HU against a tricky player: A drama in several acts

[AKQJ10]

Prologue

This is going to be a bit long, but hopefully it will be rewarding not just to me. And no, I haven't been on a This American Life kick or anything.

Lately I've had a tendency to lose a lot of money through "suspicious" heads-up play involving blind stealing. Example: I raise AQ first in on the button, BB reraises me, I think "He must be thinking I don't have a hand and restealing," so I get all-in against KK. To cure myself, I'm trying hard to adhere to this rule of thumb: a three-bet is usually the goods.

But I'm always afraid of being run over by tricky players....

Advice to myself

Move!

Seriously, there's no reason to go on playing with unpredictable players unless they're real donks about it. If a player is tough to read, there will be plenty who are easy to read.

But it's always tempting to hang around and try to get the best of tricky opponents. It's part machismo, part intellectual exercise. I'd like to think I could outplay someone like this even if I don't always need to.

Hand the First: A supernatural read

I don't think this call was standard, and I'm honestly not sure what tipped me off that Villain (SB) would try this. Persistently calling here is certainly a leak, right? But I'm including the results, they matter later on.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $84.15
UTG+1: $53.85
MP1: $109.15
MP2: $79.75
CO: $95.10
Button: $16.50
SB: $119.90
Hero: $23.50

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is BB with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
4 folds, CO calls, Button folds, SB calls, Hero checks.

Flop: 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 3[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] ($3, 3 players)
SB checks, Hero checks, CO checks.

Turn: J[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] ($3, 3 players)
SB checks, <font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $2</font>, CO folds, SB calls.

River: 3[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] ($7, 2 players)
SB checks, <font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $4</font>, <font color="#cc0000">SB raises to $10</font>, Hero calls.

Results:
Final pot: $27
<font color="#ffffff">SB showed Qs Kc</font>
<font color="#ffffff">Hero showed Qd Js</font>



Hand the Second: Villain Gets Frisky Again

Three hands later. Villain is now MP2.

Full Tilt Poker
No Limit Holdem Ring game
Blinds: $0.50/$1
8 players
Converter

Stack sizes:
UTG: $94.65
UTG+1: $93.10
MP1: $16.50
MP2: $109.40
Hero: $31.15
Button: $72.65
SB: $52.85
BB: $109.15

Pre-flop: (8 players) Hero is CO with Q[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]
3 folds, MP2 calls, <font color="#cc0000">Hero raises to $4</font>, 3 folds, MP2 calls.

Flop: 7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] A[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] ($9.5, 2 players)
MP2 checks, <font color="#cc0000">Hero bets $5</font>, <font color="#cc0000">MP2 raises to $10</font>

I'll break it here before moving on to another hand. How do you play this?