High On Poker

I have decided to try something different today. Last night, when I was waiting for wifey Kim to get off the phone, I decided to play a heads-up SNG. Since my bankroll got a recent boost, I tried a $50 PLO8 HU SNG, a bit higher than I usually play. The game lasted longer than anticipated, but in the end, I came out victorious. It’s now several hours and 7 hours of sleep later, so I am going to review the hand history to see if there is anything worth learning. Come join me!

In the first hand, I was dealt a mediocre holding, but blinds were 5/10 with stacks of 1500, so there was lots of room to play. I decided that since I was in position, I’d min-raise to 20. This was part psychological ploy, since I wanted to start off aggressive with a win, and a strategic play. I was in position, and I wanted to build more pots in position than out of position. I ended up taking down the pot on a c-bet on the flop.

The next hand, I raised preflop out of position to 30 total. I actually had a decent hand for a heads-up PLO8 game, A3J8, double suited, but it didn’t pan out. I ended up calling a flop and turn bet and folding on the river when my hand failed to develop into anything call-worthy.

By hand 3, my opponent, Piranha, already had me at a disadvantage. He had 1630 and I had 1370. That’s not a huge gap, but its still significant because if we get all-in, I’m the one who can be busted. I am always very conscious of that threat.

Because of this, I slowed down on the next hand and won the blinds when I bet pot (20) on the river.  I took down the next hand with a preflop raise  followed by a modest turn bet. Two in a row, this early, can be a momentum changer. I made it 3 in a row with another small win and then split a pot when I called down Piranha’s river bet. I got the sense that he was tired of letting me win. I had a decent low, so I didn’t want to give him a chance to turn things back in his favor.

By this point in the tournament, things shifted. I always emphasize the ebb and flow nature of heads-up matches. If you pay attention, you can pick up on where a game is naturally going and hopefully exploit the situation. For instance, if your opponent feels emboldened and keeps betting, you know that it is time to start laying traps. Sometimes, you induce this situation by going into fold mode, where you fold many hands in a row. On other occasions, things may be flowing your way and you can raise with garbage because you know your opponent is mentally in fold mode.

This was an area of calm water. I think we both realized that this was going to be a back-and-forth match, and through hand 14, we were treading water by playing small pots. I had narrowed the gap considerably 20 at a time, so that we were at 1540/1460 (Piranha in the lead) when we reached Hand 14.

On hand 14, Piranha raised in position to 30. We were still on 5/10, and it became apparent that this was going to be a long tournament, since blinds went up every 10 minutes. I held A367 rainbow, and decided to call.

The flop was 963 with two diamonds. That gave me bottom two pair and a draw to a fairly weak but not terrible low. I checked and Piranha bet 50 into the 60 pot. I called, thinking that it was likely he was playing a high pocket pair like AA or KK or a low draw like A2 based on his preflop action.

The turn was another 6d, giving me a full house and filling up a flush draw. I checked again and Piranha bet out 110. I decided just to call, with the hope that he would assume his flush was good and bet out one more time before I check-raised him. Remember, for the last 10 hands, we had been playing tiny pots, so I was under the impression that this sudden burst of action likely was not just a stone cold bluff and I wanted to maximize value as much as possible.

With that strategy in mind, I checked the river, only to be met by another check. As it turned out, my opponent had A974 with two clubs. The river didn’t help him with a low, so he had essentially crap. I took down the pot and with it the lead. I also mentally kicked myself for not raising the turn or betting the river, but it probably would not have made a difference. With his crap cards, I doubt he would’ve called a raise or river bet.

For the first time since the first hand, I had retaken the lead, 1650 to 1350. More importantly, momentum was on my side.

I checked a preflop raise on the next hand with mediocre holdings, expecting that my opponent was trying to win back his loss as quickly as possible. I took the pot from him when he went passive post-flop, allowing me to bet pretty light on the turn. We then chopped a pot that was pretty nicely built up after I turned a flush and my opponent turned a straight and an emergency low.

Once again, the excitement was followed by a lull, as we both checked down the next two hands. Piranha then took a pot off of me with a raise on the flop in a hand where I was playing a pocket over-pair (something I would only do with any level of confidence in a HU PLO8 game). I was happy to fold, since neither of us were really raising. I decided to also start raising more to also get the benefit of our raise-free history. I would not have a chance to do so, though, for a while.

