PoohBah Post: Playing OOP in HUSNGs

[dboy23]

Hey guys, It looks like I have finally made it to 1600 posts, and as 2+2 tradition dictates, it is time for me to impart some knowledge on ya. I'm not the best writer, but I will try my best.


Playing OOP is a lot tougher than playing in position. As a result you will generally find yourself folding hands that you would play if you had the button. Lets go over some standard situations.

Situation 1:

Opponent raises his button alot.

Just calling his raise allows for a lot of play postflop, so that should benefit you as the stronger player. Reraising commits you a lot more, and I really think the majority of your 3betting from the BB should be with good good hands.

In general you don't want to be calling with too much. I like to call with suited connecters, medium unsuited connectors, and decent hands. Reraising your good hands should be fairly standard, and you might mix in a reraise with stuff like T9o every now and then to mix up your play. Of course that is only if he is folding to your 3bets. If he never folds to your 3bets make them 3x or more, and make them with good hands only. Generally follow through with a bet on the flop if you 3bet him.

If you choose to call his raise, your decision on the flop is usually going to be check/raise or check/fold. If he doesn't cbet much you should throw some donks on the flop.

I really don't like the check/call line on the flop. All you are doing is making the pot bigger without giving yourself any fold equity. Even if your opponent is prone to firing the turn unimproved you aren't getting much value out of the ch/call, c/r turn line. Much better is c/r flop, c/r turn against that type of villain.

The problem with the c/call flop, c/r turn line is that it really shows a lot of strength. I prefer to do the check raise on the flop a lot, which really gives you a lot of options on the turn when he calls your check raise.

You can check the turn to feign weakness, bet half pot, bet 3/4 pot. You wouldn't believe how many super aggro opponents fall for the c/r flop check turn line. It is astounding. I really recommend this line against aggros.

Against passives your number 1 option should be to bet all streets if you have a good hand.


situation 2:

He raised 3x on the button, and you 3bet. Usually 3x his raise.

if your opponent barely raises, well you better have a strong hand to 3bet him. Think gap concept here. If he barely raises, chances are that he has a strong enough hand to call your 3bet or even 4bet. You can't really use 3betting as a weapon against those types.

Now against the heavy raisers, lets get to 3betting. Even if they like to call your 3bets, a half to 3/4 bet on the flop is usually enough to take it down. I like to 3bet hands like QJ, KQ, AJ+, hands that have a higher chance of connecting in some way to the flop. And I am generally willing to get it in if I flop some OESD or flush draw with some overs. The pot is usually quite big after a 3bet and flop cbet. You shouldn't be giving up very often after that action. And one your opponents realize that you likely aren't going away, they will start giving you these large pots.

In general you will get more respect for your bets OOP. So use that to your advantage.


Situation 3:

opponent limps, and you raise, generally 4x, 4.5x, 5x. If your opponent usually raises it can be profitable to auto raise and follow through on the flop. Be careful against sick good HU players though. When you are playing a good player think about checking in this situation more often than against fish. Good players are capable of mixing in a limp with a good hand, expecially if they have been raising alot.

This play is very effective against fish who are simply playing their hand according to it's strength. As with the 3bet, since you took the lead pf you should cbet almost everytime. 100% is pretty close to correct IMO. I like to make this play with hands that have a good chance of hitting the flop, and all my strong hands, simply to increase the pot size. But with my showdown value hands I prefer a check, then donk most flops line. That would be hands like A7, K8.

Situation 4:

opponent limps and you check. In this case I like to donk a lot of flops, usually a 2/3 pot bet. Of course this is against opponents who can fold. If they can't fold, take them to value town when you have it, and check/fold when you don't.

If they like to donk the flop alot too you can switch to the c/r. this will usually cause them to start checking the flop more when you check, which is good for you. If they always bet when you check, then always c/r. And do a few c/r bluffs also. Even if your c/r bluff doesnt work as often as a donkbet bluff, it will be more profitable when it does.


Ok now that I have gone over all of that, I feel that it is important to remind you all at the end that you should be playing tight OOP. Hopefully most of you use the tools I outlined in this post. But remember that all the tools in the world can only get you so far when you start out with the disadvantage of bad position. Fold your marginal hands, and play your decent hands optimally.

[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] you guys
[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] the HU forum

- dboy23 (LOLBillFrist)

[DeathbySuckout]

Great post. Thank you.

I am playing OOP way to passive. I think this will help a lot.

[Perseus]

Awesome post!

I am fairly new to HU play, but there was something I was wondering today: What are the winrates of others from the BB? Just curious if anyone would like to share.

[Svarog]

Great topic choice, great post.

There is another possible scenario. Let's take the following villain type:

-generally passive, always limps the button
-will usually call your large (4-5xbb) OOP raise
-will continue calling on the flop and beyond if they catch any piece or draw

Let's say you get AKs OOP and make the standard 4-5xbb raise after the button limps. The flop is dry, you bet anyway, and get called. Assuming you don't connect, how many more barrels do you fire? Or do you take a different line from the beginning?

[dboy23]

[ QUOTE ]
Great topic choice, great post.

There is another possible scenario. Let's take the following villain type:

-generally passive, always limps the button
-will usually call your large (4-5xbb) OOP raise
-will continue calling on the flop and beyond if they catch any piece or draw

Let's say you get AKs OOP and make the standard 4-5xbb raise after the button limps. The flop is dry, you bet anyway, and get called. Assuming you don't connect, how many more barrels do you fire? Or do you take a different line from the beginning?

[/ QUOTE ]

usually firing a second barrel. And AK is an always raise for me.

[Leader]

Thanks for your contribution to the forum. I threw a link to this post in the sticky.

[dboy23]

[ QUOTE ]
Thanks for your contribution to the forum. I threw a link to this post in the sticky.

[/ QUOTE ]

[img]/images/graemlins/blush.gif[/img] ty leader.

[dboy23]

I'd like to throw a shout out to hokie for telling me to write about OOPery.

[ChicagoRy]

Great post Dboy, I'll add it to my NL sticky.

New date for Limit and NL sticky posts are the end of the month.

[HokieGreg]

good stuff