I have trouble folding when it's heads-up: 3-6 GAME

[Tyler Durden]

It's folded to me in the CO w/ QJo. I openraise, button and SB folds, BB 3-bets. I call.

No read on this guy yet, I just sat down.

Flop is J-5-4 rainbow. He bets, I raise to see where I'm at, he 3-bets. Flags go up! I call. Would anyone like to fold here?

Turn is 8, completing the rainbow.
He bets and I call.

River is a King.
He bets. At this point there aren't many hands that I can beat but I call anyway.

When would you fold, and why exactly?

[Jeffage]

"When would you fold, and why exactly?"

I wouldn't. Call him down and make him show you a better hand. The king is an ugly card but I would not be making a river fold heads up just bc a scare card drops. The question is will he have a something like 77, a suited ace, or 10-10 one time in seven. I would call headsup, esp. against an unknown though I'd expect to lose.

Jeff

[SoBeDude]

I'd call him down here every time.

Many people defend the blinds from a steal-raise with many cards. You caught top pair with a decent kicker.

Also the range of steal-raising hands is pretty broad. He can't put you on a jack because you raised. Now if he had an overpair, he would probably have re-raised you.

On the flop I'd bet it, then re-raise him back when he raises me. Now if he caps it I might get a bit nervous.

If he doesn't cap, I'm leading out on the turn. If he caps the flop, I'm switching to call, and check-calling the river.

-Scott

[rharless]

First of all, wanted to say I have the exact same problem sometimes. So, this thread is very interesting to me.

After I experience one of these hands, I think: ...so I raised on the flop to find out where I was at. But what decision did I change with this new information? Nothing. I bought the information and I am now disregarding it by calling to the ree-vah.

I used to make "big" laydowns when three bet on the flop (stuff like AT on and AJT board). Then I started realizing a FEW people were taking too many shots at me with their 3bets. I also realized some people really do 3-bet sometimes on a (weak) draw. I adjusted by moving into callx3 mode, justifying it by telling myself that I am sometimes successfully inducing a bluff.

I have overadjusted, however.

Right now I am trying to find that happy middle ground.

rh

[Bob T.]

This is a tough situation, and it is to a large degree player dependent. Some players don't play the blind steal/resteal game, and if he is a legitimate threebettor, then you are likely behind. If he was a player who resteals frequently, I would probably wait until the turn before I raise. If I was going to fold, I think that I fold to the turn bet. If you were behind, you were getting about 11-1 on the call of the flop reraise, and you probably have to take at least one card off then. If I call the turn bet, I am committed to the pot headsup against an unknown opponent.

I paid a lot for the information, but I guess after this hand, he won't be such an unknown opponent. I sure hope he is a maniac with TT.

[Clarkmeister]

rharless,

Don't forget that a big reason you can call is that you not only have a reasonable chance of still having the best hand, but you also have 3 or 5 outs the vast majority of the time.

[Louie Landale]

First off, raising "to see where you are at" is pretty hopeless unless the information is going to be accurate AND it will help you change your future play for the better; in fact a lot better. If the info isn't reliable or it doesn't change a future marginal situation into a clear one, or of course if you ignore the information, then "getting info" is a BAD reason to raise.

Since you don't know when to release this hand, the info does you no good. You would have been better off just calling him down.

But, if getting the info WAS a good idea then I would routinely call the flop 3-bet (getting 11:1) and fold on the turn (getting 7:1), partly due to the drop in odds but partly also to reduce HIS odds for a bluff: it costs a lot more for him to 3-bet and then bet the turn (3sb total), then it does to just 3-bet (1sb total).

So you called on the turn. That King was a relative disaster since one of the hands you were HOPING he'd have was AK.

- Louie