10-20 heads-up

[glen]

10-20 pp. Heads-up. opponents brings it in for $5 with a Q. I have K(KK). I raise. He folds. I had only been playing with this opponent for about fifteen minutes, but we've played a few times in the past. I always come in for a raise when I have a higher doorcard (but I mix up playing and folding here) with a certain frequency. Of the times I raise with a king, I might have a king one out of three times, let's say. Now, should I limp here anyways, even though it will set off some warning bells, should I hope he catches and sticks around, or should i raise in case he has a strong holding - queen, ace three flush, etc. and then I can play the hand fast. I feel that against this opponent he would probably fold queens on fourth or fifth if I decided to limp. I've been in this situation a few times heads-up, and I've limped when I'm against a low card, and gotten paid of nicely by low draws that turn into mediocre highs. but, against high cards, I don't think I've ever gotten called. Since hu sessions can be relatively short 5 min. to 30 min., I don't try to mix up my play as much since I don't think my opponents will notice enough for me to benefit later. . .

[SittingBull]

too strong for u to raise on 3rd.
Even if U had ONE pair of K's,if u are heads-up against certain players,u would just smooth call if these players would fold to a re-raise.
U really do not want them to fold.
However,in MOST cases,u would re-raise with a higher pair. The reason is that u do not want to play against more than 2 opponents with your one big pair. Hence,u would need to reduce the field.
H /forums/images/icons/laugh.gif appy pokering,
Sitting Bull

[patrick dicaprio]

in a heads up pot i would limp here every time unless i was against a really good player who might pick up a pattern on how i play with an exposed king. unless ray zee or chip reese is in your game i wouldnt worry about it. given the game you describe, limp.

Pat

[Andy B]

When I play short-handed (usually hold'em), I raise so often with little or nothing, I figure that I ought to raise when I actually have something. If you limp a lot, then limping is fine. If you usually raise with the high card, limping may look suspicious.

[glen]

patrick,

Well. . . I don't think you have to be against Zee or Reese to worry about this. The thing is, when you limp in this game, the pot is only 12 dollars. If someone who usually never limps, limps, then I'm going to be extra cautious. Let's say you have (9cTd)Ts and your opponent, who almost always raises with overcards, limps with a Ks. On fourth you catch a 4c and he catches a 7c.
He checks, you check. On fifth, you catch the 9d, and he catches a 2c. Now he bets 20, what do you do? I fold based on the anomaly of his limp, check, bet pattern, which almost never happens. . .

[glen]

Bull,

Keep in mind that this was not a heads-up situation, but a heads-up game. 10-20 with a 1 dollar ante and a five dollar bring-in. Blind-stealing is a very important part of this game. One of the most profitable blind-stealing situations in this game, besides raising with an ace, which takes the bring-in most of the time, is when your opponent brings it in with nine or above, and you raise with a higher card, as in this example. Some people limp more often than others, but I almost always come in for a raise here. In a ring game, if a low card raises, I might re-raise to play the hand heads-up (provided there are no aces who limped or are behind me) depending on the players, their raising standards, position, etc. In this case, I'm trying to decide whether I should limp even though it will alert him to a strong holding, or if I should hope he has a reasonably strong hand. This opponent would call with a queen, maybe a pocket pair of jacks or tens, a three-flush with an ace, etc. because he knows that my raise does not mean a pair of kings, and it's much more probable, in fact, that I don't have one. . . in light of all this, i'm wondering if one should limp simply because he may catch something and pay off a sixth street or river bet. But, if he has something to play with, I may make a lot more, just much less often. . . the question is which might be more profitable?

[glen]

. . .that was my line of thinking. A funny anecdote: I had been playing 5-10 5 max at pp for a few hours. I had been doing quite well at the table, up $400 or so, so people were paying attention to me. I hardly ever limp in shorthanded games, but for some reason I decided to limp in cutoff with T8c. Button folded, SB folded, BB folded. I said "???" He said, "respect." I might have to try the open-limp blind steal more often. In any case, I responded to Bull what I thought was important, limp and hoping to get a bet on sixth or a few, if he can't lay down a straight or a flush to an obvious slowplay and I fill vs, hoping he has a hand and plays with me, giving me multiple bets. I wonder if he starts with a hand like (3c4c)Qs. If you let your opponent catch a As and a 6d, for example, by fifth, he may pay a few bets chasing. He may make an open pair on fifth and you can raise sixth. I haven't thought about this too much, since it only happens once in a while, but I think it could be analyzed further. . .

[Rockfish]

It has been my experience in heads-up stud that you have to raise your high card most of the time because aggressiveness pays off heads-up. I know Sklansky and Malmuth have discussed this in detail for hold'em and I'm sure that this carries over to stud as well.

Having said that I think you also have to limp occasionally to cover the times when you do have a monster like KKK and want to limp to disguise it. Think of it like raising with a big three flush on 3rd street so that your opponenets will not always assume you are raising with a big pair. You change up just enough to disguise your play but not enough to hurt your long term success.

It is most lamentable to be rolled up and get no play. Some times it cannot be avoided. I waited a year and a half after I started playing poker to be rolled up with Aces. When it happened the table folded around to me with the bring in on my left. I called. 4th street I bet and the bring-in folded. Grrrrrr...

Limp occasionally to give yourself some cover. Otherwise remain aggressive.

Good luck,

Rockfish