finishing em off

[Chris Daddy Cool]

ok this is more of a statistics and probabilities type thing, but yesterday i was playing 15/30 heads up.

dude's in the big blind with $17 left. i raise with 62o with the intention of getting him all-in.

is it correct to put him all in with any two?

[Dov]

IMO, unless you have something to gain by eliminating him, you should probably refrain from using any 2 for this purpose for a few reasons.

First of all, he may be more likely than usual to call you. He will get all the free cards he needs to beat you and is likely ahead of 62 anyway.

Secondly, and more important, you may run into a real hand with some money behind it. That means that you are likely to invest the full $30 when you raise and someone else won't let you have him to yourself. Now you will wish you hadn't and someone else will pick up the pieces or you'll risk a lot more than you had intended on a very weak holding.

There is a comparison chart online for starting hands here (http://www.pokerroom.com/games/evstats/totalStats.php?order=value).

These numbers are not simulated, they come directly off of the sites stats. You can change the parameters to do other things too, like check heads up hands, etc.

Hope this helps.

Dov

[Chris Daddy Cool]

[ QUOTE ]
First of all, he may be more likely than usual to call you. He will get all the free cards he needs to beat you and is likely ahead of 62 anyway.


[/ QUOTE ]

Isn't the contrary also true? I'll get all the free cards to try to beat him?


[ QUOTE ]
Secondly, and more important, you may run into a real hand with some money behind it. That means that you are likely to invest the full $30 when you raise and someone else won't let you have him to yourself. Now you will wish you hadn't and someone else will pick up the pieces or you'll risk a lot more than you had intended on a very weak holding.


[/ QUOTE ]

this was heads up limit hold'em, nobody else can try to re-isolate me.

i'm not defending my play either way, i just wanted to see if this is correct play

[schubes]

According to PokerStove 62o is 34.075% against random.

If you meant he has $17 before posting, you'd be risking $7 to win $27, so yes you should put him all-in.

If you meant $17 after posting, it'd be $42:$22 so it's close but you don't want to go all-in. If there's any reasonable chance he'd fold it's worth it.

[Dov]

[ QUOTE ]
Isn't the contrary also true? I'll get all the free cards to try to beat him?

[/ QUOTE ]

It's true, but you may only have 6 outs to start with, and even that may be too high. He will beat you more than you beat him with this hand.

If it's HU anyway, why not wait for a better hand? He still won't have enough to go to the river anyway. Take him to the river when you have something better.

[schubes]

[ QUOTE ]
There is a comparison chart online for starting hands here.

[/ QUOTE ]

I just looked at that link. I hope you aren't making any decisions based on that table, that comes from actual hands played on PR - hands played by mostly bad players. Notice 32o is ranked better than A2o or 32s, that's because bad players will fold 32o. The list also has nothing to do with HU games.

This question has a fairly clear answer based on the win rate of 62o vs. random and the pot odds. Read my reply.

[Chris Daddy Cool]

[ QUOTE ]
If it's HU anyway, why not wait for a better hand? He still won't have enough to go to the river anyway. Take him to the river when you have something better.

[/ QUOTE ]

The point is he barely has enough for a small bet left. i should just put him away at the most convinient time

[Dov]

[ QUOTE ]
I hope you aren't making any decisions based on that table

[/ QUOTE ]

I actually got that table from another post on the board. I believe it was Louie Landale, but I'm not sure. If I'm mistaken, then I apologize.

I understand the math implications of the problem. It seems much more situationally likely, though, that the opponent will continue to play even if you fold this one.

If you double him up, he may decide to quit on you now.

All I'm saying is that it doesn't really matter because if you fold now, he still won't have anything left for the next hand which is very likely to be a better holding for Hero than 62.

[Trix]

So you risk 27 to win 57, which is about the 2:1 you need, so yes.