Heads Up at the end of MTTs

Mr_Miyagi

Last night at around 4am I made it HU in a long mtt for the first time ever, and was abit like a fish out of water. I have played HU loads of times before, but they always start even stacked with low blinds and often no reads for either player.

Me and the opponent had both been the most dominant players on the final table and though he had 3 times my chips I still had 40 big blinds.

However this guy seemed in a rush to get to bed or go to work and was going all-in regularly while I was holding hands like A7, J5, 33, 78.

I played it patiently and never went 4,000 either way from the stack I had when we started HU, until I was given QQ and called his all-in which was his 3rd in the last 6 hands only for him to have KK and I was out in 2nd place.


So I wonder, did I play it well and just get unlucky that the one time had a hand worth calling with he was actually holding something. Should I have put more pressure on him going all in first with any Ace. And should I be calling his all-in with hands like A7 and 33.

It was pretty scary, I had no idea what range of hands I should be calling or raising with, the times where we saw flops I was taking more of my fair share but his moves and forcing me to lay my blinds was keeping the stacks the same.

Any help?

DeuceAK_47

Obviously the QQ hand was a cooler but i probably would not call a allin with A7 or 33 as although you might be ahead, your most likely not beating him by much.
With 40bb stacks i think you have time to wait for a big hand or at least two high cards say KTs but if you had around 8bb i would be more aggro and be more willing to take any small edge i could.

DOHHHHHHH

Sounds to me like u played the situation perfectly Mr Miyagi.



I mean u watch the guys who play heads up for £500, if they get QQ v KK they both put all their money in.


U were super unlucky to get that deal, but against an aggressive player, with that many BB's each, you did well to be patient and wait for that king of situation.

Unfortunately, sometimes it's just a frustrating game!

Gl, DOHH

P.S, sorry about the rebuy the other day, and for missing the s off of Mrs.

YOUNG_GUN

I try to use position 90% of the time if im deep enough, as a couple of folds from your opponent then you have gained the mommentum. i'd raise with a7/33 but not go all in unless you have a good read and the opponent has turned over weaker hands, although most likely going to be a race so played to perfection Mr Miyagi and just unlucky you came against KK. in future try to raise a bit more on the button

Neildown

You played it perfect from what i saw Miyagi, there was no way you was finding a better spot to get them in and was just unlucky he had a monster

Congrats on the $1k..... you should be chuffed

Mr_Miyagi

Thanks for saying I played it well, I was just concerned because it felt like he was always controlling everything and I was never going to ever get the chip lead without having a monster.

Thanks Pu for railing.  And don't worry about the rebuy Dohhhhhhh it was amazing skill on your part, sucked me right in.

GaryQQQ

Suggestions;

1. I'm not in this same league as the other posters on this thread, but next time you get knocked out of an MTT earlier than you hoped use the time to play a load of turbo HU STT's. They are low rake and will be good practise for MTT HU situations, you will get to play opponents with a variety of styles in situations where the blinds range from low to very high compared to the stack sizes. When you've played a couple of hundred of these you will be much more confident in a tournament HU situation.

2. Take the time to Google around and find articles on Nash Equilibrium as it applies to HU NLHE. Basicly HU has been solved where the stacks are under 20BB. There's a great little app if you have an iPhone called HU Trainer, it throws endless random HU situations at you, you have to decide whether to push, call or fold, it will then tell you if your decision was correct or not, based on Nash. It's great practise for when you find yourself with a few spare minutes, say in a lunch break or similar.

Mr_Miyagi

In Response to Re: Heads Up at the end of MTTs:

Suggestions; 1. I'm not in this same league as the other posters on this thread, but next time you get knocked out of an MTT earlier than you hoped use the time to play a load of turbo HU STT's. They are low rake and will be good practise for MTT HU situations, you will get to play opponents with a variety of styles in situations where the blinds range from low to very high compared to the stack sizes. When you've played a couple of hundred of these you will be much more confident in a tournament HU situation. 2. Take the time to Google around and find articles on Nash Equilibrium as it applies to HU NLHE. Basicly HU has been solved where the stacks are under 20BB. There's a great little app if you have an iPhone called HU Trainer, it throws endless random HU situations at you, you have to decide whether to push, call or fold, it will then tell you if your decision was correct or not, based on Nash. It's great practise for when you find yourself with a few spare minutes, say in a lunch break or similar.
Posted by GaryQQQ

Thanks Gary, I will look up the article for sure.