NLHE heads up pre-flop

[schwza]

i've been playing heads up NLHE sit n go's on UB lately. i've been playing raise-or-fold from the SB/button, but everyone i've played with will just complete from that position pretty frequently. am i playing this wrong? my raise is always to 3xBB when i raise.

[Robk]

If you're better than your opponent you want to play a lot of hands against him postflop with position. If you always raise like this you have to fold a lot of hands. Since if you don't your opponent shows automatic profit with reraise bluffs. And can trap you with good hands.

[The Dude]

The blind structure should effect the frequency at which you complete also. If it's 2 chip 3 chip (10-15) you should be completeing with some hands that you would fold at 1 chip 2 chip (25-50).

Yeah, optimal strategy includes a mix of completing and raising (raising should be much more frequent), but against opponents who fold too much pf, raising every hand you play is better.

[schwza]

thanks for the responses. one reason i've been raising everything is that my opponents seem to be 3-betting way too infrequently. i regularly see them call my raise and later showdown AQ (this is at $5 + .50 at UB).

i'm curious to hear more about standards - on the first hand of the game (BB = 10, 1000 chips), what's the best hand you would fold from the SB/button? 45o? K3o? T7o? 84s?

[Robk]

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one reason i've been raising everything is that my opponents seem to be 3-betting way too infrequently. i regularly see them call my raise and later showdown AQ (this is at $5 + .50 at UB).

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If your opponents aren't playing back at you and you can steal frequently than it can definitely be correct to raise with a lot of hands as you've been doing. Just know that there are things they can do to defend themselves and if they adjust you have to also.

[ QUOTE ]
i'm curious to hear more about standards - on the first hand of the game (BB = 10, 1000 chips), what's the best hand you would fold from the SB/button? 45o? K3o? T7o? 84s?

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The first hand is the least important in some sense. Image factors are what you have to learn to adjust to (ie how good are my implied odds right now, what are my chances of stealing, etc) and they are constantly changing based on previous play. Experience is the best teacher. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[3~Libras]

I have been doing very well at those, so here is my advice. If I am on the BB, I will only raise powerhouse PF hands that can get into trouble on the flop, namely 77-QQ. I will always follow this up with a pot size bet, and you will find that you frequently (about 75% of the time or better) will win it without a fight. Don't bet again unless you still have an overpair or pick up some sort of straight or flush draw. I do most of my raising on the button and the reason is that less sophisticated players will bet into you on the flop and from there you can just drop your hand unless you catch. However, I will raise many more hands because of the positional advantage, and these usually include any pair, any 2 big cards, any ace, or suited connector. Once again, I will follow this up with a pot size bet no matter what falls about 95% of the time and give up on the bluff if I am called, unless I catch on the turn or pick up some type of draw, but that next bet will usually be less than the size of the pot unless I hit something big or want to add deception. By using this simple strategy, your opponents will find it very difficult to put you on a hand and you will find yourself dominating them time and again- all the way up to the $50+2.50 or maybe even higher.