Final hand heads up

Did I make a mistake going all in on this hand? This one has been bothering me. It seems that I should have raised on the flop but since he bet out with the heart draw I don't think he would have folded. Was the all-in call a mistake after the third heart hit?


I seem to have trouble getting over the top and actually winning when I get down to heads up. We had played about 35 hands heads up at the 600/1200 final limit level so I seem to be able to at least hang on.


***** Hand History for Game 621074 *****

600/1200 TourneyTexasHTGameTable (Tournament #17448) - Tue Sep 25 16:56:04 EDT 2001

Table PartyPokerMillion 1 (Real Money) -- Seat 2 is the button

Total number of players : 2

Seat 2: Wiscer (2900)

Seat 6: bigox (5100)

Wiscer posts small blind (300)

bigox posts big blind (600)

** Dealing down cards **

Dealt to Wiscer [ 7s, Jh ]

Wiscer raises (900)

bigox calls (600)

** Dealing Flop ** : [ 7h, 6h, Jc ]

bigox bets (600)

Wiscer calls (600)

** Dealing Turn ** : [ Th ]

bigox bets (1200)

Wiscer calls (1100)

Wiscer calls all-In.

Dealing : [ Qd ]

creating Main Pot with $5800

** Summary **

Main Pot: 5800 | Side Pot 1: 100 |

Board: [ 7h 6h Jc Th Qd ]

Wiscer lost 2900 [ 7s Jh ] [ two pairs, jack and seven ]

bigox bet 3000, collected 5900, net +2900 [ 8h 3h ] [ a flush, ten high ]

Wiscer finished in second place

Congratulations, bigox! You advance to the Semi-Finals of the PartyPoker Million.

I am not sure I would raise before the flop unless you think there is a decent chance he will fold.


On the flop I raise with 2 pair.


I also would call the all-in bet on the turn. Headsup there is no guarantee he has 2 hearts.


Ken Poklitar

Re: raising before the flop...when you get down to heads up, what is the strategy on raising versus calling from the big blind. The feeling I get is that you should almost always raise to have an opportunity to steal the blind and at least get some idea of the BB's hand. Any advice on calling versus raising from BB at this point in the game?


Thanks.

Things to think about when playing from the SB headsup:


1) If you just call, how often does the BB raise? Some players always raise so often I will only call with good hands since I know BB will raise and bet the flop.


2) If you raise, how often does the BB re-reraise? If he often re-raises then I will be more wary of raising with marginal hands.


3) If you raise, what type of hands will BB fold? The fact that you are out chipped 5100-2900 is also important. In my experience the BB will call your raise more often then not. The fact that he did call with 83s says a lot.


4) Size of blinds compared to your stack. In your case they are fairly high.


Although it is possible you will be ahead if you raise, more then likely you are behind since it is quite possible he has an overcard to you. Plus you may be re-raised which means you are paying 1800 for J7o.


So assuming he is going to call with almost anything calling or folding J7o is correct.


Ken Poklitar

Thanks a lot for those comments. They help a lot.


In this case I was really going for a steal given my stack size I felt that at least I had 2 cards greater than 6 (and they were 3-gapped which is not saying much I know). The BB next hand would have put me on the ropes, so I was hoping to steal. I had been raising almost every playable hand from the small blind. As it turns out, I got what I wanted which was a call with very weak cards and me flopping 2 pair. Such is the crapshoot of heads up with big blinds that this one just didn't work out.


I didn't raise on the flop because I thought I was setting a trap, assuming he didn't have 2 hearts. I had one relatively high one if another heart came on the river, so I felt pretty good about going all in with that hand, not so good about the outcome!

you said that you wanted ro steal his big blind---if you go all in before the flop, then he would have to risk half his stack to call, so that's the place to steal


since the flop gave him a flush draw and a back door straight draw, he was likely to call all bets


yes with 2 pair call even after 3rd flush card


hindsight=only chance to win was before flop

A fine point for no-limit, except this was a limit tournament!

Wiscer,


I've read the other posts and I wanted to make a few comments. Usually, J7 is not a raising hand unless you can steal the blind. Since, he appeared to be loose, I would just call the blind with that hand. If he frequently will reraise with garbage, like 72, then call his reraises.


On the flop I would raise him after he bet if he is the type of player that will always bet nothing just to take the pot. If he didn't hit any draw, make a pair, or have overcards he should fold after you raise him. If he calls, you need to use your judgement on how he plays to determine whether you continue betting your hand or give up. In this case you did not have much chips left and will probably have to bet the turn.


The main reason why I would raise on the flop is due to the straight and two flush board. The reason why I would do this is to make my opponent think that I thought he was on a flush or straight draw, so if the flush comes he can try and bluff me so I get an extra bet. Of course in this case, he really did have the flush, but that will happen only 3% of the time.


With the size of the blinds, I don't see how you can get away from this hand.


Good Luck


Mark