In the next hand, I finally get a premium start, with AAK2, and win a few bucks with a preflop raise and c-bet. That was followed by about 8 or 9 small pots. For the majority of that time, I was raising preflop and receiving folds. So, I loosened my requirements and was able to retain my lead at 1670/1330, which had dipped a bit after my fold to Piranha’s raise.

For the next ten or so hands, Piranha and I alternated taking down small pots. I was able to mostly maintain my lead at 1600/1400 when we finally tangled in a significant pot.

It was hand #40 and we were still at 10/20,  so it was clearly going to be a long game. I held AJT5, with the J5h, not a bad holding heads up because of the Ace, low draw, and three high cards. Piranha decided to min raise to 40, so I opted just to call because I was out of position.

The flop was A24, with two hearts. Not too shabby, but not ideal. I was still only drawing to a low, albeit a decent one; my opponent, meanwhile, probably already made a low. I was also drawing to a Ace-Jack flush. That’s not too bad either, particularly heads up. Meanwhile, I had top pair, a decent kicker, and even a 3 would give me a strong high hand.

Rather than push the action, I opted to check. Piranha bet 60 into the 80 pot and I called. The turn was a 6d. I had made a decent low (only 35 beat me, but a lot of card combinations tied me), but I still had a pretty weak high hand. The 6 also put up a diamond draw on the board.

The river was a 7d. My opponent bet 120 and I decided to call, hoping that my low was good. It was not. My opponent held AKQ3. The river 7 counterfeited my low and my high was beat by his kicker. Momentum shifted with the 440 pot. I now had 1380 to his 1620.

I began to attack the blinds again, eventually closing the gap to 1440/1560 before the next significant hand, hand #46. I held AJ66, with A6h, in the big blind. Piranha min raised to 40 and I called out of position.

The flop was AA3 with two diamonds. That wasn’t too shabby, but then again, A3 was definitely within my opponent’s range, as was AK or AQ. I decided to test the waters with a bet of 40. Piranha raised to 160 (120 more) and I hesitated before calling. I was not sure at the time whether my small bet had induced a raise and I was tired of folding to his (relatively rare) raises). The turn was a 5s. I checked. Piranha bet 220. I called. This was a mistake. I didn’t have a low yet and my high was far from a lock. The turn was a 2s. I checked. Piranha bet 840. This was one of the larger bets over the first 50 hands and I took my time. Perhaps in a lesser game, I make the knee-jerk call and hope for half the pot, but this time, I opted for a fold. I knew that if I called 840 and lost the entire pot, the game was over, and I wanted to find a better spot.

By now, we are at hand 47 and I’m in trouble with 1020 to my opponent’s 1980. It’s the biggest lead he has had so far. It’s the biggest lead either of us had up until that point. I took another hit in the very next hand, dropping to 880.

Through hand 55, we traded smaller pots, until I was down 920 to 2080.  Through hand 69, I increased my aggression, hoping to grind out enough small pots to put me back in a more secure position. I was generally successful, even though I was playing with crap cards; the gap closed to 1280/1720 before Piranha was able to win a small but significant pot from me to put me back down to the 900-1000 range. I hovered there for a while until hand #82 (1040/1960).

In hand 82, I was dealt KJ64 with two diamonds (J4) and two spades (K6). I was out of position in the big blind. We were still only at 15/30. Piranha min raised preflop to 60. I called.

The flop came down AK3, with two heatrs (A3). I checked the flop and Piranha bet 90. I made a fairly loose call. The turn was a 6. He checked and I checked my two-pair. The river was a Queen and we both checked again. I scooped as Piranha showed down with A44T, with no hearts. It was a minor pot, but it still put me in better chip position, 1190/1810. I also had a lot more information about Piranha willingness to bet out when weak. Keep in mind, we were 82 hands into the game, but there was a lot of folding.

Blinds went up the very next hand top 25/50. I was glad since I tend to excel as blinds raise. That should not be much of a surprise, since the decisions become less as your stack size dwindles, compared to the blinds. I was still far out from push-or-fold mode, but we were finally getting to a stage where stealing pots actually meant something.

Rising my momentum and utilizing position, I raised to 150 (3x the BB) preflop with 7732, with 73 of hearts. Piranha called. The flop was J22, rainbow. I hit trips, but my kickers were crap. I bet out 250 anyway. Unless he had JJ or the case 2, I was ahead for the time being. He had neither and folded. I was up to 1340/1660. Position helped big time in this hand.

