Shorthanded Play

I am playing at a 5/10 or 10/20 5 max table. Here is a scenario that I find tough to handle and I want to know how people feel about it.


I am one to the right of the button I have AsKd I am first into the pot, I raise button folds, sb folds, bb calls. Heads up pot.


Flop comes

2h 6d 9c


BB bets, I raise, BB calls.


Turn comes 4spades BB checks

I check behind him.


Turn comes 8 spades BB bets, I call.

BB shows Ad10s.

I take it down with AK.


Should this be played any differently, I know very little about BB, except that they are not a rock, and are not a predictable tight player.

Any thoughts???

You chickened out. /images/smile.gif


Seriously though... you should raise on the flop for two reasons: try and get a free card (and fold on river if it doesnt help), or because you think you have the best hand.


If you thought you had the best hand, you should continue betting when such a benign card comes on the turn... unless you are scared of it! Have confidence, take the lead and keep pumping... *perhaps* bet the turn and check downt the riv, depending on the opponent.

You put your opponent in the perfect opportunity to bluff... you showed on the turn that you had no hand, and he will (should) bet out on the river. Since he bet on the flop, you were incorrect to call him for such a small pot on the river. I would have almost certainly put him on at least a pair.


What if he called you on the flop to check raise you on the river? By the time the river is out you have no idea where you are in the hand.

So you would have bet the turn and checked down the river on this particular hand??

If you bet the turn what if he raises? throw it away?

Truth is this hand never existed, but I'm trying to get some insight because I have trouble not getting knocked off my big overcards when no high card hits and its obvious I either have a pocket pair(unlikely) or two high cards. I also purposely picked a benign turn and river and no straight or flush draws to frame the problem, its usually more complicated than this.

Of course, any hand you win with is good, no matter how you played it. (Just a personal philosophy.)


You could have bet the turn, but that is debatable. If you thought your opponent would fold, then betting the turn would be the right move. If you thought your opponent would call (or check-raise), a check would be in order. It is a perfect case of playing the player. However, you say that you knew very little about the opponent. With adding that to the mix, I would say that you played it right on all betting rounds. You also learned a little about your opponent from this hand.


Let me ask a couple of hypotheticals. I understand you were in the cut-off position and your sole opponent was in the big blind. It is funny that your opponent bet into you on the flop, which is another interesting note about this opponent. What if he had check-raised you on the flop? Do you fold, call or re-raise? Then, on the turn, if you play and he comes out betting, do you fold?

If he raised on the flop I would probably reraise, but if he bet on the turn I would have had to fold. I find though this kind of opponenet which I see as a typical agressive shorthanded player on PP 5/10 - 10/20 (5Max) is playing it for the checkraise semi-bluff on the turn rather than the flop. I find if someone checkraises on the flop they are either on a straight or flush draw or have at least third pair if they are in BB.


I am a little curious what does this tell me about this kind of opponent? Other than an agressive shorthanded player? How would you exploit someone like this, as I see them exploiting me, as I don't like calling that river bet.


The only changes I can think of would be against this player I would not be betting the turn, and more likely to call the river, where he could have anything from a set to high card king. I also think that if they called my flop bet it is very likely they would call or raise my river bet. I constructed this hand it didn't actually exist, but its a similar situation to what I have experienced after my hands of shorthanded, expecially at higher limits.

To me, AT is a troubled hand, short-handed or full. It is easy for it to become a dominated hand with few outs. It is a great candidate for drawing dead.


He came out with a semi-bluff bet on the flop. I call it a semi-bluff because of your pre-flop raise. A nice play, but I don't think it is as nearly as strong as a semi-bluff check-raise which could represent a set and still respect your potential big pair that you are representing. Then, followed by a semi-bluff bet on the turn, I don't think you would have any option but to fold if you don't improve and you called the flop check-raise. To me, this scenario is of a stronger, more aggressive player with some smarts. The bet into you on the flop was not smart What does it represent? Top pair-excellent kicker. That is not very strong against a big pair. Aggressive player? I think not. Loose-maniac per se is my hunch. I am sure he would have you on AK by the river with your check on the turn and was trying to steal the pot.


All total he made two bets pre-flop, two-bets on the flop, and one on the river. With the check-raise on the flop scenario, he makes the same number of bets and really puts the hurt on you. If you don't fold on the turn, he can check down to you on the river and still fold if you bet with the same results.


Again, it is going to be whoever plays the player better is going to have the edge. If he can semi-bluff against you, he would force the issue expecting for you to fold. I know this situation fairly well because I am inclined to lay down a hand. But I do throw in a little game theory to call them down occasionally. It is surprising of the number of times that some one is trying to run over me. King high is a good hand sometimes in a heads up game.

