hand..

[Surfbullet]

[ QUOTE ]
simple.

Check call. check call. check call. Almost every time. Obviously if you improve you can put more bets in but usually you wont.

If he checks a street, bet the next one.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is how I play it. The "it doesn't matter what you do" sentiment is off. He'll bet numerous, awful hands when you check to him repeatedly. He'll fold them when you show aggression. just check-call.

Surf

[imitation]

But i'll cr here with a flush draw or small pair...and he'll call down with a lower pocket alot...I still like cring, check/call is reasonable sure, but I don't think it matters, that's what i'm saying, the hand just has to go to showdown i guess.

[bicyclekick]

[ QUOTE ]
But i'll cr here with a flush draw or small pair...and he'll call down with a lower pocket alot...I still like cring, check/call is reasonable sure, but I don't think it matters, that's what i'm saying, the hand just has to go to showdown i guess.

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But it does matter.

Check raising isn't the right play and i don't think it's all that close. It's not like a BAD play or anything but it's not the best one either.

[spydog]

Checkraising or doing anything else that wrestles the lead away from villian is wreckless.

In order for you to make a 'good fold' on this hand you will have to invest more than the 2.5BBs that it costs to call down. So, it's bad to invest bets to make a good fold when it's the same price as calling down and you still give yourself a chance to CR the expensive streets if you improve, while never folding a hand that might have improved on the river.

So, the other reason to checkraise is to push villian off a hand. You could certainly push him off his 2 outer if he's holding a PP, but that loses you money.

You might be able to push him off K9/KT/KJ/KQ but he is more than likely to call you down with those hands, so it is probably a neutral EV play when he holds those hands. Plus you give him the chance to raise you on an expensive street when he improves.

[rtrombone]

The standard line when you flop a big pair against a possible thief is to check-call, check-call, bet (unless your opponent is the type to fire three barrels regardless of his holding). It's the classic way ahead or way behind scenario since few/no overcards can come to your pair, your opponent may be drawing to two outs with a pocket pair or almost dead if he missed completely, and if you're behind you will often have only three outs yourself (possibly five if your pair isn't aces).

This is how I would play it if the hand took place in a vacuum--i.e., it's early in a session or my opponent has just sat down and I'm leaving soon. But poker isn't played in a vacuum.

How do you proceed in blind defense situations when you don't figure to be way ahead or way behind? You don't just check-call because you want to protect your hand, right? The stop and go isn't as effective as check-raising and leading the turn because you usually sacrifice one small bet on the flop with this line. If you flop a draw you want to take the lead and give your opponent a chance to fold, right? Which won't happen if you play passively.

If your opponent is any kind of observant/thinking player, you need to play your hands in such a way that they are indistinguishable from one another. If you check-call when you're way ahead/way behind, you should also be checking and calling with other hands. But since there's such a premium on aggression when heads-up, I tend to play my hands fast. So I play fast even in classic way ahead or way behind situations.

A couple things to think about: (1) On a flop of A 9 4 rainbow, who's to say you're way ahead with your A6? Your opponent may very well have a nine in his hand. Hell, he could have 54s. (2) Against some players a flop check-raise may actually disguise your hand completely, as they will assume you wouldn't play an ace this way.

In the OP's hand the argument for checking and calling is stronger because there's a greater chance of him being behind than when only one paint card flops. Even so, if he's been playing everything fast he shouldn't slow down here. If he checks and calls the flop and his opponent is any kind of thinker, what's he going to put him on?

Shania is critical in 6-max heads-up blind hands because these confrontations are so frequent.

[imported_azalin]

[ QUOTE ]
simple.

Check call. check call. check call. Almost every time. Obviously if you improve you can put more bets in but usually you wont.

If he checks a street, bet the next one.

[/ QUOTE ]

[maxpowers21]

[ QUOTE ]
simple.

Check call. check call. check call. Almost every time. Obviously if you improve you can put more bets in but usually you wont.

If he checks a street, bet the next one.

[/ QUOTE ]

Agreed. And the reasoning is simple, he has position and initiative. If you raise any street he will now punish you for trying to regain initiative, punishing you with a better hand on a BB street and getting away from weaker steal hands. Let him bluff with initiative and position, use that against him to gain the maximum value out of your marginal hands in these Heads up situations.

[bds]

Can someone please tell what a Shania is?

[Catt]

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Can someone please tell what a Shania is?

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Shania

[bds]

Thank you. This makes a great deal of sense.