jdock99
05-18-2005, 04:08 AM
Howdy,
I was recently watching a heads up 300-600 limit HE match on UB between two players that are talked about on the forums as being a couple of the better players. However, I was very much stunned by the "strategy" these players were employing.
First off, it seemed a crucial part of the strategy employed by both players was to put as much $$ in the pot preflop so that the would be justified by "pot odds" to chase to the river regardless of the garbage they were holding or how it correlated to the board. Then both players would do a bunch of raising until one of them would would stop. Then the player with the inititative would bet all the way to the river and the other player would chase all the way to the river and always call the river bet, unless he improved, normally by making a pair, in which case he would raise and the other player would always call. Normally the better would show some kind of ace high, bottom pair, etc. and the other player would muck his no pair/ bottom pair bad kicker, etc. hand.
The irony is neither player was really doing any bluffing, and still they would always call each other down and normally call the river too, with an obvious loser (however, by this time the caller was normally calling $600 into a $6000+ pot, so I guess if you use "pot odds" he only had to be right 1/10 for it to be good call). However, it looks like both these players were taking this way too far, so they were both basically calling stations (for metagame purposes I suppose). It was almost as if they had a gentlemen's agreement to put in several bets preflop, then if one of them caught something, the other was obliged to pay him off all the way. For example, in one short stretch one of the players won two $6000+ pots with pocket 44's unimproved where he bet/raised all the way & the other player called him down & payed off on the river w/ ???. And one of those hands had an ace on the board!!
I do not pretend to be a heads up god or anything, but unless these players were playing at levels way above my head, it seemed more like something one would expect to see at a play $$ table. Maybe if I win the lotto or something I will take a shot at these games and see just how tough these players really are.
I was recently watching a heads up 300-600 limit HE match on UB between two players that are talked about on the forums as being a couple of the better players. However, I was very much stunned by the "strategy" these players were employing.
First off, it seemed a crucial part of the strategy employed by both players was to put as much $$ in the pot preflop so that the would be justified by "pot odds" to chase to the river regardless of the garbage they were holding or how it correlated to the board. Then both players would do a bunch of raising until one of them would would stop. Then the player with the inititative would bet all the way to the river and the other player would chase all the way to the river and always call the river bet, unless he improved, normally by making a pair, in which case he would raise and the other player would always call. Normally the better would show some kind of ace high, bottom pair, etc. and the other player would muck his no pair/ bottom pair bad kicker, etc. hand.
The irony is neither player was really doing any bluffing, and still they would always call each other down and normally call the river too, with an obvious loser (however, by this time the caller was normally calling $600 into a $6000+ pot, so I guess if you use "pot odds" he only had to be right 1/10 for it to be good call). However, it looks like both these players were taking this way too far, so they were both basically calling stations (for metagame purposes I suppose). It was almost as if they had a gentlemen's agreement to put in several bets preflop, then if one of them caught something, the other was obliged to pay him off all the way. For example, in one short stretch one of the players won two $6000+ pots with pocket 44's unimproved where he bet/raised all the way & the other player called him down & payed off on the river w/ ???. And one of those hands had an ace on the board!!
I do not pretend to be a heads up god or anything, but unless these players were playing at levels way above my head, it seemed more like something one would expect to see at a play $$ table. Maybe if I win the lotto or something I will take a shot at these games and see just how tough these players really are.