Should I raise at some point?

[GodlikeRoy]

I just have absoloutely no idea how to play this hand. Raise the flop? Raise/fold the turn?

Party Poker
Pot Limit Omaha Ring game
Blinds: $0.10/$0.25
8 players


Stack sizes:
UTG: $24.40
UTG+1: $8.01
MP1: $14
MP2: $47.24
CO: $49.27
Hero: $24
SB: $4.75
BB: $23.65

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is Button with
UTG, folds, UTG+1 (poster) checks, MP1 folds, MP2 calls $0.25, CO calls $0.25, Hero calls $0.25, SB calls $0.15, BB (poster) checks.

Flop: ($1.5, 6 players)
SB checks, BB checks, UTG+1 checks, MP2 bets $1.45, CO folds, Hero calls $1.45, 3 folds.

Turn: ($4.4, 2 players)
MP2 bets $3, Hero calls $3.

River: ($10.4, 2 players)
MP2 bets $3, Hero calls $3.

Results:
Final pot: $16.4
MP2 shows Ac Qs 7d Jd
Hero shows 9c 6h 7h 9d

[briachek]

i fold preflop as your hand makes a bunch of second best and vunerable hands. I probably raise the flop or safe turn.

[Aisthesis]

I definitely see the flop with this hand, but this is not really the kind of board you were looking for.

While you end up having success here, I think bottom set is a very tough hand to play. The real difficulty is that you just don't know what helps you except for another 9. I think that's the reason why the classic rule is top 2 or middle or top set. On top 2, you at least know that the board pairing one of your cards gives you a pretty strong hand, even though you're behind (like on this one) to bottom set.

For those reasons, if it were me, I'd probably lay it down on the flop, although I think playing it kind of defensively, as you did, isn't at all bad either.

One question I also have is raising the flop here. In theory, you are then up against AJ (9 instances), JJ (3 instances) and AA (3 instances). That means (again in theory) that 6 times you lose $6 and 9 times you win $3.

Or, an alternative view would be to say that it's just all-in on that flop vs. the range other sets and AJ. Even there, it's marginal, because AJ has 4 outs against you, whereas your 99 has only 1 against AA and JJ. So, you effectively lose always against JJ/AA but win only about 75% of the time against AJ.

I dunno, I think there are good reasons for not really wanting to go with bottom set in Omaha.

I suppose that yet another dimension is your low flush redraw against possible AA or JJ, which probably puts the EV against those same hands significantly higher.

I guess there are a lot of ways to play this hand (pushing hard on the flop, for example), but it's a difficult hand to play. That's why I think I would have just let it go on this board, although maybe that's too weak-tight...

[briachek]

raising the flop is to define your hand to find out if its good and to charge anyone else to chase their draws. you happened to get heads up this time but if you call, it makes it easier for someone else with a draw to call and catch up.