Played my first NL HU SnG

[phydaux]

Normally I play FR NL. I find I can multi-table this comfortably and play a nice & easy, tight/aggressive style that makes money - A tiny, tiny amount of money.

Most 2+2 NL players play 6-max, but I find the action at 6-Max to be too fast for me to multi-table, but too slow for me to just play one table and not have my mind wander.

I'd been thinking of giving HU a try, just for a change. I really didn't want to play HU cash, so I thought I'd give a 16 player HU SnG a try.

I played very aggressivly pre-flop, particularly when in the SB/Button. Also, I re-raised pre-flop in the BB whenever I had a TPTK hand like QJ. Lots of c-bets after the flop, lots of pot control on the turn & river.

Through a combination of playing well and running well, I managed to place 2nd in my first ever HU SnG. And made a nice chunk of money on top of that, more than I usually make in a single session of FR NL. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] I did have a few questions, though:

A lot of times I saw other players fold in the SB. I can understand this if you are short stacked, particularly if the blinds are high relative to your stack. But this seemed to be part of some players regular stratagy.

This only makes sense is you're up against a player who is a "Flop Cop" i.e. "No one sees three cards for CHEAP, pal." In other words, a player like ME. But I noticed a lot of players would just check in the BB and let me see the flop for cheap after I just compleated. Though that isn't something I'd do in the BB, unless I had no intention of putting money in the pot after the flop anyway.

But it seems to me that being a Flop Cop would be exploitable under the right circumstances...

Can someone comment on this Flop Cop/folding pre-flop in the SB/Button dynamic?

[ChicagoRy]

I just adjust my amount of limping based on how much they raise my limps from the BB. If they're raising way too often I'll just limp reraise them with something good, they hardly ever fold it seems.

My personal BB strategy is to just raise up stuff I'm comfortable playing OOP in a raised pot. Pocket pairs, mid-high aces, etc. It changes based on what kind of a post flop player I am playing. If the player is a fairly passive post flop player you can get away with more raising in BB, if he's weak-tight postflop, you can raise a lot more BB. Also you have to take into account how often he calls when you raise on the button preflop, that matters a lot.

Hope this helps.

[bluffbetter]

I guess with folding in the SB, the thing is that even if the BB is raising you only 20% or less, it's hard for you to both hit and know that you are ahead because you will often hit middle or bottom pair and will be wary to put much if any money in the pot. So folding in the SB is maybe good with botton 20%. Someone could obviously employ the of strategy of raisng bottom 20-30% and calling everything else, but I'm not sure this is a good idea most of the time because you often end up trapping yourself.

[MychCumstien]

I like to limp, i.e. see a lot of cheap flops if possible, then steal them from my opponent post flop. I find if I raise too often preflop, the villains catch onto this and don't give me enough credit for a hand, i.e. it becomes expensive. Post flop, players in general seem much more willing to give up the hand, as they miss most of the time anyway, and they tend to give me too much credit for having a hand [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

As far as the Flop Cop strat is concerned that you talked about, if a villain consistently applies that to me, I just 3 bet them to death. They usually back down pretty quickly (unless they have a hand).

[MasterLJ]

[ QUOTE ]
Can someone comment on this Flop Cop/folding pre-flop in the SB/Button dynamic?

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It's a function of the blinds in most cases. There is really no reason to raise with a hand like 82os when the raise and c-bet on the flop will cost you a significant portion of your stack.

To exploit a "flop cop" you simply value bet thinner and fire multiple bullets. 2nd pair good kicker becomes the nuts.

[MychCumstien]

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To exploit a "flop cop" you simply value bet thinner and fire multiple bullets. 2nd pair good kicker becomes the nuts.

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QFT

[El helado Patata]

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A lot of times I saw other players fold in the SB. I can understand this if you are short stacked, particularly if the blinds are high relative to your stack. But this seemed to be part of some players regular stratagy.



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It depends on the blinds. Like in the NL HU SNGs at stars, you start with 1500 chips and the blinds are 10/20 and 15/30 in the first rounds. If I play at stars (dont like it actually but having some problems with Bossmedia ATM ) I personally fold a lot of hands in the SB that I do not think is worth playing when the blinds are extremly low. Better to lose 10 or 15 chips since this is nada of your stack. I am talking about hands like 93o, 74o and unplayable hands like that.

[Austiger]

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It depends on the blinds. Like in the NL HU SNGs at stars, you start with 1500 chips and the blinds are 10/20 and 15/30 in the first rounds. If I play at stars (dont like it actually but having some problems with Bossmedia ATM ) I personally fold a lot of hands in the SB that I do not think is worth playing when the blinds are extremly low. Better to lose 10 or 15 chips since this is nada of your stack. I am talking about hands like 93o, 74o and unplayable hands like that.

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This is really backwards. You should typically not be folding any hands at those levels. You should only be folding them when the blinds are higher. Joe Hachem won the Main Event with 73, so they are hardly unplayable. I think the blinds were probably about the same ratio there, or lower, than 10/20 is to 1500.

[1outer]

I think that limping in the SB/Button is completely acceptable, if there is a spot to play a questionable hand, you might as well do it in position. Obv this depends on the player, if he is a "flop cop" than you will have to adjust and either fold hands you cannot call PF raise or start raising and 3betting more liberally. If I decide that I am going to be limping a fair amount on the button, I am going to do it with all kinds of hands (very weak connectors to JJ), if villain gets too overaggro PF out of position
1)flat calling with hands that can make monsters (suited connectors, 2 gappers). He will be forced to play the hand OOP the whole time, so you will have as much info as you are possibly going to get in the hand.
2)Start 3betting with hands that may be a tad speculative but will keep him honest.

The SB HU is a hard spot to play in, but it's also the button and good HU players generally will be more active on their button than OOP.

[El helado Patata]

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It depends on the blinds. Like in the NL HU SNGs at stars, you start with 1500 chips and the blinds are 10/20 and 15/30 in the first rounds. If I play at stars (dont like it actually but having some problems with Bossmedia ATM ) I personally fold a lot of hands in the SB that I do not think is worth playing when the blinds are extremly low. Better to lose 10 or 15 chips since this is nada of your stack. I am talking about hands like 93o, 74o and unplayable hands like that.

[/ QUOTE ]

This is really backwards. You should typically not be folding any hands at those levels. You should only be folding them when the blinds are higher. Joe Hachem won the Main Event with 73, so they are hardly unplayable. I think the blinds were probably about the same ratio there, or lower, than 10/20 is to 1500.

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My point is that the difference between playing and not playing 73 with blinds 10/20 is very negible (spelling :S?). You save 10 chips (yeay!) by playing AND you can avoid getting dominated and you gain like what if you hit? You are not gonna win a big pot if you actually happen to win with 73. I think it is a waste of time and therefore a waste of hourly profit to play these hands in the 2 earliest levels, at least as a rule (you could mix it up if u feel like it).

Having that said, I do not think you should fold a lot preflop. Just bottom 20%.