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Server Time: 12/2/2008 6:44:06 PM PACIFIC |
 Being robbed heads up! (kind of long), Chris James, 30. Apr 2003 14:50 | ||
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| Somebody call the cops, I am being robbed at every home game! Background: The game I play in is a No-Limit Hold-em winner-take-all home game with ten players. 7 opponents are passive and loose (rather weak). 2 opponents are aggressive and semi-tight (very good players). I am aggressive and play loose pre-flop (I like to see a lot of flops because trapping is easy in this game) and semi-tight post-flop. In the game we play we double the blinds every half an hour. Towards the end of the game, most of the time the final two players are myself and one of the very good aggressive players. At this point there is usually about $400 on the table and the blinds are usually at $8/$16 or $16/$32 The situation: The aggressive player really turns it on pre-flop. If they are first to act they usually double or triple the blind. If I am first to act and just call the blind, they usually raise. It is obvious that they are trying to bully me and steal the blinds. I would like to wait for decent starting hands before I make a move, but when the blinds are $16/32 and doubling in a $400 game I realize that this is not practical. Since the blinds are too expensive to constantly fold, I usually wait for any pair or Ax suited and make a big move (sometimes all-in.) This practice seems to hurt me more often than help me. Is there any other way I handle this situation and keep this "criminal" from constantly stealing the blinds? -Thanks | ||
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| Re: Being robbed heads up! (kind of long), 4 POKER, 30. Apr 2003 18:43 | ||
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| Because these two very aggressive and solid players are constantly raising your blinds, KNOWING that you won't be calling unless you have a big hand, may I suggest that you bluff more pre-flop. They will put you on a superior holding and will not defend there hand unless it's strong; and most hands that we are dealt are NOT strong. This will also prevent them from bullying you around. You must make a stand sometimes, and when a NL tourney gets shorthanded, you can't just sit there and wait for the nuts...you have to be able to make moves or you will simply be blinded out. There are two things that I think you should think about. 1. Get yourself a really good book on NL and tournament play for Texas hold-em. (Scott McEvoy has one and there are others as well). 2. You said that these two players are real solid and aggressive?... Make sure that you are not out-classed in this home game, I'm not really sure on all the facts as to who these people really are, friends, or acquaintances, and I hate to say this but I will, and please don't get offended... When I read the title of your post, "Being robbed", the first thing that came in to my mind was, maybe this guy really is being robbed. There are cheaters out there, and I'm sure that this is not the case, BUT, keep a better eye on the game; just observe it with an open mind. Don't let that observing cost you a friend, just observe it, that is all. Better luck to you. 4 POKER | ||
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| Re: Being robbed heads up! (kind of long), Andrew Wells, 30. Apr 2003 20:56 | ||
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| You probably just have to rethink what is a decent starting hand heads-up. Your opponent is playing correctly to raise you when he knows you will release 75% of the time. You need to call more often with the small blind / button, and make a modest reraise about 1/4 of the time. No-limit hands like K8 or Q9 are quite playable heads-up. You simply can't just wait for a pair or an ace. When you reraise, it doesn't have to be large. Sometimes just reraise the same amount as their raise was. When you are the large blind you need to be making many more semibluff bets around 1/2 the size of the pot. Bottom pair with an overcard, a gut shot, and any good draw are all reasonable. In short, I think you have become too easy to read when you do have strength. Take more shots at them, it is obvious that otherwise you're just going last longer while you get ground down. | ||
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| Re: Being robbed heads up! (kind of long), NiceFella, 30. Apr 2003 23:19 | ||
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| There is an excellent introduction to heads-up play and blind stealing in Sklansky's Advanced Holdem book. It explains the pot odds of this situation, and why it pays to steal-raise so often. It also explains why you need to defend your blind with almost anything decent, and reraise with anything good. Realize that heads-up, if your hand figures to be better than two random cards, that already makes you a favorite to win the pot. I recommend playing a lot of single-table tournaments online. Even low buy-in $5 or $10 tournaments will get you a lot of quick experience at aggressive, short-handed play when they get down to the last three or four players. Some of these tournaments are easy to beat just by raising nearly every hand once the blinds get extremely high. Many players just don't understand how to deal with very short-handed or heads-up play. These online tournaments, even though they're very low buyin, have made me a much better tournament player by giving me a lot of basic experience on the cheap. After hours and hours of tedious, patient, tight play, I love coming to the final table and turning on the juice. Heads-up play can be fantastically fun and a real power rush. Good luck! NiceFella | ||
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| Re: Being robbed heads up! (kind of long), stdioh, 1. May 2003 08:43 | ||
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| First of all, heads up you should be playing agressively, bluffing a lot, and be willing to throw your weight around. There should be very few hands that you limp with preflop - raise or fold most hands. Generally, and it depends greatly on the style of my opponent, in a nolimit tourney heads up at the end I will raise big (3X BB) with: AXo, AXs, suited connectors (more deception value than you would think), KXs, Q(X>=8)s, two cards over 10, and pocket pairs 88 or less I will raise minimum with all pocket pairs 99 or higher or with anything that would be a raising hand in a 10 man ring game in late position...AJo or better, KQ. I will also raise minimum with marginal stuff like medium-large suited one-gappers (T8s), KXo, Q(X<=7)s, QX. Sometimes I will limp with the marginal stuff and with the really premium stuff. I fold everything else. Then take the above actions and about 10% of the time I will colour outside those lines and do something oddball. Now these are really sketchy guidelines - it is very tough to play heads up as it is all about feeling. These are hands that I will play against and opponent who is decidedly bad at heads up...if I'm playing somebody competent things chance a lot. Still, limp with maybe 10% or less of the hands that you see a flop with. | ||
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| Re: Being robbed heads up! (kind of long), Andrew Wells, 1. May 2003 16:51 | ||
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| Well whatever works for you okay. Me, I prefer to just call a lot more heads-up no-limit, and make the plays on the flop. Still, I probably raise before the flop about 25% of the time anyway. | ||
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