Heads up against agressor, what to do?

swejed · #1 01-20-2005, 09:50 AM

New to this forum, but had thought about this ever since it happend. A casino tournament with 1st price around $5000 and second $2500, I advance to the final table and finally meet a novice player (he had never played live before) heads-up with roughly the same amount of chips. After a few rounds I notice he ALWAYS raise PF with any hand and call my raises with any hand. He continued to bet and raise if he got any piece of the table, ever so small. Since the blinds a VERY high, he gets rewarded each time I have crap.
I ended up losing the final, mainly because of this.
Do any of you have any ideas how to adapt to this situation? What´s the preferred strategy?
Thanks in advance!

etgryphon · #2 01-20-2005, 10:01 AM

To tell you the truth, this is how i play when I'm HU. It is a very effective tactic against a smarter player how tends to look for spots (like you [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] )

The only tactic that I can think of that puts the breaks on is a sequence like this:

You are in the BB.
He raises
You come over the top with Ax, KQ-K8, QJ-Q9, JT, any pair
and go all in.

You can do it with lesser hands, but it takes some balls. You only have to do it once and he'll back off usually. But, if you get called you might be out. Thats OK because you don't want him to take control of the match.

MAKE A STAND!

-Gryph

Bernas · #3 01-20-2005, 11:24 AM

You HAVE to play aggressive while heads up.
You should be raising PF when you are SB. If he is raising PF against you, rather than just calling, come over the top with an all in.

swejed · #4 01-20-2005, 11:31 AM

But it really hurts going all in with just an average hand, doesnt it? It IS $2500 between 1st and 2nd after all...I mean all in with 10 7 off doesnt make sense!? But then again, waiting for Ax would reduce my stack to nothing...Talked to him after the final and he said he was just happy to come in 2nd and therefore wanted all the money in as fast as possible to reduce my supposed better pokerskills... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

jojobinks · #5 01-20-2005, 12:33 PM

i'm with the responses so far. you can't let yourself get low enough that you can't come over the top to scare him. your raising requirements should be much lower. and you need to back him off or else get blinded off.

also, calling and raising with bottom pair is reasonable, especially when blinds are huge.

if i check in the big blind, for example, with 23, and the flop comes 279, you think i should fold if you bet at me? if blinds are really big, i think i have to play that.

and it's true, that if you're more experience than him, this has just got to be his optimal strategy.

if blinds are reasonable, and you have some time, this is different, but not all that much.

Dawdy · #6 01-20-2005, 12:59 PM

Tough spot, lots of money at stake.
You cant let him push you about. You need to make a couple of reraises all in.. see what hes made of. I understand your point about the money and if he calls and wins your out but it really is the only way to push back effectively.
You have to stand up to a bully especially against a weaker player (he has less experience than you).
Hand selection on the occasions you push is not so important, there are no select number of hands to do it with as you'll go broke while your waiting for them. Its all about relative value and percieved strenght. If he doesnt call you may aswell be playing 72o. Get him on the ropes and then hope for the call when you have a hand.
HU is no science. Its about agression and a big slice of luck imo, more so online than live.

Dawdy

swejed · #7 01-21-2005, 03:18 AM

Thanks for all responses!
It seems like its all coming down to pure luck heads up. But I guess that against a foe willing to put all money on the table at every given time, much will be decided on just that. I just REALLY wanted a way to use better poker skills or a supreme strategy to beat this...

Thanks again though, I won´t let anyone bully me around, promise!

kuro · #8 01-21-2005, 04:11 AM

Don't put him to the test with 72o.

Look for the same kind of hands that you would push with if you were short stacked or defend your blinds with. Remember there's a good chance that he calls you. You don't want to just push with a random hand because you don't know that he knows how to fold heads up.