Heads up in a home game. Villain is a good player with a full table, but generally doesn't loosen up enough as the numbers dwindle. I've got about a 7,000 to 5,000 chip lead. Blinds are 75/150. I'm in the big blind.

Villain calls. I've got 7 7 . I raise to 600, he thinks about it and calls. Pot is 1200.

Flop is 9 9 7 . I bet 800, villain thinks about it and calls. Villain knows that I like the continuation bet, but also knows I will bet my strong hands. He won't raise me on the flop though if he puts me on the continuation bet as he likes to try to take it away from me on the turn. He does like to slow play big pairs too. (We've obviously played a lot together and know our play pretty well.) Pot is 2800.

Turn is A . If he has A9, that's trouble and it's a hand he could have the way he played it. But if he had a flush draw or an Ace, that's a great card. I figure that there are too many hands he could have that will pay me off to be afraid of one particular hand. If I check here, it's almost guaranteed he will bet, so a check-raise is definitely an option. However, a check-raise here would show a lot of strength and maybe some small Aces, JT , or even a 9 might not pay off the check-raise. I bet 1200. Villain calls again. I'm pretty sure he has something good now.

Pot is now 5200. Villain has about 2400 left. I have about 4400 left.

River is A . Now what?

Alright, here is the simple question. Why would you lead on the turn if you know that he is going to bet at it? If he throws 1200-1600 at it out of his 4k stack, CR him all in will either get him to fold and leave him with slightly over 2k in his stack, while you have around 10k, or he will be all in drawing slim. Your goal here is to get as many chips as possible into the pot...which would be the easiest way to do it. I would do that, or if I didn't, I would bet more on the turn-1200 into 2800 doesn't put him in a position where he will feel obligated to call off the rest of his 2400 chips. I would bet 1600 to leave him 2k behind, which go in regardless of the river.

I am going to take a stab in the dark here-you checked the river, he bet, you showed your 77 and folded, and he showed QQ JJ or 10-10?

You can't fold now. stick it in there and just hope you go out of every tournament you ever get knocked out of, you are beaten by a bigger full house. If you do, you'll be the greatest tournament player ever.

I didn't check-raise the turn because I probably over-thought the situation. I thought a check-raise here would get him to lay down some hands that would pay me off on the river and I didn't want that. I lead out with a smallish bet hoping he would interpret that as another continuation/steal bet and induce him to come over the top or call and then call all his chips off on the river. Did I over-think that?

That's not how the river betting went. Let's say for some odd reason you played the turn the way I did, would you check/fold the river? Check/call? Bet?

I would agree that in most situations, full house over full house is just something you'll have to live with. However, in this situation, any 9 or any Ace has me beat. What if this was just final table and not heads up and the stacks were large? You wouldn't always go broke there, right?

Once again-if you check and he bets, even if he lays, worst case is that he has 2k left in his stack, and you have 10k in yours.

Anywho, the goal now is to get your now vulnerable hand to a showdown as cheaply as possible. Check-folding is so ridiculously weak tight that I won't even consider it.

So now the question is whether to check call or to bet. A bet of 800 (followed by a crying call if he jams for 1600 more) would probably be the way I would go about it. It looks like you are trying to squeeze money out of a an ace, so you won't get a jam from a 9. I would say checking probably means that you don't squeeze another dime out of the hand if you are ahead, and you have to pay off 2400 if you are behind. A small blocker bet could easily be seen as a value bet and would maximize your profit while hopefully reducing the odds of seeing the person behind you jam for 1600 more.

I am still sticking with my earlier read of you checking and him jamming, and you folding and showing, and him showing one of the three pairs that you sucked out on.

Since you know each other so well, I think the key lies in the pre-flop play. You make a standard raise, he thinks, and then calls. What are the chances he has an A? Does he usually reraise with As? (tight HU players often do because its the only hand other than pairs they are confident in, especially since he has position).

Unless you have a strong read you'll have to pay off an A I think. You still have 2k in chips and can fight back if necessary.

Limp, reraise isn't a play he makes. This is because he likes to slow play big pairs, in which case he would limp, call and other hands like suited small Aces, medium to big Aces, or even suited connectors he doesn't want to commit more chips to the pot yet. So any Ace is a hand he could have here.

Bizzle, I agree that the check-raise on the turn was probably the best play. And I really didn't check/fold the river; it actually went down almost exactly as you said. I bet 1200 again, about half his remaing stack and he just called. He showed K 9 . He told me he thought I had A7 and was slow-playing me and absolutely hated the river when it fell.

A well played river. Kept your losses to a minimum.