Quick question, what site should i play on? (for HU obv.) I'm European so there are plenty of options. soft competition matters more than software/traffic.

Does anybody ask opponents in HU cash to rebuy to some minimal amount after they drop below like 20bb or so?

I really don't know should I play push fold, or start minraising (that's what I do) against villain but since my range is so wide and I can't fold, BB is so important to their stack, I'm stuck since they seem to start bluffing just enough to make the last 10bb become along grind that most of the time smokes into the rake.

I've been doing the same as mers, except for 22, which I check back.

Raising a limp will usually win you the pot right there, and if it doesn't the follow-up c-bet might. The range to be doing this with varies, but it makes sense to usually include small PPs in that range given the difficulty in playing them passively post-flop.

I think your postflop points are a bit backwards, mage.

If you're raising 22 OOP to a limp as a standard play, you're going to be in a tremendous amount of tough postflop spots. The reason is because the pot is raised, so you already have an interest in the pot, you are also the aggressor, so it's usually a good idea to fire at a lot of these flops. The problem is that since you'll often be firing at these flops, you'll get called sometimes and then you're in an even bigger pot OOP with a very weak hand.

When a player limps and you check 22, you can take a low risk stab at the pot for fold equity, or play your hand accordingly if you flop a set. You can also check/fold on terrible boards for your hand that hit your opponent's limp range pretty well, so it's not nearly as tough in my mind to check it back than to raise it.

Now, as a question of profitability, I find that it's often better to check back 22-44 and sometimes even 55/66 vs a great deal of opponents when they limp. This is completely player dependent, but the average player is very loose, so you're going to have a lot of trouble identifying their hand range when they limp call in these spots. Other than that, you're OOP, without good reads when deep so your hand reading capabilities are going to be at a minimum. This isn't exactly ideal vs a lot of players and certainly not worth stealing 1bb when deep stacked.

Now, against certain players (weak/tight, predictable players primarily), raising 22-55 is often going to be the best play, by far when they limp.

It also becomes more commonplace to raise these hands when the blinds move up or the stacks get shorter (basically when effective stacks are smaller), because players are much less likely to call with such a wide range and at that point you should know your opponent well enough to narrow their hand ranges down somewhat and play more precisely correct against their holdings.

I agree that if our c-bet gets called, we can give up easily. However, given that most villains are too loose pre- and too tight post-, and that a limp/calling range tends not to be on the weaker side, isn't the villain more likely to be the player playing an oversized pot with a marginal hand?

If we're stabbing for FE, couldn't we do this with any hand? Isn't a marginal, yet made hand, like 22 the kind we want to get to a cheaper showdown with if we're not playing aggressively from the start?

Most players I play against are too loose both preflop and postflop, and that is compounded when I move down in stakes. So perhaps it is just a difference in our perception and the site you play on (I play mostly on Stars).

Yes, if we're stabbing for FE we can do that with any hand, but if we're raising preflop for fold equity we can do that with any hand as well and accomplish the same thing.

Most of our value OOP deep stacked with small PPs is going to be when we flop sets. Unless you think you also have a great deal of fold equity and/or know your opponent's postflop tendencies well, it's more ideal to just see as many flops as possible with these hands and use check raises and big bets to get value from your sets. It's also important not to put yourself in a lot of spots where you'll have to fold big pots. Yes, it's easy to raise, c-bet, then check fold the turn with a small PP (or any weak hand), but it's very unprofitable/marginal as well. The bigger the pots you lose when you don't hit your set, the more value you'll have to make up for that when you do hit your set. So, against the looser players that I come across quite often (I really can't remember the last true tight player I've played that wasn't a winner), you should really avoid bloating the pot OOP with weak PPs, it's just not worth it when deep stacked in a husng.

Very nice posts ChicagoRy.

Agreed, thanks for the informative analysis ChicagoRy. Definitely something I'll think about.

guy says, "im going all in first hand" in a low limit HU sng then pushes the first hand

I have a8os; what should I do?

Fold. There's no reason to assume that villain would be faithful to their word. For all you know they could say that every SNG and only actually push monsters.

^^ I called he had k3os and I won; but I knew it was a stupid decision.

So I never complete the SB HU. I would say I raise 65-75% of my hands and fold the bottom 25-35%. If somebody starts to chronically 3-bet me back I probably shift to raising the top 50% and then 4-bet pushing in retaliation.

Huge leak?

