HU, small blind completes

[bismillahno]

I recently pulled a horrible beat on my heads up opponent when he completed his small blind, and I had 83o. I hit a 3 on the flop, and pushed, as I had read him as weak tight (comments on whether this is too aggresive?). He called flipped over aces, and must have been cursing when I rivered an 8, and went on to win. But it got me thinking about how to play against opponents who do try and limp, rather than coming in for a raise.

In my (very limited) experience, players at 10+1 will often try and see a flop cheaply on speculative hands by just completing. I've been playing the BB similarly to the SB from this case, betting (or pushing, depending on stack size/BB) with roughly the top 30% hands, and checking with the rest.

However, should I be more cautious than this, particularly if the opponent seems to be mostly opening with a raise?

And on the other side, inspired from one of Strassa's hand histories, I've been betting from SB even with my monsters heads up, as it would seem too obvious I'm slowplaying something. Am I giving my opponents too much credit at this level? Advice greatly appreciated.

[FloppedFlush]

Heads up when the blinds are small in relation to the stacks, like at the beginning of a heads up tournament match, I'll almost always either open for a raise or fold. On about 5% of the hands, I'll throw in a call with a hand like 97s mainly to get an idea whether he's the type to auto-raise a limp and store than info away for later.

When it's heads up and the end of a MTT or one-table tournament and the blinds are a large percentage of the stacks, you don't always have the luxury of playing raise or fold. There's too many in between hands like Q9s where if you fold them, you're folding too many hands and if you raise you're pot committing yourself and will almost certainly be behind if your opponent raises. So in this situation, you need to limp with these type of hands. And to keep your opponent honest, then you also should limp with some of your bigger hands. Mix it up depending on how often your opponent folds to your raises and how often he raises your limps. If he folds a lot, you should be raising more and limping less. If he raises a lot, then you should be raising less and limping, looking to trap more.

[Gator]

To me, heads up play is all ebb and flow. There’s a rhythm to it and you need to sync up with that rhythm. Consider these small blinds plays (you in small blind each time):
Hand 1 45s
Hand 2 J8u
If you complete the above two hands, opponent may come over the top of you both times, call both times, or come over the top of you one time and call the other. If opponent comes over the top of me both times and I am subsequently dealt
Hand 3 AQ
I probably complete, hope/expect a reraise, and then come over the top of him all-in.
Conversely, if he passively calls Hands 1 and 2 when I complete my blind, I would probably raise hand 3 to get my money in with the probable best of it and/or take his blind.
I envision being on a tight rope with my opponent and the key is to keep my balance and use their forward/backward movement against them.

[Phill S]

the ebb and flow is entirely right.

i look at heads up play like dancing. you have to be in time to the music (stack and blind sizes), but you have to be in timing with your 'partner'.

two extreme examples.

someone raises all in most hands, very aggressive, you have to be aggressive right back (im getting music video imagery if we want to take the dancing theme further)

but if you find a player who raises big hands only, and folds SBs without question, you can take your time and prepare him for the kill. you steal when it feels right (remember, hes giving you free hands by folding the SB), but you dont go all out aggression, because he will react in kind. (this is some kind of fox trot or other such traditional dance).

its all about working out what the music is, and whether or not your partner will play ball. but i usually find you settle (that looks spelt wrong) into a rythm.

and for reference, you want the second type of HU action, it means you can be proactive and not reactive as much as the first.

as for the hand in question with the 83, if he gave you a free flop, how can he complain, for the record id have played the hand exactly like both of you did.

i slow play big hands (AA, KK, QQ and sometimes AK) because i want a kill, not a blind. if it all goes wrong so be it. if i picked up a pair and the other guy shows no aggression pre ill push here without a problem. if im beat, again, so be it.

and if hed have bet into me say the min bet with AA, id prolly have called and raised all in on the flop with nothing junk like 83, 72 and 42, especially if its all low, or has only one high card. i dont need to hit the flop, i just need him to not hit it, and if he does, well its not over till the wet one. ive won many a big pot with this play, and stolen ones where im called and caught up.

Phill