How unlucky
Worst beat ever last night. I was playing in a little home game tournament with 18 friends of mine. Here is what happen.
It was down to me and someone I never played against heads up for $252. Even though I hadn't played against him before and he had about 65% of the chips I was confident I would win from watching his play at the final table. Anyway about 6 hands into the heads up I was dealt K-Js in the BB. He tripled the BB and I called. The flop comes up Kh-6s-Jd. I checked here hoping that he would come out and bet big again. He had a habit on trying to buy the pot after a check in first position. He did exactly that and pushed all in. I finally had him where I wanted him. I quickly called and turned over K-J giving me top 2 pair. He then turned over A-A. I definitely thought he had a pocket pair but not aces lol. I was still confident as I knew I was about a 70% favourite in the hand. The turn came up 7c and I was one card away from putting myself in great position to win this thing. However the river came up 7h giving him a higher two-pair. I almost fell over when I saw that card come up. I was surely steaming but fealt a little better when I was handed $108 for coming in 2nd.
So there it is. Any suggestions on how I could have played this "better". Hope you enjoyed 8)
It was down to me and someone I never played against heads up for $252. Even though I hadn't played against him before and he had about 65% of the chips I was confident I would win from watching his play at the final table. Anyway about 6 hands into the heads up I was dealt K-Js in the BB. He tripled the BB and I called. The flop comes up Kh-6s-Jd. I checked here hoping that he would come out and bet big again. He had a habit on trying to buy the pot after a check in first position. He did exactly that and pushed all in. I finally had him where I wanted him. I quickly called and turned over K-J giving me top 2 pair. He then turned over A-A. I definitely thought he had a pocket pair but not aces lol. I was still confident as I knew I was about a 70% favourite in the hand. The turn came up 7c and I was one card away from putting myself in great position to win this thing. However the river came up 7h giving him a higher two-pair. I almost fell over when I saw that card come up. I was surely steaming but fealt a little better when I was handed $108 for coming in 2nd.
So there it is. Any suggestions on how I could have played this "better". Hope you enjoyed 8)
Comments
Luck can get the best of us all... don't worry, you played it fine. All you can hope for is to get your chips in as a significant favourite, and you did just that. Congrats on your second-place finish.
Regards,
all_aces
Headsup is difficult -- in a normal ring game you are not likely going to call a raise with a hand like KJ (it is a big problem hand) but headsup there is a reasonable chance you are ahead if your opponent is very aggressive.
Anyway bad luck after the lucky flop. :-P You can consider yourself somewhat lucky, however, in that if you just flopped the King or Jack you might have went with him as well and have been a big longshot.
.kw
Well, he did mention that he has about 35% of the total chips.
So, the way I see it, if 3 BB is actually a large portion (say, 40% or more) of his stack, then the tournament is basically in "bingo mode" already, and I think KJ is a perfectly fine hand to gamble with. In this case, I'd probably push in, or call and bet any flop.
If the blinds are still relatively small compared to the stacks, I still think calling pre-flop is fine here. Heads-up, two face cards is a perfectly reasonable hand to frequently defend your BB with (which you should be doing fairly often when it's heads-up).
I don't see either player making a mistake here, and checking top two after noticing that the opponent is betting a lot of flops is a nice idea.
ScottyZ
With KJ6 showing, you have to put him on AA, KK, JJ, or 66 as his best hands. Unless he was playing loose all night, then maybe a straight draw. AQ, A10, Q10, 10/9
Or even a lower two pair. K6, J6
A fold after his all-in, may have been your best play. (before you knew the outcome that is) Easy to armchair quarterback after the game is over. lol He may have been bluffing too, as it was heads up at that point.
I would have gone all-in first. Slow playing has cost me more money than I care to remember. lol I've slow played trips, straights, and low flushes and been beaten for it. From now on, I bet what I have most of the time. Remember, you are betting what you have at that point. He isn't if he needs a draw. Sometimes that's enough for him to lay it down if you go all-in first.
Check and fold top two pair heads-up?
ScottyZ
I'd agree with this if we were talking about a full game, where KJ generally sucks.
However, KJ is a pretty good hand heads-up, partially because you *don't* have to worry nearly as much about what you are mentioning: making the second best hand.
ScottyZ
That is also a very good way for him to draw you in too. When you hit heads up, he can draw you into just about any hand he wants to, if he has you thinking that way. I generally don't take everything I see earlier in the game for granted once it gets heads up. Unless from his earlier play you have him pegged as a mediocre to poor player. Just another factor to consider.
That's what I needed to hear. lol
At least you made some money though.