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Another SnG, this time its HU

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  1. Rycky4Golf Rycky4Golf is offline

    Houston, TX
    United States

    Posts: 233
    Joined: Feb 07

    Jul 29th, 2007 (7/29/2007 6:57pm)

    STAGE #838455789 TOURNEY ID 60959 HOLDEM SINGLE TOURNAMENT NO LIMIT - 2007-07-29 18:04:00 (ET)
    Table: 15286427 (Real Money) Seat #8 is the dealer
    Seat 7 - ROELVDS ($6532 in chips)
    Seat 8 - RYCKY4POKER ($6968 in chips)
    RYCKY4POKER - Posts small blind $200
    ROELVDS - Posts big blind $400
    *** POCKET CARDS ***
    Dealt to RYCKY4POKER [10s 5c]
    RYCKY4POKER - Calls $200
    ROELVDS - Checks
    *** FLOP *** [5d Js 10c]
    ROELVDS - Checks
    RYCKY4POKER - Checks
    *** TURN *** [5d Js 10c] [Kd]
    ROELVDS - Bets $800
    RYCKY$POKER - ???

    I started the HU part of this SnG down about 60-40 in chips but have been the aggressor and now have a slight lead. Since the blinds are still quite small I've been simply calling all hands in the SB that aren't worthy of a raise to this point.

    I flopped 2 pair with my rags and thought it best to check and see if he hit something or takes a stab at the pot, as he has been doing often enough. This time its checked to the turn and the K seems to have grabbed his attention. Would you:

    A. Smooth call and try to get all the chips in on the river, or
    B. Shove and take what you can right now as the board has become draw-heavy?

    Please discuss our best option. :)
  2. Rycky4Golf Rycky4Golf is offline

    Houston, TX
    United States

    Posts: 233
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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 9:19am) in reply to Rycky4Golf

    Any help? I've little experience with HU play.
    Thread Starter
  3. godawgs85 godawgs85 is offline

    Newnan, GA
    United States

    Posts: 59
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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 11:17am) in reply to Rycky4Golf

    I would choose option C: Raise to an amount you think he will call and then get it all in or bet big on the river. It's pretty obvious that he probably hit the king or is bluffing at it. If he is bluffing, he will probably fold to a shove or a raise. If he hit his king, he will most certainly call or reraise your raise, but would be more likely to fold to your shove than to call a smaller raise. Sometimes he will call a shove here, but I would prefer to make a raise I'm certain he will call and then either shove or hit him for a huge bet on the river. If he has made a better hand than you by the turn or does so on the river, you're going to lose all your chips no matter what you do, but the odds of that are so slim that its worth taking the risk. Do make him pay though to see his draws, don't let him draw for free. This way you will maximize value. By just simply raising enough for him to call, say the size of the pot, even if he folds on the river you have taken a good chunk out of his stack and have set yourself up to take him out. Hope this helps.
    -godawgs85
  4. Rycky4Golf Rycky4Golf is offline

    Houston, TX
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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 11:57am) in reply to godawgs85

    I see your point, I was more along the lines of trying to take his entire stack right now, though I see why making a substantial raise and having him fold would still be of great benefit. And like you said, if he does call or come over the top I'm very likely to get it all in on the river anyhow.
    Thread Starter
  5. godawgs85 godawgs85 is offline

    Newnan, GA
    United States

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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 1:07pm) in reply to Rycky4Golf

    I've found that with HU play slowplaying is not really worth it. Always try to be aggressive and take each pot down. Always value bet your good hands. Make your opponents pay for his or her draw. If you see weakness, pounce on it. The only time I slowplay heads up is when my opponent is overly aggressive, raising almost every hand. Even then, I don't slowplay for long. If I hit top pair I will check and let them bet then I stick in a raise. Aggressive players are easy to extract value from. They do the betting for you. With tighter players, like the one in this hand I assume, raise preflop and continuation bet and take down small pots. This whittles them away until they have few chips and you can call their all-ins even with the worst hand and try to take them out. But be cautious, muck your hand if you see resistance and the stacks and your holding make a call unprofitable...in the long run your small pots will win against the tight players. Let me know if you need any other advice on HU. It's a part of my game that I do pretty well in usually but am always trying to get better.

    Good Luck
    godawgs85
  6. Ally Ally is offline

    Minneapolis, MN
    United States

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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 2:14pm) in reply to Rycky4Golf

    I also don't like A or B, or maybe not even C.

    You want max value here.

    It is possible that our guy is on a draw and that is why he took the free turn card. So, it is possible that we're already beat.

    Anyway, on that flop (or almost any pot heads up), you've got to take a stab at it. You don't have to have anything to take a stab, so your two pair hand is well disguised. No sense in giving him free cards here.

    As played, checking the flop, And, facing a bet from this opponent, I think I am raising here for value. Why shove? He's got $5500 behind and he is probably not going to call with a hand that you beat. Make it $1750 - $2k here. Then, try to get another $2k or so from him on the river. You want max value here; I don't think shoving gets you that.
  7. kissamr98 kissamr98 is offline

    Indianapolis, IN
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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 2:23pm) in reply to Ally

    first off I'm betting the flop.

    As played I reraise to like 1800 here. You hand is weak to what is on the board. If he pushes to a raise that big, I probably beat and I lay it down and fight on. Even heads up there is WAAAY too much that beats you out there.
  8. Rycky4Golf Rycky4Golf is offline

    Houston, TX
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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 4:26pm) in reply to kissamr98

    Hmm, from what I'm seeing here, hitting the flop when checked to is almost a given. The reason I checked is that he seemed to have a pattern of checking when he missed and betting when he hit (at least it seemed that way, every time I bet after he checked he folded). I had felt that I didn't want him to fold this time since I had a pretty decent hand, even if it was bottom two pair.

    Just so you know, the river was a 4 and I got him all-in, he turned over K4...
    Thread Starter
  9. amlove amlove is offline

    Seattle, WA
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    Jul 30th, 2007 (7/30/2007 4:40pm) in reply to Rycky4Golf

    fold preflop
    bet flop
    as played 3x his bet to 2400 and probably get stacked on river when he hits
  10. godawgs85 godawgs85 is offline

    Newnan, GA
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    Jul 31st, 2007 (7/31/2007 10:28am) in reply to Rycky4Golf

    HU, always call the SB preflop unless you are certain you're opponent will raise every time you do. HU it usually is a mistake to simply fold the SB just because you have a bad hand.

    Why would he fold preflop, he was BB, lol
  11. mash mash is offline

    Wroclaw
    Poland

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    Jul 31st, 2007 (7/31/2007 4:01pm) in reply to godawgs85

    He was SB, I call here any two, unless:
    1) the blinds are high
    2) my opp is raising or shoving every hand (Harrington says shoving every hand in HU is not a bad strategy for poor players :))

    We have position and usually at least 35% to win, why would we be supposed to fold in such good circumstances?
     
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