Heads up against a decent player. He’s not great by any means, but generally when I’m playing heads up I look for softer competition.
Full Tilt Poker, $5/$10 NL Hold’em Cash Game, 2 Players
LegoPoker Hand History Converter
BB: $1,000
Hero (SB): $1,517.50
Pre-Flop: A
A
dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $30, BB calls $20
Flop: ($60) Q J 8 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $47, BB calls $47
Turn: ($154) 3 (2 Players)
BB checks, Hero checks
River: ($154) Q
(2 Players)
BB checks, Hero bets $90, BB raises to $180, Hero raises to $540, BB calls $360
Results: $1,234 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
BB showed 2 5 (a flush, Queen high) and WON $1,233.50 (+$616.50 NET)
Hero showed A A (two pair, Aces and Queens) and LOST (-$617 NET)
In retrospect, I don’t like my turn check that much. Heads up matches play a lot more loose and aggressive than even 6-max games, and while I fold a lot to second barrels on scary turn cards, most of my opponents don’t. I was worried about killing the value of my hand by chasing out stuff like middle pair, but that’s probably not a huge concern. Anyway, the river is a good card for me, as it pretty much guarantees that any pair is calling a bet, and when he checks, I have an easy value bet.
Once he min-check-raises, though, I don’t think my Aces are ever good. I put him on trips (NOT a full house, as that would almost have to be QJ or a set, and I thought those would have played earlier streets more aggressively, and not a flush, because I thought he would have raised more). This is maybe the second time in my life that I’ve 3-bet bluffed the river, and I can’t imagine this guy sees it done all that often. If he had the nut flush, I wouldn’t mind his call, but with basically the worse possible flush, he might as well have trips. The only thing he can beat is a bluff, and I really don’t think he sees a bluff in this spot anywhere near often enough to call with a tiny flush.