A heads up session Broadway Casino 5/10

[LA_Price]

Opponent here is Kevin Zirandi for any who have played with him before. He's a good omaha player at a full table but slightly nittish so i think I have an edge here.

We both started with a thousand pounds. We played back forth both winning small and medium sized pots here and there until this hand came up. we were playing with sb on the button as well.

Effective stacks 1000 each
I'm in the sb and limp with
Q [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]5 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img] Kevin checks
Flop comes
K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]J [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]7[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] Keven bets the pot of 20 and I raise to 60 and he calls.
Turn is the 7 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
he checks and I bet 60 he check raises to 160 and I call
river is the 4 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
He bets 300 and think for about a minute and pass


For this hand I have about 750 and has me covered. He raises to 60 and i call with A [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] J [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 5 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]

Flop is K [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] Q [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] 8 [img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img]
I check he bets 120 and I check raise to 360
he sets me all-in and i call


Next hand effective stacks 1000
He raises and call in the BB again K [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]T [img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img]8 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]9 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
Flop comes K [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] 6 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img] 2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]
I lead for the pot and he calls
turn brings the 5 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]
I lead for the pot he sets in for 600 more and there's already 720 in the pot I look at him for a while decide he doesn't have a set or straight and decide to call.

Comments on any of the hands appreciated

[BluffTHIS!]

Hand #1: he likes the 7 too and more than you most likely with J7. If you think all he has is A7, then reraise. Otherwise fold to the turn checkraise. From his tight description, he doesn't seem to only have A7 here.

Hand #2: weak draws are weak draws even headsup, so fold. If you had top pair plus the draw it would be different headsup.

Hand #3: check the turn so you don't get run a good draw by getting raised.


My comments are tailored to the fact that you describe him as "slightly nittish". This makes it less likely he is adjusting properly to headsup play and in fact playing too tight. So when he does raise, such a raise has to be given normal credit, unless in fact you have started to see him make semi-bluff raises on the turn.

[RoundTower]

I've played a lot heads up recently, so I'd love to see more discussions of hands like these.

Hand 1 I fold. If the raise to 160 was all in I might call. But as it is I'm scared not only of drawing dead but of being outplayed on the river and having to make a tough decision with say a straight.

Hand 2 I don't understand the preflop action, how does he raise to 60 when you are the big blind? All I can see is that he raised and you reraised, or he completed, you raised and he reraised. Or you were playing 10-20 this hand. If so I play this hand exactly the same, I definitely amn't going away getting almost 4-1 with any nut wrap on the flop.

Third hand you need to fix your hand or the board, but you probably have a king high flush draw, top pair and a gutshot. If I am getting the pot size right and you are getting just over 2-1 I fold every time without the read. Even with your read I think I fold, if he doesn't have a set or straight it is likely he holds something like AK with the nut flush draw.

[LA_Price]

sorry about the third hand. flop was k [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img]6 [img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img]2 [img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].

When i said he was slightly nittish i meant that he will bluff and semi-bluff but i didn't think he would do it enough to adjust to my own betting, raising and calling frequencies. Also after about 20 minutes I was up a couple of hundred and i noticed him counting his stack after virtually every pot. He seemed more concerned with his results than how he or i was playing.

[BluffTHIS!]

LA, the last sentence in your last post is something to be concerned about headsup IMO. Most weak-tights loathe shorthanded, let alone headsup, poker. He might have just been looking to take a big pot off of you and then quit you, perhaps to get even for the day. So although I would usually be happy to grind down such a WT player through more aggressive stealing of blinds and small pots, I would maybe just quit this guy, unless he is known to steam if stuck and would keep rebuying.

Your goal with this kind of guy is like I said to raise a lot preflop and steal on the flop when you both mostly miss, and to avoid a big pot with him unless you have the goods. And if he was adjusting properly to your play, then he might not really be a WT after all, especially considering he is willing to play HU. The appropriate counter-strategy would be to check more flops but call with weak draws intending to steal when an opposite one got there, and to checkraise with good made hands and big draws to take the play away from him when you bet flop, bet turn, and now he raises.

[Tilt]

My thoughts:

Hand #1, I think you should fold to that turn checkraise. Raising is better than calling.

Hand #2: I think you should lead out with this hand rather than c/r. I think you might tie him too tightly to a pair + draw combo by a c/r. Fold equity is maximized by leading I believe.

Hand #3: I like the line you took. I would not check the turn as suggested by Bluff.

[LA_Price]

Bluffthis,

My plan was to steal lots of pots from him and I was simply passing whenever he showed interest in the pot unless my hand was pretty strong. The couple hands here were one's where i made a play and my stack size sort of committed me. I sort of like checking in hand 3 and check raising or check calling depending on his bet size. The call is probably breakeven at best a marinal loser at worst.

I don't think any of these hands are played that well or absolutely horribly. It's like doyle said as long as you have a decent amount of outs you're can't be horribly wrong.

Another reason I decided to gamble with him because i had heard a rumor he had recently dropped 400k in the big game at the Western club in london so I thought he might be off his game a bit. I had also played a fair number of hours with him in the broadway game.

[BluffTHIS!]

Well then he does seem prone to steam so is someone you want to play with HU. If then you thought he wouldn't just quit or play squeeky tight if you doubled him, I would then play big draws extremely strong and hope to crack a set, as that might get him on tilt.

It is important too to remember that position is still position, even headsup, and to play appropriately for your position as you would in a full game. This means letting go of more marginal hands and draws OOP when you meet resistance, because he can take the steal play away from you by bluff raising a scare card you bet, assuming he is capable of this.