I just finished playing 11 heads up $55 NLH tournaments on Fulltilt. I won the first 10. During the last tourney - of which I was very tired and wanted to go to bed, not an excuse, really - my oppnent informed me of how bad I play. I told him to check my stats, which, though not impressive are - well you can judge for yourslf - games -1,654 av profit -$3 av stake $51 av roi 6% total profit $4,368 (from sharkscope - I in fact have better stats but that 's another story). But like I said these stats are not that impressive. He told me that he crushed my stats - I looked hm up and he was right - he was a platinum rated player on sharkscope. He then went on to tell me what I was doing wrong. He complained that I was pushing with a hand like 4,4 when the blinds were only 20-40 and my stack was ~ 1500. He was pissed because when I did things like that he would call with 2 overs and I would win - every time - some times I pushed with A,K, A,Q or A,Js and he would call with hands like K,Q, or K,J and I won.

He said that these plays were horrible because my stack was too big to do things like that. I called him a fish. He said he was one of FullTilts best - His stats bore out him out. I told him I pushed because I knew he would call with over cards or worse in some cases. Now, how could I know this? Mind you I did not know he was a Fulltilt superstar until the 11th match which he won and enlightened me.

Well, in the first match we played I decided to test this guy. I pushed in early with A,K after he limped to see what he would do and he called me with K,Q. I won and we played again. This time I pushed in early with T,T and he called again with a hand that was behind. So in each game I found a situation in which I most likely had the best hand and pushed. And in each case I was indeed ahead preflop. He made some horrible calls in my opinion. Called a lot with K,Q when he must have known from my pushes that the worse hand I pushed with contained an A (with J minimum).

So I ask you who was right? Was he right that my play was horrible or am I right that when you find an opponent that will make poor calls you should put him to the test whenever possible? Of course it helps when you win the races, I know that.

pokervintage

The "Mathematics of poker" among others shows push/fold tables for up to 50BB. However, push/fold isn't optimal above 10BB, unless your opp plays bad.

But be sure to know your theory before questioning his play.
For example Nash Equilibrum for 25BB:
push up to 96s, J9o
call up to A4s, A7o.

I would never question the mathematics of when and when not to push. But in this case the only thing that came into play was the information that i had garnered about my opponent during our play together. His history before our first match was not a factor. I based my play not on anything that remotely resemble Nash Equlibrium. I based my play on my opponents immediate play. When I had a pair I figured to have the best hand so I would push. When I had A,K I would push. (not everytime I had these hands) I did this not because of the math but because I had tried these plays and they worked against this opponent. If he was in fact using theoretical values to make these calls he was making a big mistake - given your examples - because I was not pusing with any hand weaker than A,Js. And i wasn't pushing because the math was correct, I was pushing because of his demonstrated willingness to call. I play a lot of heads up. I usually do not push when the blinds are low. But when I find someone willing to gamble all their chips with a weak hand I go for it. What is interesting is that if in fact he is a superstar and much better than me I probably should have pushed more often than I did. Ask Sklansky he'll probably say yes to that.

pokervintage

I'm not sure what you're asking , i don't think anyone here will tell you to push a 1500 stack into the button limping at t40 heads up.

I'd have to agree with your opponent.

I fully agree it might be the most exploitable play. But remmeber his loose calling range might be not to far from optimal play.
Also, and here lies the main problem, in figuring out whether he's weak at this you leave lots of EV on the table imo. (You usually don't do this pushing, but then how can you find out? So I imagine you either push more often than you think or you almost never get a call besause you almost never push making this a marginal occurence (but not ess valuable))

[ ] Heads up forum.
[ ] Solid thread OP.
[X] 35BB open pushaments.
[X] lol.

A tank tapping pro?

man I am gassy today.

Optimal play? A very interesting and in my opinion controversial subject. Just what is optimal play in NLH poker? I have not read Millers small stakes NLH book but I was told by another Holdem Poker author that Miller claims that NLH is flawed because it can be beaten with a simple shove or two bet strategy when holding group 1 hands. My buddy went on to say that Sklansky and Malmuth are adamant about the fact that this shove strategy will produce a positive EV. I find it hard to believe that they are correct unless they caveat their claim with something like "in a game with some bad players".

My point is that optimal play in poker is not mathematical certainty. Optimal play is tied to ones opponents play. When I play heads up I play my opponnent first - to a point - then if warranted I play my stack first. In poker a key to winning is adapting to the situations you find yourself.

pokervintage

If you are somewhat convinced that your opponent will call your A,K with hands like A,J, or K,Q you don't believe that pushing even a 1500 stack with blinds t40 is correct? What if you are convinced he will call your pairs with over cards?

pokervintage

Yes, why would he tell a bad player he is bad? Must be a genius!

pokervintage

Sorry did not see the HU forum. Will post this there.

pokervintage