Value of the top pair in HU NL and nature of HU nowadays

[Kamppi69]

This is like the most misunderstood hand at heads up sng's. The kicker rule applies also here. What the hell are they writing there at the articles?! "Top pair is a monster HU",
"Top pair is like a set at heads up", "If u have a top pair, its 90 percent change that ur opponent doesnt have it". LOL. Probably in high limit turbo's this rule applies cause its a crap shoot and most of the pots are raised. But in passive low limit games...i dont like betting agressive with pair of jacks with an 7 or 8 kicker. Nit?

And playing against a solid player in 5-10 dollar HU sng's. I raise from the button with A8, 3xtimes the BB, and BB calls. Player is solid and bets also good hands OOP in raised pots, bets under i mean. I call cause i have no idea where i'm at. Opponent best the pot on the turn. Me? ok, i call. Opponent bets big on the river, FOLD! opinions? or am i overtight. I never feel comfortable if i havent got a certain read. AND also. 1/25 opponent in HU cant play in low limits. Check ur dates. there are a lot of solid and clever low limit shark players out there nowadays because of the popularity of poker.

And multitabling 5-10 dollar SNG's? How the hell do u do that. Wait for a hand and then bet agressive. First of all there hast to be a specific time of hour when there are more bad players. I like to bet with my good hands even against those ego maniacs, who try to win every pot. But against a solid player, or less solid but who has principles.

I've played HU now for about five months and i am a winning player. but this forum gives advice of low limit players being total fishes who are easy to beat. They are either good or bad. How about the 1000 different variables of player types between good and bad. Even minbettors can be good readers. They are just sore.

The bad players are the ones that u usually need a hand against. Exception are the extremely poor bluffers, who cant represent a hand, they just bet. They call, call and chase and when they miss, they bet the pot and then go on complete tilt when i cut on third of their stack. All in after that. Those are my favorite opponents cause its very easy to bust them with a good hand afterwards.

And finally i want to ask people about showing ur hand? i never so good hands, but i heard that some people show to get an advantage. Show a bluff or show a good hand? Sometimes i show a bluff but my goal is to get a player on complete tilt.

[1outer]

I have played a ton of HU sng's online and I have a constant HU Shootout every Monday, Tuesday & Wednesday between a few of my buddies. We keep records and whoever comes out with the most points by May, puts in 3000 a piece and winner can play main event or pre-lims for WSOP. So i consider myself to have a lot of HU experience.

The example you gave, you really can't deduct anything from that hand becuz it's missing important table dynamics such as stack sizes, the board, the range of hands he could be holding each street, etc. So i can't really comment on that.

I find that multitabling SNG's is actually a good idea. It doesn't let you get crazy with a hand you should'nt be playing or investing too much $ with a marginal holding to ur opponents range. Solid, yet aggressive play wins these SNG's.

In regards to your top pair is a monster, depending on the player, I have found that the only time top pair becomes a MONSTER is when your opponent values marginal holdings. An opponent who value bets real thin is a player that you can win a huge pot with top pair weak kicker. Against a solid player tho, if they are as solid as you say, I don't think you can win a HUGE pot with top pair weak kicker. If you do, I don't think they are as solid as you claim and need to re-evaluate the players at the table.

In regards to the type of players you come across in Low limit SNG's: They are mostly bad players (sharkscope them and you will find that normally 4/6 or 6/9 of the players at the table are big losers online.) who tend to err on the aggressive side, but reckless aggressiveness generally. I find they do not liked to be bluffed once you hit the turn and past that. There are also the weak-tight players who just want to make the $, abuse those players with aggressive betting and fold to any resistance, the structure is too fast to play super super nitty in these, they will get short eventually and you can open your range.

Regarding showing your cards, I personally, never show until I get about heads up or 3 handed. A tight image is very useful in the later stages of these as blind stealing becomes pivotal. Once I get 2-3 handed tho, since everyone's range is giong to open up considerably, I might as well let the table know that and it will help me get paid off with my big hands.

I think the way to win these low level SNG's is solid but aggressive play, with good value bets on later streets. Any chips you can extract in a SNG are important. Sense weakness in your opponent and take down any pots that are dying to be stabbed at. Don't pay attention to the avg stack until you get to about 3-4 handed. Normally you can go from 7th to 1st with one double up.

Hope this info was informing and opened up your thought process a little bit.

[1outer]

When you do encounter these low level "sharks" at your table, play them very carefully and have a purpose to your betting. No pot sized bluffs with 6 high, just cuz u hope he will fold. These players did not gain a "shark" status by gambling it up in the small SNG's. The payoffs are so little in these that in order to build a multiple k roll, they were playing some real poker. So remember these guys know how to play, they might be playing more ABC than the mid level players, but they prob have a pretty decent set of fundamentals.

[Kamppi69]

Thx for the good answers [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]