[JoseRijo]

I had the pleasure of playing in miandsh2000's HU tournament last night. It
was a lot of fun, but very stressful! Here are two big hands from the tournament
that I'd like to share.

The first is my semifinal match with gordy13c. Old Gord' is also playing a
$39 6-max SNG at the same time. This is our third hand:

Poker Stars, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Tournament, 20/40 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

JoseRijo27 (SB): 2,920
gordy13c (BB): 3,080

Pre-Flop: (60) 9 Q dealt to JoseRijo27 (SB)
JoseRijo27 raises to 120, gordy13c calls 80

Flop: (240) T 8 J (2 Players)
gordy13c checks, JoseRijo27 bets 160, gordy13c calls 160

Turn: (560) 4 (2 Players)
gordy13c bets 320, JoseRijo27 calls 320

River: (1,200) K (2 Players)
gordy13c bets 2,480 and is All-In, JoseRijo27 folds

Results: 1,200 Pot
gordy13c mucked and WON 1,200 (+600 NET)

So I flopped the nuts and then got blown off the hand. Gordy's turn
lead had me worried, and I just couldn't see calling the river and
losing the tournament to an obvious flush.

Somehow I survived the Gordy minefield (he played 2nd pair a little
too aggressively) and moved on to the finals against miandsh2000.
I hope Mike doesn't mind me posting this hand from his perspective,
but he has the more interesting decision:

Poker Stars, $20 + $2 NL Hold'em Tournament, 40/80 Blinds, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter

JoseRijo27 (BB): 6,510
miandsh2000 (SB): 5,490

Pre-Flop: (120) T 9 dealt to miandsh2000(SB)
miandsh2000 raises to 240, JoseRijo27 raises to 650, miandsh2000 calls 410

Flop: (1,300) K 9 9 (2 Players)
JoseRijo27 checks, miandsh2000 checks

Turn: (1,300) 5 (2 Players)
JoseRijo27 bets 1,000, miandsh2000 raises to 2,000, JoseRijo27 calls 1,000

River: (5,300) K (2 Players)
JoseRijo27 bets 3,860 and is All-In, miandsh2000 folds

So... do you make these folds? Any comments on the other streets? And
why aren't more ChipTalkers playing these Wednesday night tournaments?
Is the buy-in too steep?

[tomb1]

Too weak on the turn in both cases IMO.

In the first hand (and I don't believe he has the flush, though you have the history of how he plays), I would raise him a bunch to see how strong he is. Get the hand over -- either way -- right here. If he re-raises then you can fold if you believe him.

You've disguised your monster hand well, but by calling him it looks like you're afraid of the flush, or you have a flush draw yourself. In either case, when the heart does not come on the turn, he can take the pot.

In the second hand, playing as miandsh, I don't like the min-raise on the turn. It's not enough to define your opponent's hand or put him to a tough/bad decision. Raise more to build a bigger pot, or take it down here.

If in fact he has a King, then you got 2-outered and you lose boat over boat. Ouch. But it's just as likely that he raised with an Ace and now feels he might have the best kicker with 2 pair on the board, or maybe pocket 55s. Or even trying to push you off when he expects a chop since you both have an Ace. But lots of possible holdings other than a King.

So what did you (jose) have in the 2nd hand?

And I don't like either fold on the river, those are great hands HU. But it's tough for me to make a good decision here without benefit of playing against this opponent and knowing the feel of the match....

[tomb1]

P.S. I was ready to play last night but checked at the last minute and saw you had exactly 8 players, so I didn't register to muck things up with all those byes. Glad you had fun!

[Poboy]

First hand, I'm all-in on the turn.

Second hand, I bet the flop, and I bet the turn.

As played, I call both rivers.

[jojobinks]

Originally Posted by Poboy

First hand, I'm all-in on the turn.

Second hand, I bet the flop, and I bet the turn.

As played, I call both rivers.

agreed 100% on the first hand.

second hand, i check the flop, shove the turn. as played, i like the river fold. well, i hate it but find it to be the right play.

[Poboy]

Originally Posted by jojobinks

agreed 100% on the first hand.

second hand, i check the flop, shove the turn. as played, i like the river fold. well, i hate it but find it to be the right play.

As played, it's much closer than the first hand call, but I still make it because there are just enough worse hands here.

I don't like checking the flop b/c the guy RRed then checked. Every hand that RRed we beat except KK and lots of them are playing pot control (check/call). QQ isn't about to fold there.

[JoseRijo]

Boy, am I a lousy poker player.

I just couldn't believe Gordy would push on the third hand of our match
with all the potential straights and flushes. Thankfully, he showed...
8 3! After that, I was able to use his aggression
against him.

His big bluff gave me the idea to try a river push in hand #2 against Mike.
I put him on a pocket pair. I had A 5.

If in fact he has a King, then you got 2-outered and you lose boat over boat. Ouch. But it's just as likely that he raised with an Ace and now feels he might have the best kicker with 2 pair on the board, or maybe pocket 55s. Or even trying to push you off when he expects a chop since you both have an Ace. But lots of possible holdings other than a King.

Tom's analysis was so dead on it's scary. I'm pretty sure I couldn't fold a nine
there myself.

Thanks for all the comments, and thanks to miandsh2000 for a great tournament!

[tomb1]

Thanks for the fun hands, I liked all the discussion. Yes, HU matches are a completely different animal.

Originally Posted by JoseRijo

I just couldn't believe Gordy would push on the third hand of our match
with all the potential straights and flushes. Thankfully, he showed...
8 3! After that, I was able to use his aggression
against him.

Bad move on his part to show his hand IMO.