Heads up against a semi-solid sort

[MRBAA]

In heads up play, it's all about knowing your opponent, so all my plays in this hand were based on what I felt were this player's patterns. Here's the hand again with my thoughts on each street.


Hero (QQ)9
Opp (xx)A

He raises, I reraise, he calls.

My hand is probably good here -- he raises as a steal alot, so I play back more than I would against more passive opponents. Since he just folded an Ace to my reraise, he's more likely to defend here.

Pot: 2BB

Hero (QQ)9K
Opp (xx)AK

He bets, I call.

Uh oh. His bet out is bad news for my QQ. He knows I'm aggressive and would normally just let me bet if he was behind. Maybe he had big cards and has now made a pair of kings. But he's certainly capable of betting his board here with a small pocket pair, three big cards, three flush plus the king.

Pot: 3BB

Hero (QQ)9K4
Opp (xx)AKJ

He bets, I call

Okay, I didn't like his bet out on 4th and I hate his continuation on the big bet street. Plus he caught another big card, making two pair more likely, or he may have one pair plus a str8 draw. I could fold here, and it might be the right play against this opponent. But...my hand is hidden, he could just be on a playback against my playback abetted by his scary board.

Pot: 5BB

Hero (QQ)9J4K
Opp (xx)AKJT

He bets, I call

Auto call here unless he pairs his A or K on the board. I'm a loser, though.

Pot 7BB

Hero (QQ)9J4K(9)
Opp (xx)AKJT(x)

He bets, I call

Another auto call, expecting to be shown kings up, aces up or better.

In fact, he has unimproved aces and my two pair is good.

Pot 9BB

While I'm always happy to win a pot, I wasn't happy with the way I got this one. Once again, I got sucked into playing a big pot (for heads up, where very few hands go past 4th) with the worst hand. Now alot of that was just the cards -- getting dealt QQ against AA heads up guarantees you're going to lose some $$ on average. But against a tough player, when my hand doesn't improve, I think I need to be able to find the fold on fifth.

[Fierce Lion7]

Thanks for the play by play.

I agree with the rest that you didn't play this badly but I would have probably dropped fifth.

This hand is a tough one. Glad you made it!

Oh, and I am not sure you are correct that he is a "Semi-solid" sort. You mentioned that you guys usually don't tangle because you are both Tight-Aggressive. I realize you have found some weaknesses in his game but he is probably aware of the other players habits as well, doesn't that make him "Solid"? [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

Fierce Lion7

[MRBAA]

Well, we all know the power of running good. So I'm still not sure if this player is really a great maneuverer or is just a decent, thinking, aggressive sort who is hitting cards. This hand is a bit of an example -- getting AA against QQ is luck, but he did play it well. I've seen him get way out of line in ring games, although he mixes it up well there I think he is too loose and bluffs too much.

But yeah, he's probably solid, at least until further play reveals otherwise.

[Fierce Lion7]

I had a thought. If he is the latter description he may be a Hold 'Em player who has learned about Stud and has some technical skill and experience in it but still has some Hold 'Em style left in him.

I have seen this happen online and read it on these forums.

Or he is like me and drinks a lot of beer when he plays. Sometimes, I stick around to long when the beers are flowing, [img]/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

Fierce Lion7

[Bill King]

i think you played it fine.

i think a lot of the time you'll see a pair of aces, and possibly aces up, but your second pair on the river makes the hand value enough to call.

[SittingBull]

Since the ante is 25% of the small bet,U need to challenge ur oppo more frequently,as u did,since he is aggressive.
However,if the ante were between 10% and 15% of the small bet,I would have folded on third St after being re-raised.
The smaller the ante,the tighter one plays--even if he thinks he might be a slight favorite on 3rd St.
If one were to continue to play with a small ante structure,he generally would tend to compound his errors on the subsequent streets.
HappyPokering, [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]
SittingBull

[MRBAA]

Hey Bull, how are you? Hope things are okay down in LA. Totally agree about ante -- also remember this is a head up table, so there's alot of aggression with so-so cards.

[SittingBull]

Doing well in LA,Ty.
SittingBull