Did I muck this up

[CrMenace]

Villain had <5BB going into this hand and I thought there was some chance she was stacking off. She had gone all-in 3 hands ago but had an ace that paired the board at the time. So she seems relatively aggressive and some chance she is stacking off, but I've only seen her for 4-5 hands at this point.

Anywho, aside from this individaul villain, these tough HU situations are coming up, like, constantly in my game and I just don't know if I'm playing them well. Any general thoughts on playing HU with underpairs, unimproved overs and the like against aggression, in addition the the particulars of this hand would be very much appreciated.

PokerStars 0.50/1.00 Hold'em (9 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: 2+2 Forums)

Preflop: Hero is MP1 with Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
<font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, <font color="#CC3333">Hero raises</font>, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, CO calls, <font color="#666666">2 folds</font>, BB calls.

Flop: (6.50 SB) A[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] <font color="#0000FF">(3 players)</font>
BB checks, <font color="#CC3333">Hero bets</font>, <font color="#CC3333">CO raises</font>, BB folds, Hero folds.

Final Pot: 4.25 BB

[Aaron W.]

[ QUOTE ]
Villain had &lt;5BB going into this hand and I thought there was some chance she was stacking off. She had gone all-in 3 hands ago but had an ace that paired the board at the time. So she seems relatively aggressive and some chance she is stacking off, but I've only seen her for 4-5 hands at this point.

[/ QUOTE ]

It's a toss up. I wouldn't mind calling down because if you see a villain going nuts and you've only seen 4-5 hands, there's a good chance you've got a loon.

But then again, passing on a high variance situation (trying to run down someone stacking off) isn't that bad because you're only talking about racing to win a few BB. If she had a lot of money in front of her and was playing crazily, then you should be more inclined to gamble (information to work with in the future -- if she's short-stacked, she may be gone in an orbit -- but if you win, you often become a "target" and get more opportunities to win).

[lqd78]

i would call down.
could be an 8 or a PP.

[detruncate]

How is this a tough spot? You have an overpair to the 8 vs a "relatively aggressive villain" who coldcalled your raise and who you admit might be stacking off. Folding QQ is insane.

[TJ_Eckleburg]

Yes, you did muck this up. I think it's important to note that even if you're giving Villain credit for an ace here, bet/folding the flop is MUCH worse than check/folding the flop, because you're getting 8.5 : 1 on the SAFE (un-reraisable) flop call after being raised.

With the read you've described, bet/calling flop and calling down is best.

[CrMenace]

[ QUOTE ]
I think it's important to note that even if you're giving Villain credit for an ace here, bet/folding the flop is MUCH worse than check/folding the flop, because you're getting 8.5 : 1 on the SAFE (un-reraisable) flop call after being raised.

[/ QUOTE ]

Huh? No.

[detruncate]

Hi CrMenace.

To answer your follow-up question, if you have reason to think that Villain might be overplaying (for whatever reason), give a bit more action with your strong hands, and get your marginal ones to showdown.

It's always going to suck when you whiff K/Q-type hands, especially OOP. There's no way around that. You just have to do your best to pick your spots wrt whether to 2-barrel or just c/f, whether to call his flop raise or just fold outright, etc. Even with a bit more showdown value, whether to call down bets/raises on drawy boards with A-high is rarely an easy decision.

What you don't want to do is get into a pissing match with hands that have low-no showdown value, bloat the pot with marginal draws vs guys who aren't going anywhere (especially OOP), semibluff re-steal, etc.

When you're weak, try to exploit their over-aggression via bluff catching lines. When you're strong, exploit it by punishing them. Accept that you're going to fold the best hand more often than you'd like. It's not about winning pots, it's about winning money. And even over-aggro Villains catch hands. Strive to make good decisions and then let the chips fall where they may. I think that's the first time I've used that expression re. actual poker. I feel dirty somehow.

Whatever else happens, hold on for the ride. As I'm sure you're well aware, it can get ugly in a hurry if Villain is super aggro and running hot. But the reverse is also true.

Best of luck and happy pokering.

[Sushiglutton]

I would call down.