Heads up

[Colombo]

I just came in 2nd in Paradise's "Sun" tournament, and i basically lost the HU in 2 big hands.


the first one i had K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]9[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] and limped from the SB, he min raised, i called. The flop came K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]J[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]

He bet 1.5x BB, my move?

The 2nd hand was extremely similar, but i wont go into details.

[DJ Sensei]

i'll be glad to reply, but can't really do much without stack sizes and blinds.

For the time being:

if the stacks are deep (>15+ BB each) I'd try to play a small pot, because your hand isnt strong enough to take to the felt yet.
call his flop bet, see what happens on the turn.

if the stacks are shallow (either < 12x BB), you should look to get all in with top pair, push the flop.

[Colombo]

[ QUOTE ]
i'll be glad to reply, but can't really do much without stack sizes and blinds.

For the time being:

if the stacks are deep (>15+ BB each) I'd try to play a small pot, because your hand isnt strong enough to take to the felt yet.
call his flop bet, see what happens on the turn.

if the stacks are shallow (either < 12x BB), you should look to get all in with top pair, push the flop.

[/ QUOTE ]

o god, how did i forget the stacks!!

He had about 12x BB and i had about 18x the BB

[Colombo]

There seems to be no interest here, so im going to say what happened.

Basically, situations like this get me into alot of trouble, mainly in heads ups at end of tournaments, and they come up MANY times during a tournament (like if i raise from the button and the BB calls and leads flop)

Anyway, i just elected to call with my kings. My reasoning is that he probably doesn't have much, and if i raised he would only call with a K with a better kicker (because he raised p/f he would most likely have a better kicker)

So i just call.

The turn comes an A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] and he leads out again, for about 2-2.5x the BB. Now im stuck. I have absolutely no idea of where i am in the hand, and my attempt to milk my opponent with top pair has gone awry. Right now I have no clue what to do, but elect to call.

The river comes a brick, and he leads out for 5x the BB. Right now, I'm guessing that he may have hit an ace on the turn, but you never know. Maybe he is trying to bluff because I havent shown strength. I make a crying call and he shows A3 for two pair.


These situations always confuse me, and they don't just occur in heads up play.

I am always nervous to raise someone on the flop with a marginal hand such as top pair no kicker. They wont call a raise with a hand that loses to me, so more often than not I will take the pot. however, if i call, I will extract more chips assuming he continues on the turn. So calling seems like the more profitable path, but then again, I get very little information of where I am in the hand. Also, calling gives free cards, which is a "sin." Argh, poker is hard.

[DJ Sensei]

It is tough to play TPweakK, whether heads up or full-tabled. Some things that I try to consider when playing heads up in particular though, are that your necessary hand strength for taking your hand to the felt should reflect the stack/blind ratios. If either is below 8-10 BB, any top pair is probably worth taking all the way. With both stacks above 15-20, I'd wait for a better hand to get my money in with.

18 BB vs. 12 BB is a rather tough situation to be in. You don't want to double him up, because you'd be down 4 to 1 in chips, which is very hard to come back from with blinds that high. However, the stacks are deep enough that its not just push/fold.
Ironic that the ranges I gave in the last post are too high and too low for this particular situation, isnt it?
Well, in this situation, I'd go with the assumption that he'd raise any king preflop. Youre ahead of most with K9, so push it in. If he doesnt have a king, let him call with the worst of it. If he folds, then you've stretched your chiplead out further.

sorry it didnt work out this time, hopefully you'll take down the next one.