this is the HU session i had a few days ago at the end of a $69 mtt (hope it's ok i'm posting it here, i'm in dire need of HU tips!) where i felt i got outplayed.

any kind of general tips for hu play are appreciated, no probs if you don't want to wade through all the hands.
the most important hands are 3, 6, 10, 13, 14, 16, 19 and 20.

villain only had about 100 tournies played on FTP (though this was over a >1 year period), i'm guessing he's a cash game player as he seemed very competent. he played aggressively without ever really seeming out of line. my image is somewhat similar but a bit more out of line, especially preflop.

history: when it was 6H i opened CO, he made a smallish 3bet from BB (33bb eff), i made a small 4bet, he jammed and i folded.
3H i opened btn, he 3bet SB, i 4b small again and called his shove, his AJ > TT.
in general there wasn't a whole lot of 3betting going on, especially when it got short-handed where a PFR usually took it down, but he kind of sprung into life when it got HU and was always going one step further than me pre.

should i have started limping some buttons to combat his 3betting? given more walks? i wasn't really sure how to adjust to such an aggressive opponent. any help is appreciated.

Hand #1
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The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BB): t1615402 M = 30.48
BTN/SB: t1939598 M = 36.60

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BB with 3 8
BTN/SB raises to t60000, 1 fold


Hand #2
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Hero (BTN/SB): t1581402 M = 29.84
BB: t1973598 M = 37.24

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with 6 T
Hero raises to t60000, BB calls t30000

Flop: (t128000) 2 J 2 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t60000, BB folds



Hand #3
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Hero (BB): t1645402 M = 31.05
BTN/SB: t1909598 M = 36.03

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BB with 6 8
BTN/SB raises to t60000, Hero raises to t167000, BTN/SB raises to t300000, 1 fold


Hand #4
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Hero (BTN/SB): t1474402 M = 27.82
BB: t2080598 M = 39.26

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with J 8
Hero raises to t60000, BB calls t30000

Flop: (t128000) 9 J 4 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t60000, BB folds



Hand #5 he gives me a walk


Hand #6
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Hero (BTN/SB): t1557402 M = 29.38
BB: t1997598 M = 37.69

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with Q K
Hero raises to t60000, BB raises to t120000, Hero calls t60000

Flop: (t248000) 6 4 6 (2 players)
BB bets t150000, Hero folds


Hand #7
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Hero (BB): t1433402 M = 27.05
BTN/SB: t2121598 M = 40.03

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BB with 4 T
BTN/SB raises to t60000, 1 fold



Hand #8
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Hero (BTN/SB): t1399402 M = 26.40
BB: t2155598 M = 40.67

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with 4 5
Hero raises to t60000, BB raises to t135000, 1 fold


Hand #9 he gives me a walk


Hand #10
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Hero (BTN/SB): t1354402 M = 25.55
BB: t2200598 M = 41.52

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with 7 K
Hero raises to t60000, BB raises to t150000, Hero raises to t270000, BB raises to t2196598 all in, 1 fold



Hand #11
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Hero (BB): t1080402 M = 20.38
BTN/SB: t2474598 M = 46.69

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BB with 4 6
BTN/SB raises to t60000, 1 fold


Hand #12 i give him a walk with 62s


Hand #13
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Hero (BB): t1027402 M = 19.38
BTN/SB: t2527598 M = 47.69

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BB with 5 A
BTN/SB raises to t60000, Hero calls t30000

Flop: (t128000) 6 3 7 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB checks

Turn: (t128000) K (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB bets t74000, Hero calls t74000

River: (t276000) 5 (2 players)
Hero checks, BTN/SB checks

Final Pot: t276000
Hero shows 5 A (a pair of Fives)
BTN/SB shows 9 J (King Jack high)
Hero wins t276000


Hand #14
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Hero (BTN/SB): t1165402 M = 21.99
BB: t2389598 M = 45.09

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 9
Hero raises to t60000, BB raises to t150000, Hero requests TIME, 1 fold


Hand #15 he gives me a walk


Hand #16
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Hero (BTN/SB): t1120402 M = 21.14
BB: t2434598 M = 45.94

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with 9 A
Hero raises to t60000, BB calls t30000

Flop: (t128000) 3 6 K (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t60000, BB calls t60000

Turn: (t248000) 7 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

River: (t248000) J (2 players)
BB checks, Hero checks

Final Pot: t248000
Hero shows 9 A (Ace King high)
BB shows 6 4 (a pair of Sixes)
BB wins t248000


Hand #17 he gives me a walk


Hand #18
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The Official 2+2 Hand Converter Powered By DeucesCracked.com

Hero (BTN/SB): t1015402 M = 19.16
BB: t2539598 M = 47.92

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with A J
Hero raises to t60000, 1 fold


Hand #19
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Hero (BB): t1049402 M = 19.80
BTN/SB: t2505598 M = 47.28

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BB with K 8
BTN/SB raises to t60000, Hero raises to t140000, BTN/SB raises to t270000, 1 fold


