Overplaying Your Hand Heads-Up Against An Aggressive Opponent

PezRez on 29th August 2010

Sometimes heads-up you need to change your line dramatically in order to react to the dynamic of the heads-up. In this hand I flop middle pair, bad kicker on a classic bluffing flop against an aggressive opponent heads-up.

PokerStars Game, $70+$6 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level V (75/150)
Seat 1: Hero (2890 in chips)
Seat 5: Villain (6110 in chips)
Villain: posts small blind 75
Hero: posts big blind 150
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [8c 6c]
Villain: calls 75
Hero: checks
*** FLOP *** [As 8d 3c]
Hero: bets 150
Villain: raises 300 to 450
Hero: raises 450 to 900
Villain: raises 5060 to 5960 and is all-in
Hero: calls 1840 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (3220) returned to Villain
*** TURN *** [As 8d 3c] [2s]
*** RIVER *** [As 8d 3c 2s] [2d]
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Hero: shows [8c 6c] (two pair, Eights and Deuces)
Villain: shows [9h Qd] (a pair of Deuces)
Hero collected 5780 from pot

This has been a long heads-up, and I have frustrated my aggressive opponent by frequently check-raising him. Lately I have bet out more frequently to avoid this line, which I suspect he is anxious to play back at.

A83 rainbow is one of those flops that everyone knows no-one has hit hard 95% of the time – especially in an unraised heads-up pot. Checkraising with my middle pair would seem a good idea – but he has lately been checking back a lot of hands to avoid my checkraise. Although my hand strongly rates to be best, I don’t want to give him a free card as there are many overcards that could hit him. I decide to bet out, fully expecting my opponent may want to make a play at this flop.

When he raises, I cannot credit him for a hand. True, he may have limped with a raggy Ace – and if that’s the case, he’s got me. I cannot fold this hand, but again I cannot afford to give him a free card. It looks like I need to raise.
Many players might lose confidence given the weakness of their hand, in an absolute sense (one pair of eights with a six kicker)and decide to shove to avoid a headache. However if you think about how he will respond when you do this rather than make a smaller raise, it is clearly wrong. If he was bluffing, he will have no choice but to fold. In this case, the value of having a pair of eights is wasted. If he has me beaten, I will be called and will lose.

I make the smaller raise to 900, however. I don’t give him odds to hit an overcard on the turn, and I will still lose my stack when he has me beaten when he repushes and I call. However if he was bluffing, which will often be the case, he will often see this tiny three-bet as a counterbluff to his raise (which it usually is). Few aggressive players, especially not those with a touch of ego about them, will be happy to fold if they strongly suspect they are being bluffed. And if they have the opportunity to pull a TOTALLY SICK FOUR-BET BLUFF based on their AWESOME READ, few will shy away.

My opponent stacks, I call and dodge the 25% likelihood of a Q or 9 to take a dominant lead in the heads-up.

PezRez