$1/$2 limit hold'em

shorthanded table just cleaned up, 2 of us left

Hero on button with A3s, raise $2
villain reraises $3, hero calls $3

flop: 4 7 J rainbow
villain bets, hero calls

turn: 7
villain bets, hero calls

river: 8, no flush possibility
villain bets, hero???

What does a solid player 3 bet with? heads up and out of position, and keep on firing till the end?
Do you call with Ace high here, or give him credit for a pocketpair?
3 betting with an unpaired jack OOP seems unlikely...

Fold the freakin' turn. If it were AK or AQ, you might call down if you have a read on your opponent...but this is spewage. You really put him on KQ? Cause that's the only hand that he's likely to 3-bet that you're still beating.

Yeah, I figure thats where I should have given up, but I don't usually play limit heads up and I figured Ace high is usually good heads up. Which it probably is but just not in this case.

Anyway, I thought I had the best hand and thought that he might be trying to bully me. Seen him play this way when he missed but still tryed to make a move with a steal bet. So I called the river bet too...

I raise the turn here, fold to a 3 bet, check the river.

You called him solid though...most solid low-limit players aren't pulling this with worse than A3. If he's a maniac...that's quite different.

The chance that A high is the best hand as well as the chance that the villian might fold a small pair here make raising the turn a decent play.

You don't need the best hand to win a pot heads up, And even if he has something like 55 or 66 here, a J or A on the river gives us the best hand.

You don't need much to 3 bet preflop heads up on the button.

Fold the turn or..
Option #2 is

Sorry, don't mean to confuse you but I guess you could say he was a solid player who when he sensed weakness, would attack without mercy. good player, who would also abuse his table image to steal pots. In this current hand thats what was going through my head, that he was trying to take advantage of me.

didn't try to get into too that much detail though...



Great point. But also note that I am on the button.

I like raising on the turn here..

Based on villain's play, I really don't think we're going to get him to fold...which means we're drawing to 5 outs on the river. I realize that image is involved here, but honestly, I think we can wait for a better spot.

MEH i posted this thinking this was 6 max, not a HU pot...so keep that in mind. haha.

i havn't read any of the prior posts, but i fold this on THE FLOP against a solid opponent.

dont care about the turn, or river. with no DRAW and 3 Overcards WHICH may not even be good this is an easy FLOP fold short handed.

dont give him more money to his a) small pair bigger ace.

SOLID opponent is key word. go with your reads. don't chase nothing.

- Jordan

raising the turn here is so pointless.

- Jordan

Yes as far as getting better hands to fold, getting value when we are against KQ, QJ, KJ, and other BS hands, as well as getting an extra bet if we are called and hit on the river.

Just keep folding preflop till you get AA.

It's heads up man, you've got time.

Woah woah, chill on attacking my play.

I'm going strictly based on the post of opponent.

First off, KJ is there, so if we put him on that "range" it's a stupid raise. Second, KQ is the only likely hand here we have beat. Nothing else.

third, again solid opponent. Solid opponents usually fast play there hands. If we raise the turn, for what reason? We have small fold equity as at low limit less and less ppl fold on the turn, and we have no draw to back us up. At all.

You advocated folding to a 3 bet, duh, but checking the river. That's fine, if we really think A3 is the best hand, but I'd say about 8/10 that is not the case and we are facing a bigger ace or pair, against said opponent. If we think A high is the best hand, simply call down and freaking get an extra bet on the river when he has nothing and keeps leading into you. If we raise and he 3 bets, we dont' get a chance to see a showdown.

Extra bet if we hit our 3 outer that may not even be good? That's silly man. This is an easy fold on the flop unless you really want to get fancy and try to outplay someone when you don't need to. Or, call down and see if A3 is the best hand. I do this against maniacs, but not solid players playing outta position on ME. There is no need, better spots.

before you go attacking my preflop and post flop standards you can read my blog.

BIG TIME EDIT:::: I didn't realize this was strictly a HU Pot, I thought this was short handed not hu. With ace high I call down a lot, as this can likely be KQ, but often times in my HU experience solid opponents don't re/raise much HU unless they have AK AQ AJ AT KQ KJ.