Hand #20
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Hero (BTN/SB): t905402 M = 17.08
BB: t2649598 M = 49.99

Pre Flop: (t53000) Hero is BTN/SB with 8 J
Hero raises to t60000, BB calls t30000

Flop: (t128000) 9 9 8 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t60000, BB raises to t127500, Hero requests TIME, Hero calls t67500

Turn: (t383000) 6 (2 players)
BB checks, Hero bets t172400, BB raises to t2458098 all in, Hero calls t541502 all in

you've made it very clear here that you aren't going to be flat calling with good pot odds and it's allowing him to raise the minimum amount...

hand 3 i fail to see why you don't see a flop with a good sc hand and good odds...don't fold there just call

hand 6...i wouldn't just up and fold the flop after the way you played 86....i peel one otf and float...u've shown ur call to 3b range as tight

hand 8 i take another flop IP why are u folding with those odds IP if u aren't gonna call open fold

hand 10 why do u keep min raising this is an especially poor hand to min raise i know i know don't raise according to hand strength...yeah right raising correct amounts is unexploitable 1500 pre

hand 14 shove don't fold! do some math with 89s HU it's very strong

hand 16 what's with the min raise get better at poker before u start min raising such a strong hand

hand 19 wtf ur folding again K7s has good equity vs his rr range...he's putting pressure on u with the weaker part of his range...shove that

it seems like your 3 and 4 betting ranges were really unbalanced. flatting is ok especially with the 68hh. another thing is your 4 bet with K7 is pretty terrible, its obvious to him and you your getting run over and hes gonna ship whatever he 3 bet you with cuz of how high the probability you 4 bet light.

While this may not be too insightful, I would flat more (#9, and even OOP: #3). You turned some decent hands into bluffs preflop and folded some strong hands (#14,#19) that you could have used to apply more pressure. In the latter two hands, especially 19, you shouldn't be r/f'ing given the dynamic. Either flat the open raise, flat the 4bet, or even jamming might be better.
I would venture to say hand #10 is the worst, and it's hard to find the best tbh.
Also if you think you're getting beat on preflop, open raise larger (2.5x<open raise<3x) and maybe slightly less frequently (not a fan of hand #8) which will limit villains creativity.

yea i really don't understand why you didn't peel the flop in hand #14 with position and good immediate pot odds.

as someone else mentioned hand #19 is a good hand that you are just turning into a bluff when you're 3b/folding. Not a big fan of the last hand at all...but i'm guessing you were just steaming from getting run over for hte most part?

yep you're probably right, at the time i thought the SPR was going to be too low but looking back i think there's enough room to maneuver.

agree again, should of either flatted the 3b or 5b jammed (leaning towards the latter).

last hand i'm really not sure what the best line is, i think OTT it's between check back and b/c, and i thought he had enough draws in his range to make b/c'ing better. what line would you prefer?
don't think i was steaming, no, just unsure of the correct line.


the KQ hand (#6) was his first 3bet, so i didn't know he was all that light at this point.
the problem is i can't credibly rep anything (except maybe a weak Ax) so when i flat the flop it looks like i'm floating, which he's going to be able to exploit pretty easily. think my fold there is probably better than flatting, but i'm willing to hear reasons why it's not.

and zeal i'm not going to alter my raise sizes based on hand strength against a competent opponent, that's suicide.

in retrospect i think i should have flatted more because he obv. had the edge in the 3b/4b/5b game, though playing pots OOP obv. sucks.

that last hand; to me it's just hard to believe that he check/raises twice without a hand that beats yours. plus, that 6 hits a lot of draws that he could have been bluffing on the flop,

phos...i really think ur leveling yourself by not adjusting your raise size based on position and hand strength, but i seem to be alone in my thinking on that

also, it kinda seems like he has a read on u that you fold to pressure, coz he's taken every opportunity to force you out...flatting the flop on that board in hand 6 is going to look very strong, and KQ high has showdown equity, you very well may have folded the best hand, but even so with your image i don't think he continues with A high unless he's a spewtard, which with his sizing i don't think he is...i would flat the flop there and try and take it on future streets

also i think you are underestimating the showdown equity of some of those hands 89s is pretty darn good hand HU, K8s has very good equity vs hands he goes all in with like A7o and low pairs -- it's a very good hand to reshove on a short stack, he should call you pretty light there to try and end the game, some ppl will call with QJo

not really sure about hand 20

i don't like hand #10 at all because hand #3

call #14

i think shutting down on #16 is fine since so many draws are out there/he might call down any pair very frequently/you could possibly showdown the best hand if it checks through

wouldn't 5bet #19 since you're only like 30 bb effective and if he is a cash game reg than i doubt he expects to have lots of fold equity with his 4bet this shallow (compared to 100bb+)

i would check back the turn on 20 or bet/fold 1/3 the pot or less trying to give him room to call with worse... might be a little results oriented though