1 fold, BB calls, UTG caps, MP calls, Hero calls, Button calls, BB calls.

I'm a tight player, so I don't call a raise even in the CO, and especially not a UTG raise with that trash. When it gets raised twice again before it gets to you again, and you call again, it's a rough play. You're 2.75-to-1 on the first call and 8.25-to-1 or so on the second call. I muck the hand to a raise every time, but that's just me. Not here to criticize your pre-flop play.

Flop: (20.50 SB) , , (5 players)
BB checks, UTG bets, MP calls, Hero raises, Button folds, BB calls, UTG calls, MP calls.

You pick up a baby flush draw and a backdoor open-ender. UTG leads out and you raise. Not a bad play here. I actually like it.

Turn: (14.25 BB) (4 players)
BB checks, UTG checks, MP bets, Hero raises, BB folds, UTG calls, MP calls.

Free card. Like it more. You now have a OESD and the same flush draw. It gets led into you, and your raise again limits the field. You potentially have 9 outs for the flush and 6 more for the open ended, not to mention 2 more for the 4's in the deck to give you trips.

River: (20.25 BB) (3 players)
UTG checks, MP bets, Hero calls, UTG folds.

You can't be good here. Just can't. What the hell are you calling this last bet for? I know it's technically correct (19.25-to-1), but your pair of 5s can't possibly be good here.

Well, i actually think this was a good play in this particular situation, but i dont think i would have made it in this spot because i would not have put the bettor on two nines. Firing into a field of that many mizors into a pot that was capped preflop, and getting that many calls tells me theres no fold equity in this pot, and you are going to have to get there to win. However, if i knew the guy had 99 and that the other guys didnt have any pairs at all, id have made the same play, because you actually DID have fold equity here. I might have laid down those 9s in that spot, especially if there were TWO other players that cold called that raise! The fact that 99 won that pot is totally ridiculous, and therefore calling with a pair of 5s is equally ridiculous on the river, especially with that many players behind you that thought thier hand warranted cold calling 2 big bets! If i had to guess, id say your flush draw was no good. Anywayas, besides the river call, i think the hand was played alright.,