playing the board

ol-stone-face

Made it to the final two of a S&G (45 player) and this hand came up. I don't have much experience in tourney play and this one stumped me.
My read on the chip leader is that he is capable of bluffing but is by no means a bully, he can fold to a strong bet. Has shown no strong aggression to this point.
Feel free to criticize my play.....I can take it.

PokerStars Game #2957892987: Tournament #14593670, Hold'em No Limit - Level XII (1000/2000) - 2005/11/02 - 21:01:40 (ET)
Table '14593670 2' Seat #8 is the button
Seat #8 is the button
Seat 8: o_s_f (15356 in chips)
Seat 9: secondaffair (52144 in chips)
o_s_f: posts the ante 100
secondaffair: posts the ante 100
o_s_f: posts small blind 1000
secondaffair: posts big blind 2000
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to o_s_f [4c 5h]
o_s_f: calls 1000
secondaffair: checks
*** FLOP *** [4h 5d 6s]
secondaffair: bets 2000
o_s_f: calls 2000

OK this was pretty horrendous given my read on him, next time I would raise it up here. I got greedy and wanted to double up, but with a board like that......what can I say (not feeling good about it)

*** TURN *** [4h 5d 6s] [2c]
secondaffair: checks
o_s_f: bets 4000 (a little late but what the heck....should I have just pushed here?)
secondaffair: calls 4000
*** RIVER *** [4h 5d 6s 2c] [3s]
secondaffair: bets 6000
o_s_f: (?w?t?f)


OK at this point I'm like a deer in the headlights. Does he have a 7? Is he trying to steal it from me? Half my chips are already gone so do I have no choice but to call and hope I get my chips back? I'm pretty sure it became that tough because of my own passive play up to that point but what now?

ScoobyD

I don't like the limp pf given your short stack, maybe marginal if BB is not aggressive, (you're giving away precious chips if he raises). You get a dream flop, but your hand is vulnerable, I'm happy to take the pot on the flop, and if he calls, you're likely ahead anyways... The turn bet is horrible IMO, since you are basically pot committing yourself to the hand on a scary card. Push or check here I think. On the river you're debating calling 6000 for a chance to win 7000.  That's pretty lousy odds, but given your crippled stack, you don't really have many options. here, since you only have like 7-8k left. Call and hope.

ScottyZ

Call.

The way the hand has played out, your opponent could have just about anything.

Pre-flop: Limping in is perfectly fine, unless your opponent is very often punishing you by raising your small blind limps. You can play any hand for half a big blind heads-up.1 See Harrington, Vol. 2 for the details.

If you do want to occasionally fold a SB hand pre-flop to mix up your pre-flop play a bit, this is a fine one to let go of. However, on the short stack, heads-up, you've really got to get in there and play some hands. I wouldn't even fault anyone for simply moving all-in pre-flop.

Flop: I would raise here, and there is no reason to raise less than all-in at this point.

Turn: Betting is fine. Pushing all-in is probably best.

River: As mentioned above, given the actual action, I would have absolutely no clue what my opponent holds. Call (but do not raise), since most random hands do not contain a 7.

ScottyZ

1Note: I am only talking about "heads-up" in the sense of having 2 players originally dealt into the hand, not a SB vs. BB confrontation at a full table.

Chugs

Actually a '7' is perfectly plausable based on how the betting played out,

He bets a small amount with an open ended straight draw, calls the bet on turn with the draw to the straight or bigger pair (how does he know you have two pair)

he prices you in on the river.

still i call, because even if i had nothing i t's a great bet on his part

ScottyZ

Actually a '7' is perfectly plausable based on how the betting played out,

Of course it is. Any hand with a 7 can't be ruled out by the action. Also, many more hands than this cannot be ruled out by the action.

ScottyZ

ol-stone-face

Thanks for the feedback guys. FWIW.......77......and I called.
cheers
Al