Leave Room For A Move

PezRez on 7th February 2011

PokerStars Game $36+$3 USD Hold'em No Limit - Level VI (100/200)
Seat 5: Villain (4780 in chips)
Seat 6: Hero (4220 in chips)
Villain: posts small blind 100
Hero: posts big blind 200
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to Hero [Ad Ah]
Villain: raises 200 to 400
Hero: calls 200
*** FLOP *** [6s 7c Kc]
Hero: bets 400
Villain: calls 400
*** TURN *** [6s 7c Kc] [7s]
Hero: bets 800
Villain: calls 800
*** RIVER *** [6s 7c Kc 7s] [4s]
Hero: bets 1000
Villain: raises 2180 to 3180 and is all-in
Hero: calls 1620 and is all-in
Uncalled bet (560) returned to Villain
*** SHOW DOWN ***
Villain: shows [9d Jc] (a pair of Sevens)
Hero: shows [Ad Ah] (two pair, Aces and Sevens)
Hero collected 8440 from pot
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 8440 | Rake 0
Board [6s 7c Kc 7s 4s]
Seat 5: Villain (button) (small blind) showed [9d Jc] and lost with a pair of Sevens
Seat 6: Hero (big blind) showed [Ad Ah] and won (8440) with two pair, Aces and Sevens

I’m heads-up with an aggressive regular and we’ve been at it for a while now. He has been frequently minraising from the button, which I have been countering by calling and three-betting. However the stacks have mostly been too big to repush, so I have been sparing with my three-bets and have mostly been taking advantage of my good pot odds and his wide range to call. With Aces, I decide not to reraise and to just call, as I have been doing frequently. I may be missing out on some value if he has a hand he will call with preflop but probably not postflop (for example 66), but as I have not been three-betting very often I feel he will fold a lot if I do so.

I have been betting out a lot in this heads-up, which is something I have to do with both my good and my bad hands fairly regularly if I call a lot out of position. Since he has seen me do it a couple of times with bluffs and hands like middle pair, I figure I may induce a move, and certainly my hand is going to be well disguised. So I lead out for 400, like I have been.

His call means he might have a made hand, or he may be floating. I could consider checking the turn to let him go through with his float, but once I raise in that spot he’ll know I have a big hand and will fold most of his hands. If I follow through, he may still make a move, and will probably call with any pair and some Ace-high hands too, so that’s my move. He calls again.

At this stage, he probably does have a hand. However, he will probably fold his Ace-high hands, pairs of sixes and a lot of pocket pairs if I move in, although he’ll likely call if I make a smaller bet. Most importantly though, I want to leave him room to make a move. My bet looks consistent with a last desperate stab, possibly with a hand like 89, so if he’s feeling optimistic he may make his own last desperate move with his own missed draw, or very persistent float hand. Consequently I lead out for a weak-looking 1000, and he ships. I snap it, and he shows me J9! No draw, no hand; he just really didn’t believe me and decided to gamble his tournament on that fact. Just shows sometimes it pays to leave them room for a move.

PezRez