HU counter moves

[CreamPuff]

I've played abput 6-7 HU sessions the last 3-4 days.
Man this game leaves me scratching my head sometimes..Just
when I think I'm getting good......

Anyways the players that are giving me trouble are playing
much tighter than me (surprise JV).

I'm stealing their blinds left and right.
However, the one play where they get me almost all the
time is the preflop reraise (from BB), with
hands as weak as J8s or A4 offsuit.

Then they proceed to almost always bet the flop and turn,
which puts me in a tough spot...Say I raise 97 offsuit,
get reraised (say A4). flop J23. Bet, I call. Turn Q. Bet,
gotta fold. Yeah they have the best hand, but I am
actually getting the right price to call, assuming I
get paid off. I know this example is super extreme, but
if I could turn the cards face-up I'm sure it happens
quite a bit. It's like I am being punished on my
preflop aggressiveness/turn passiveness.

What is the best way to counter this:
#1) wait to raise the turn with 2nd/top pair?
and raise the turn with strong draws for balance.
#2) tighten up preflop, and make them adjust or pay
for not adjusting?
#3) Don't chase on the flop

#4) Change gears every so often preflop, along with
any of the above.

Remember they fold very often preflop.

* Without the preflop reraise, I feel I am usually a
strong favorite..Hard to lose vs. this type of player.

[J_V]

The problem is the tighter is playing the bigger pots with the better hands. Are they just going to take ace high to the river? If this is the case, you can wait to flop a pair and then try to make you loss value up in the hands you get paid off in.

But, I may not be the right person to ask because I have the same problem as you.

[Ikke]

If he folds a lot preflop then your preflop raise should show immediate +EV. So if he doesnt adjust
his game, and doesnt reraise that much, I think you can raise with lots of hands. So for what you're
telling it seems to me that you DO get +EV preflop, but give it up postflop.

OTOH, if he starts reraising with hands like J8s you might not even get +EV at all, so it's useful to
rightfully estimate whether he defends properly or folds too much (with the reraises taking into account).
I think you can get a fairly accurate picture by doing some calculations.

But suppose you DO get immediate +EV by raising a lot, but then, if you have problems beating this opponent,
you give it up postflop. A good reason can be that you chase too much. Another reason can be that you, as you said,
don't balance enough. I think it's VERY important to often wait to the turn to raise with top pair and yes, even second
pair good kicker. Not only HU, but also shorthanded btw.

From your example with the 97. I would probably have fold the flop. Is that too tight?

So, if I try to talk out a strategy ;-) I would still raise a lot preflop, chase less on the flop
and balance my play a lot, by often wait till the turn to raise.

Whatcha think?

Regards

[CreamPuff]

"From your example with the 97. I would probably have folded the flop. Is that too tight?"

Now that I think about it, have you ever read S&M's example
on calling QT when the flop comes like A93 (turn the
Ace into a 2) vs. an extrememly aggressive player?
I'm sure you have.

They talk about calling because not only is your
opponent too aggressive, but because the texture
of the board should slow him down if he doesn't have an ace.

Well, the player I described, always bet the flop and
turn. Not the ideal player. Also this player wasn't
reraising all the time, just with maybe the top 40%
or so.

So your probably right. Don't chase, because they will
bet anyways.

On a similiar topic, there are many players who are
AFRAID of being checkraised on the turn shorthanded.
Therefore I am constantly check-calling the flop with
garbage hands after they raise my BB. Works quite well
with scary flops where I may not be drawing dead.
Example: (55) flop QJ9. or (K8) flop QQ9.
(I'm sure it could be applied to HU just as well)

I also lost $1500 last week in a $10/$20 to a maniac
who raised my blind every time. I was turning the top
card into a 2 on the flop...The problem was, the
texture of the board wasn't scaring him into checking the
turn. EVER. Therefore I made a mistake that session
since all the criteria were not met. Expensive lesson.

[AceHigh]

Why don't you just fold on the flop? You raised with cheese, they have to have a better hand than you to reraise, right? Fold when you don't like the flop.

The way you play, it seems you would win the small pots and they would win the big ones. Doesn't sound like a winning strategy to me.

[Ikke]

Good post.

One thing I don't like is HPFAP advice of turning an A into a deuce. While it may be right for some situations, I see it more as a rule of thumb. I think a good player should disregard this advice and look further, the same as a good player disregards Sklanskly's handgroups and play the hand situationally.

I'm just starting to play on WSEX, playing a few HU hands. I hope to post some of them in the future and hear your comments.

Regards