Heads-up hand in NLHE satellite

The following had was played in a NLHE satellite in pokerpages last night. We were down to the last 2, with my stack being around T5500 and my opponent's was around T14500. As far as I could tell, my opponent was a solid player, who had shown down only legitimate hands, previously knocking out 3 other players. I knew that at times, he was bluffing/semi-bluffing, having taken down his share of pots uncontested, but was wise enough to release his hand if called or raised (which I had done a few times mostly with legit hands).


At the time of this hand the blinds were 200/400 with a 50 ante. I was in BB with QQ. My opponent called the blind and I raised the minimum which he called.


Question #1 - I only raised the minimum knowing that he would call hoping to trap him in this hand. Hopefully he would think I was simply trying to pick up the pot cheap and the flop would come down Q's or lower and maybe he'd flop a lower pair and be unwilling to fold it. Even if an A flopped, I was sure he would raise out of the SB with Ax (he was a solid player) or re-raise my raise with a very good A or K hand. My only concerns were that he was slow-playing AA, KK or AK (but the odds of him having that hand with my QQ were quite low) or that a K would flop (a call with Kx being not unlikely). Is any of this thinking flawed?


Flop: 2 2 8 no flush


I bet T400 and he called.


Question #2: Again a minimum bet to keep him around if he thought I was trying to pick up the pot cheap. If he had folded no problem, and the call told me nothing. Should it have? What else should I have considered?


Turn: 2 2 8 4


I bet T400 again. Bam, he rasies the pot back at me. I considered for only a second and re-raised all-in. I thought either he was trying to run me off the hand, or that he was betting say two-pair (8's and 2's or 4's and 2's) for value and that I had him beat. He called.


The river was a blank.


There is no need to post the results in a separate post since most will have gleaned that I lost the hand. He revealed J2o and post-flop he had me beat badly. I would like to stress that I am not posting this as a "bad-beat" story as clearly this was not such a scenario. I was beautifully outplayed by my opponent, however I feel I could have played this hand much better. True this was a pokerpages satellite with nothing on the line, but we both were taking this seriously and there are still better and worse ways to play. Any input on mistakes that I made, or other things I should have considered but did not would be greatly appreciated.

Your small raise before the flop allowed your opponent to see the flop cheap and maybe get lucky and set a trap. You want to put the competition to a difficult decision. Before the flop, let's say you go all-in, since chances are that you have the best hand. Would he risk losing his 3-1 chip lead on J-2? I doubt it, especially since you mentioned that you considered him to be a solid player. If he folds to your all-in raise, you don't bust out on that hand. Many times bad results can be traced back to initial decisions. Good Luck!

Why is it that whenever someone posts about a hand where a good preflop hand got cracked, people advocate going all in to prevent it? Heads up I don't want to win his blind with Q-Q, I want to win his stack (or double up). You played the hand fine. In the long run, allowing him to see a flop with J-2 vs Q-Q will make you money.


Regards,

Richard

>Turn: 2 2 8 4


>I bet T400 again. Bam, he rasies the pot back at me. I considered for only a second and re-raised all-in. I thought either he was trying to run me off the hand, or that he was betting say two-pair (8's and 2's or 4's and 2's) for value and that I had him beat. He called


J given that you think he is a solid player, don't you think that he would assume that you have at least top pair (8's and 2's) prior to calling? If so, then wouldn't he call only if he had a hand better than 8's and 2's?


So you would have to put him on at least a pocket pair of 9 or higher. And if he had a pocket pair, then (1) he might have been more aggressive earlier and (2) your odds are not too good.

Q1) I don't like this play. Your ploy will be pretty obvious unless you have a history of minimum steal-raises as I can think of no reason why a solid player with your stack size would invite a preflop call unless he is trying to trap.


By betting small, you warn your opponent that you might have a huge hand while at the same time allowing him to see a cheap flop with a great chance to double up if he hits. Also, you pretty much guarantee that it will be checked to you on the flop, as your opponent can fully expect to bet, so you won't get any information until after your flop action.


Q2) I like this bet even less, as he can now be pretty sure that you have an overpair while you deprive yourself again from the chance to learn anything about your opponents hand, as he will now certainly call with any hand that beats you. In addition to that, you lay him almost correct implied odds to call with an ace or king and you lose your last chance to get away from the hand as you will be pot-committed when you get check-raised on turn.


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Ignatius

Pre-flop, I would make it 1200 to go. Now I would do this with a wide variety of hands. Not just QQ+. Optionally I would just limp. I don't see any big advantage of the mini-raise.


On the flop, I would bet the pot which is 1600 or so. The problem with betting so small is you have no idea what he is calling with. When he calls the 1600, you can atleast start thinking of putting him on a 2.


The problem on the turn is since you have shown NO strength he could be putting you on all sorts of non-pair hands. So when he makes the big raise, he could have many hands that you could beat. Makes it tougher for you to fold.


Ken Poklitar

ohKanada@hotmail.com

I have no problem with him attempting to trap but he kept on trying to trap on the flop and the turn.


I do agree that going all-in is silly.


Ken Poklitar

ohKanada@hotmail.com

I think Ken has this pretty close to dead on. I mean forget J-2, he could have 33 and you gave him a GREAT price to flop a set.


You have to put in a reasonable raise, and do so with a multitude of hands, like any pair (or most anyway), any large Ace (A-9 and up), and some suited connectors. If he folds to this raise that is fine as well, QQ is a pretty vulnerable hand.


At least when he calls he probably does not have a 2. I would have called your raise with J-2 also, and no you are not making money there because QQ is a bigger hand than J-2. You have laid if your whole stack to his $400 call.


1200-1600 seems good to me. If he STILL calls with J-2 (he wont) and beats you, well them it was a fine play on your part. Just bad luck


And no, he did not outplay you, you outplayed yourself.

I'm days late on this thread, but I have issues with how you played this hand. I haven't read any responses yet, so I could be over-ruled. If I'm over-ruled by anyone they are welcome in my games, anytime.


This is H2H NLH, the SB should be , at least, be small raising on the button. He has nothing. Don't give him good implied odds. Bang on him, from up front.


I hate the flop bet too, even though you are dead meat at this point.


I hate your turn bet too, but when he raises, all you do is pay off his lottery ticket bet, which he got from all those cheap bets, you made.


You are over thinking heads-up, bang on the opponent, daring him too call.


Don't mean to be harsh.


MS Sunshine

With respect, Richard, for the end of an internet tournament, you are wrong.


MS Sunshine

My reason for posting this hand was to receive some constructive criticism for plays which I felt were mistakes. Hence, MS or anyone else for that matter, there is no need to worry about being too harsh. I have benefitted greatly already from the responses and I thank you all for taking the time to help out a newer player trying to learn.


Good luck all.


J