Heads up Theory

[Jman28]

Hey guys. I don't know if this is something that has been talked about or not. I responded to a question/critique in this post and discussed something that I think about while playing. I realized that I'd gotten it from nowhere and that I hadn't heard it talked about, so I wanted to hear some comments.

If it's a new idea, I'd like it to be talked about and named after me, so that I feel important. It's not worded that well so let me know if you need clarification.

Here is a copy of my response:


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***** Hand History for Game 2503905585 *****
500/1000 Tourney Texas Hold'em Game Table (NL) (Tournament 14678948) - Tue Aug 09
02:58:28 EDT 2005
Table Mini Step 5 1014193 (Real Money) -- Seat 8 is the button
Total number of players : 2
Seat 8: skinsftbl (6690)
Seat 10: aks47 (3310)
skinsftbl posts small blind (250)
aks47 posts big blind (500)
** Dealing down cards **
Dealt to skinsftbl [ 2c, 9c ]
skinsftbl raises (6440) to 6690
skinsftbl is all-In.
aks47 folds.
Creating Main Pot with $7190 with skinsftbl
** Summary **
Main Pot: 7190
skinsftbl balance 7190, bet 6690, collected 7190, net +500
aks47 balance 2810, lost 500 (folded)

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I don't think this one pencils out.

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I'm not exactly sure about his range here, and if the push is +EV, but this is an example of a play that I sometimes make with thinking that I haven't heard mentioned anywhere.

Heads-up, I often make very marginal pushes because they will lead to more +EV situations. Here's what I mean...

When you are the bigger stack, generally your pushing range gets wider as the smaller stack-blind ratio goes down. (until he almost is so small that he has to call with any two). This means that the smaller the short stack is, the more advantageous it is for the more aggressive player.

If I fold this hand, he has ~3500 chips next hand. If I push and he folds, he has ~ 2800. Now obviously it's always advantageous to pick up chips, BUT I believe there is an intrinsic advantage to DECREASING the size of the smaller stack.

Therefore, when faced with marginal heads up decisions, I err on the side that decreases the smaller stack. That means folding if I already am the smaller stack, and pushing if I'm the bigger stack.

I'd like to hear thoughts on this one.

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