I kept the heat on, betting out on the next flop for another small pot. I had tons of draws, but was happy that I did not need to hit any. I wanted momentum to stay on my side.

In the next hand, I was in position again, so I played the rush by raising to 150 again with Q632, rainbow. I took down the pot uncontested.

Now at 1440/1560,  I raised to 150 out of position preflop after Piranha just flat called the BB. I had 2456, rainbow, which was good for low draws, but not a super hand. I wanted, once again, to simply win the pot, but I got a call and we saw a flop of QQ5, rainbow. I checked and my opponent bet out 150. I considered my options and chose a call, since I was somewhat leary of the possibility that my opponent was making a play at the pot in position. I flat called the 150. The turn was a 7c, creating two clubs on the board. It also gave me an open-ended straight draw, along with some low draws. Piranha bet 200 into the 600 pot, and I felt pot committed enough to call the small sum, even if it meant I may’ve been playing for half the pot (not a certainty, but a possibility). The river was an Ace, giving me the second nut low and nothing but a pair of 5s (to go with the board’s pair of Qs) for the high. This time, I bet out 200 as a blocking bet and Piranha called. I knew if I checked, there was an opportunity for Piranha to push me out of the pot. As it turned out, that was the only scenario I had to fear. He showed JT83 for god knows what. Even now I am baffled. But the important thing was that patience had paid off and I had swung from down a few tournament bucks to a 1940/1060 lead.

I won the blinds in the next hand when I raised preflop with AQ23. I won the pot after that after calling a preflop min raise and then betting the 843 flop. I had an A6 low and a pair of 3s, but nothing else. I won the next two hands with small flop bets. In other words, if you are paying attention, after that devastating hand for my opponent, he let me run over him for several hands.

Finally, we arrive to hand #91. Blinds are still 25/50. I lead with 2190 to 810. I am dealt J763, rainbow. It’s hardly a great hand. Piranha raises to 150 and while I have no cards, I am in position and on a rush, so I opt to call. We see the flop of 789, rainbow. I’ve flopped bottom pair, an open-ended straight draw, and a weak 8763 low draw. Piranha bet 200 into the 300 pot. I opt to call. Admittedly, it’s a weak call, but weak calls are fairly common in HU PLO8. It doesn’t hurt that my opponent has so few chips or that I have already came back from behind twice and I have no chance of busting in this hand. The turn was a useless Queen. Piranha bet all-in for 460, and now that the pot is 700, I decide to call, hoping that I can river the straight (or even trips or two-pair to win) and/or get lucky by hitting a low against a player who has no low draw. My opponent shows AK74! He is ahead of me, for sure, but not by much. His pair of 7s with a better kicker is ahead, and he has a superior low draw. So, to win, I need to hit a Jack or Ten (7 outs), to chop, I need a Five, Three, or Six (to win the high, but lose the low) or an Ace or Four (to win the low, but lose the high), a total of 17 outs for a chop. I have over half the deck covered to at least break even.

The river was a Jack. I won with 2-pair and my opponent goes home with his pockets empty.

If I learned anything about reviewing these hands, it’s that patience is vitally important in HU PLO8. With the likelihood of chops, some people tend to get the other impression; play looser. I think there are definitely times to loosen up, but you have to pay close attention to stack sized before you commit to a gamble. More often than not, it’s better to keep pots small until you have a better understanding of your opponent’s range as well as the momentum of the game.

Momentum is a central theme of this blog. Winning begets winning and Losing begets losing are two of my favorite phrases about poker. The ebb and flow of heads up poker is a very real and tangible thing. I couldn’t get my opponent to get all-in with mediocre holdings at times during the tournament, whereas other times, it seemed he couldn’t wait to get his money in the middle.

Final thought: Not much. The truth is, looking back, I don’t see much skill in my play. I didn’t necessarily just “get lucky” either, but other than keeping tight until the moment was right, I don’t see much in the way of strategy.

For what its worth, at the time, though, I remember feeling very dialed in to the game and my opponent.

Of course, after winning the $50, I lost about $50 playing other SNGs. The next day, I won an 18-person PLO8 SNG for $108 and then lost about $40 playing other SNGs.

I have decided to go back to PLO8 SNGs to grind my bankroll northward. There isn’t as much value in NLHE anymore.

Until next time, make mine poker!