I'm not talking tricky opponents, i'm talking solid opponents. Solid opponent I'm more liekly to fold on the turn here, not the flop. I did think this was short handed play and not HU, my bad there.

- Jordan

Yea, shorthanded against a solid opponent I'm most likely gone from this hand pretty early but heads up it doesn't matter if he's solid , tight, loose, aggressive, passive, or whatever, any ace is huge heads up and I think raising the turn here is best. Sure you can call down, but it sucks to lose to pocket 2s when you sure as hell know he's folding to a turn raise.

Nothings right or wrong, but I think raising the turn here is slightly better than calling down.

If he 3 bets the turn, it's safe to say that we are probably drawing close to dead if not completely dead and it's a risk I'm willing to take to get a shitty pair to fold.

Since I posted all the above thinking this was 5 max or 6 max I'll repost.

In this HU pot a lot comes into my read. If it's a solid opponent I obviously give more credit.

I like to get control on the flop and see where my hand stands while the bets are cheaper.

I raise the flop when he bets into me. If he 3 bets you it really sucks and I usually will peel one although I don't want to, and then fold the turn UI if he bets.

If he checks it's close between betting and calling. I really make these decisions while playing and can't just say...but I don't see anything wrong with raising the flop and then trying to get the the showdown quickly.

If he leads into me on the river after I check the turn it's again pretty close. A lot of the times I see this..

you raise him on the flop and he thinks you will bet the turn so he wants a check/raise. instead you check and he leads the river wanting to be paid off. It really comes down to a read...you can't be told what to do.

But in my experience, a solid opponent HU won't be re-raising you too often without having a pretty good hand. Tricky is a different story.

- Jordan

I like this play with a better ace, but just not A3. I really don't see us being ahead of any hand against a "solid" opponent but KQ.

- Jordan

Like Jordan has said, KJ and QJ got there on the flop. They're miles ahead at this point. Do you really want to draw to a 5-outer?

And, I was planning to post this before, but my power went out and Jordan beat me to it. If this were AK or AQ and we were playing against a LAG, I can see there being a much stronger argument for going to showdown. A3 just doesn't cut it enough here.

On pokerstove...we're 45% against a random hand. I repeat...even a completely random hand is likely to be ahead here. As for Mr. 3-bet, we're likely decimated. If I put him on a very wide range of any pair or two broadways (suited or not)...he's 75% on that flop and turn.

Your title says it all... what are you doing past the flop with A3 against a solid player? I mean, you didn't even take a stab at a bluff. The only chance you gave yourself to win was banking on A high and a kicker that didn't clear the board.

Raise the flop, fold to a 3-bet.

wow, this hand is getting a lot of debate as to what was the right play.

I like everyone's reasoning but at some point in the hand, If I was going to play my ace no kicker to the river like I did, I think I should have raised for information and see where I was at. calling it down was obviously the wrong play. If I am reraised, I give it up, If he just calls, I feel I am in the lead and can take the pot with a bet on the turn or river.

results: I don't want you guys to think that I am bragging or that I made a great call and read on villains hand, I actually think I made the wrong play throughout the hand and should have lost it to teach me a lesson. He showed me a KQs :shock: for King high. I took it down, but still think I got lucky here. but at least I learned how not to play an Ax heads up.

Thx

S'all cool, Stylin'. Make a note of the guy.

I actually ended up pulling a similar line against a guy the other day that I knew was aggressive. It was a blind battle w/ me in the BB. He raised, I 3-bet my AQ. He capped. The flop, turn, and river were all low. I called him down and he showed AJ. I'm not sure it was a good play...but I now have some good info on his play in those situations.

it's usually alright hu cobalt..although sometimes you are looking at a pair or AK.

a lot just comes down to your reads HU.

- Jordan

So wait, if you raise the turn, he either folds his KQ or put more $ in when he is behind.

Weird......

I have no idea if I was behind or not, If I take the pot on the turn here, fine by me, I'll take what I can get.

If you think I should be value betting here...well how can I when he 3 bet preflop...