The last two paragraphs of your post, sound a lot like how I feel, I don't like getting run over, but in shorthanded especially in a heads up pot its hard to know when its okay to lay down something like AK. I think I blew my setup of the hand so let me try this one, I set this up as an overagressive but not maniac type of player as I've seen the same player play almost every other hand quite solidly.


I am on cutoff, I raise BB reraises


Lets try this one:

I have AQ

He has AJ


2 7 4 Rainbow


BB bets the flop, I raise, he reraises.

Turn is the 10.

He Bets the turn, what am I supposed to do??

Raise or fold??? I have real trouble raising in this spot, I prefer the fold but what about a call?


I call another blank on the river he bets? Gotta Fold Now Right????

-------------------------------------------------

What if he bets the flop I call instead of raising? He bets the turn now what should I do??

Raise or Fold??? Can I call?

The big blind is probably a bad player. You raised before the flop and its heads up, so you will bet the flop about, ahhhhh, 100% of the time.


So if he's going to continue with the hand (which he often should), it must be with a check raise on the flop (just like if he had *any* pair or draw as weak as a gutshot). Followed up with a bet on the turn (if you don't three bet the flop). If you do three bet, he's probably going to call and check fold the turn if he doesn't improve, or check call to the river if you are a superaggresive player (or have tried to run some bluffs through all the way recently and been caught).


Generally I'd be inclined to muck on the turn if I were him. Since you raised under the gun in a five handed game, I'd probably give you credit for a pair or a decent ace.

No, no, no .. if you raise the flop, bet the turn and the river 99% of the time. It might cost you a fraction of a bet this hand, but you will get it back when you actually have something and they are calling you down with K high.


You've got to think beyond the scope of a single hand, especially in shorthanded play.

You should almost never lay down AK heads up in a shorthanded game unless your opponent is extremely passive and easy to read.

I may be looking at this all wrong. I tend to think in just heads up games and not necessarily with 3 more players. AQ is a decent hand but not a great hand in HU. However, I don't think it would warrant a raise on the flop. And a re-raise with AJ is just fool-hardy to me. But, again, it depends on the player. If I know nothing about him, I am going to error in the direction of conservativism to learn something about my opponent. I see no harm in calling down in an early confrontation.


In a heads up game, I am going to let this particular opponent lead... He is just another loose-maniac. I am going to wait to put him on a hand. Eventhough I would suspect he has a pair or big cards by the early betting pattern. He took the advantage on pre-flop. If you can't beat a pair of aces, why are you raising on the flop?


To dominate an opponent, you have to be able to change your playing style. If you go head to head against an aggressive-loose player as an aggressive player, you're setting yourself up for some wild swings. Playing only one style is okay in a full game but not good short-handed and especially heads up. Against an aggressive-loose player, I would prefer to trap because they usually dump a bunch when they get caught. You can't trap them when you are playing the same style they play.


When I am in a heads up game, I use a lot game theory based upon my opponents style. If they are aggressive, I use it to make some tough calls. If they are passive, I use it to chase them out if I know they will lay down a hand. In both case, the frequency of use is the based upon the frequency of their actions. It is amazing how it confuses them. I particularly like it when I hit something that makes 32 offsuit a power hand and hear them scream "How can you raise with such trash!?" Game theory also helps to keep them from putting you on a hand.

Why raise with AK on the flop of 742? There is no hand he is going to lay down, even if he's got something like JTo (I guess you could be raising for value if he's got that). You want to apply pressure when you may be bluffing when you might actually get your opponent to fold a better hand than yours. On this particular hand, I would call behind with AK on the flop, and then raise on the turn if he bets again. This will work especially well if a big card comes off (anything ten or higher), as he then might fold a smaller pair. By raising the turn you are saying you've really got something. Everyone raises on the flop, but people usually won't fold any reasonable holding (overcards, etc.) for 1 more small bet.


Now, if he calls your turn raise, the decision becomes whether you should follow up with a "just in case" bet on the river, or check it down. This decision is very player dependent, but I would lean toward betting again against many players. If they've got a pair and call, oh well, it just means they're going to call you down a lot when you do have them beat.


BTW, once you made it to the river, you should probably go ahead and call with your AK. But if you know you are going to call the river, it means you should raise the turn, and muck to a 3 bet. Folding on the turn for a single bet is certainly not a terrible option after he 3 bet the flop. It really depends on the player.