11t, it totally depends on how often he is 3-betting you and how often (if at all) he is flat calling you.

Limping, minraising, tightening your range, polarizing your range (very weak and very strong) or any combination of those are all legitimate adjustments against preflop aggression, it just depends on what kind of aggressive preflop player you are playing (postflop tendencies are pretty important as well because they have a major impact on how you should play preflop).

No problem guys.

Just started playing HUsngs and have a few questions:

1. How often should I be raising the button? 80% of hands?
2. How often should I be calling OOP? 3-bet?
3. Once the blinds reach 50/100 am I in push/fold mode?

1) By default, that sounds good.

2) Not often should you call OOP or to 3-bets, position is important, especially when you're starting out and may not have such a big postflop edge against your opponents as you will when you start to beat higher levels.

3) Pretty much yes. Effective stacks is what you need to learn (measured in BBs), which is basically the smallest stack divided by the BB. At 50-100, the deepest you will be is 15bbs (if you're both at 1500 stacks), and in general you should start shoving or folding around 8-12bbs (exceptions apply, Spamzor's post about end game is a great thing to look at to familiarize yourself with end game strategy), so basically yes to question 3.

what is a good ROI% for 5$ HU SNGs. iv had alot of variance the last 2 days in those sitngos, any good tips for those levels? I have 20 BI at this level that should be good? and move up at 200$ to 10$ HUSNG.

10% is probably what you should shoot for, by the time you're a true 10% winner you'll likely be climbing up to the $10s.

20% + is attainable, but unless you run hot for your first few hundred games you likely won't be in the $5s long enough to develop your game and win at that rate for long.

20 buyins is on the small side for what most people suggest.

20-30 in the lower levels is a good idea, but comfort is the biggest factor and it's fine if you're not comfortable without 40+ for a level, especially as you climb higher and/or learn the game.

I honestly think my winrate at $6.25 is more than double that of $11.50. Should I be playing $11.50's knowing this or should I be playing the $6.25's?

I've dropped about 10 buyins within 16 gamesat the $55's in one night. Is this a common thing or is that a quick drop?

Why do full table games generally bet 1/2 pot, while HU players are "taught" to bet 3/5ths or even 3/4ths? Its funny I've played HU for years and am a winning player but still don't understand the logic behind this.

I've always thought that full ring games do 2/3 - 4/5. I almost never see anyone doing 1/2 pot. Do you mean full ring STTs or full ring cash?

Common.

My bankroll is currently at $1,250. I had a rough night where I lost about $600 playing $50 HU. I know I'm a winning player but ran into some variance.

I've had a high point of $2k and now it's getting a little scary as I'm falling out of roll for $50's. At what point should I switch back to $33s or should I keep playing the $50's and let variance work itself out?

Not really a beginner but have some rather fundamental questions.
NOTE: 50NL HU Cash

- My VPIP without reads in BTN is 71% (ty pokerstove, for always making my preflop ranges perfectly balanced and exact). I know this is good, but my questions derive from it.
- When adjusting to play against stations in the BB, should I start limping BTNs, or simply drop my range a bit and only open-raise for value? What should I tighten to, about 50%?
- That said, should we EVER start limping? I've seen videos where players would limp about half their range when villain 3bets too wide a range. I was thinking more optimum strat would be to tighten range and 4bet with a larger range. If villains 3bet% is...say...25%, what would be a decent 4bet range? Should I polarize it, or should it be like 3betting oop in FR, where I'm 3betting suited broadway for value instead of SC?
- I've done some experimenting with the minraise 100% on BTN strat. Any thoughts on this? It makes a lot of decisions quicker, and I'm sure I could manage extra tables. Good or bad? Thoughts and comments? Please, the more the better. Anyone who is experienced in this, i'd love the chance to chat. Id like more insight into this strat.
- My oop flatting range against standard 38/38 (or so) player (exclude my 3bet range, which follows) against full stack is 22+, Axs, A8+, any unsuited broadway. good?
- My oop 3bet range is generally: AT+, any suited broadway, 78s, 89s, 9Ts. Good, or should I be less apt to 3bet with SC oop?
- Most villains are either donkeys or stations at 50NL IMHO. I'm thinking about switching my standard beginning of match play to mirror that. If this is true, I really need a good PFR% from BTN from someone against stations and chronic 3bettors.


That's all for now I guess, but I'm sure I'll come up with more.

How is ongame for hu cash?