Bad play?

I played this hand recently at a final table of a freeroll. only two of us left and the other guy is a slight chip leader (around 2M chips). BB is 80k(i m sorry i post it like this but i lost the log):

I am SB, hole: 2,3 unsuited and I limped in, player 1 checks.

Flop: 7 2 3 rainbow

Player 1 checks, i bet 160k

Player 1 calls.

Turn: 6

Player 1 checks, I bet 480K and he moves all in. at that point I put him on a pair of 7 or on the come for a straight and i called.

River: 8

he shows 2 2 and my small cute two pairs r busted (all four deuce were on the table.. damn)...

the difference was only 15$ more but u know... i m haunted

Doyle said that often u get kicked out with the hands u should have folded in the first place but... i think that heads up this hand can be lethal, and u can catch someone easily when u flop to it... i guess it was the first time i played a hand like this in the tourney voluntarily.

would u play this hand at all?

How would u play it differently?

Well it depends on what type of player that guy is... is he tight? loose? i mean only you know after playing a few hundred hands... i mean if he was a tight player id definetly put him on a set... or possibly a draw.. but come turn.. you can only beat a pair or high pocket pairs... so i mean ... its really up to you.. you could have avoided it..

This is terrible.

well, in the first place, I don't think you should have entered a pot with 2-3 off suit. I guess your play after the flop was decent, but you would never have gotten yourself into such a mess if you hadn't limped into the pot in the first place.

HU or not, 23os is a terrible hand to play.
IMO, you may need some help with your HU game(as I do)

IMHO you should not have called the 2,3 off - Either should have raised for a bluff or folded - Not all hands should be played.
However, since you limped in and got the 2,3 I would have gone all in - To scare away the high cards or the 7/7 pair - Yes I know I would have lost but in MOST cases I would have taken the pot.

thanks for the replies so far but i want to stir it up a bit.

i know it was a bad play to limp in the but i had few reasons:
1. i stole 2-3 blinds straight before this hand and i thought it will be too much.
2. i didn't want to get out of the pot because its a hand that with heavenly flop i could jump on him from the bushes

now, u can say it on every hand, true - but i was willing to risk 40k knowing that no one will even consider that i made a straight when he holds A A - which is the key to why i entered). i would have probably folded 56, 67 and 78 more readily at that spot. now some of u think - he's crazy? statistics! odds! i know i get extremely bad odds but i will get compensated big time when i flop to it.

i m not trying to defend my play - i know i did it wrong and if i wouldn't have limped in there was no problem in the first place and it seems like everyone is going to tell me what a donk i m so lets change the subject a bit:

1. limping in is given - what would u do on the flop?

2. what's your heads up strategy? what hands r u looking for?

i will usually slowplay high pairs (only in heads up!), steal blinds with medium hands (7 and above) and look for those bloody surprises i just got busted out with

p.s. - what is IMO, IHMO and MTT????

In My Opinion, In My Honest Opinion, Multi-Table Tourney

first off, heads up i like ferguson's approach. Raise or fold in position and check out of position regardless of the cards. It always keeps your opponents guessing and it also can hide strong hands when you are out of position, because you can check an A preflop hit it on the flop and check raise and your opponent will be none the wiser. Also, had you raised 23 in position and your opponent has 22 he has 2 decisions to make, call for a set and fold the flop IF he were to miss, which will happen almost 90 percent of the time. or reraise all in, which will make it easy for you to lay down 2-3 and not be in a bad spot on the flop. If he makes the first decision then you take complete control, when he checks the flop and you bet if he cold calls or raises then you might be able to fold bottom two because you put him on a stronger range of hands. You would have been able to ask yourself, what hand could he call a raise preflop with and check raise all in on the flop, the worst you could put him on is top pair top kicker, but the rest of the hands he would play that way would be sets and you could have the info needed to fold the worst hand. That is really all the advice i can give you on a headsup match. And that's the way that always works for me. In order for it to work though, you need to pay great attention to your opponents range of hands and how he plays them. Gl on the felt.

In HU, in most case the most agressive player win.

I have to say, i open up my range and raise a lot on the button in HU :
- you have position.
- your opponent hit the flop around 30% of the time.

IMO, in a HU game you have to mathematicly at least complete any 2 hands. ANTES+BB+SB>70% of the pot (i consider pot as completed by SB like : ANTES+BB+SB+SB)

I am comparing the fact that opponent hit 30% of the time the flop and the cost to complete. So it is only a "mathematic read of your opponent" because it is sure that you hit the flop 30% of the time too

The difference is that you have position.

I really don't know if all i say is good or not but i like to think like this.


So for me complete 23o is not a bad play in HU (and in full ring of very passive players where 8 players limp you have maybe the odds too.)

Loosing 2 pairs versus a set is for me standard in poker. I don't mean i lose often with 2 pairs versus a set but i mean it is a standard fight : like a KK versus AA fight preflop. I hope you understand what i mean. My english is not so good.

Anyway, there are lots of things who can help you to fold. Style of your opponent, bet pattern or the control of your image (What do you think your opponent think you have? Do you think that he thinks that you want to bully him? or did you consider you as a rock?)

I hope this will help at least someone.

I am open to all critics.

fishfishfish.

well, i tried some of what u said but i guess its still not it - i just suck at it.. i play a lot of 1$ SNG lately and while i m almost always in the final 3, i never finish 1st.. (pretty annoying considering that 2nd place get only 3$). i think i got here some good advice - chad and fishfish - i m trying yr strategy and hopefully it will work. about my gut feeling, gmoney, i guess it stinks

I very much agree with chad. You should be raising or folding in this situation, and as you said you had been stealing blind before and thought it would not work. 2-3os is VERY foldable from SB. Sounds like you're playing aggressive enough, just possibly need more discretion (just a guess), and if you're anything like me, you get caught up with your bluffs >.<

I've read somewere that if you are SB/Button and it is HU it's worth a look at almost any 2 cards (if villian lets you limp in) because of the positional advantage you gain after the flop.

23s is not a great hand, but I've taken a look at similar hands occasionally (if the villian is timid and I have a good chance of using position to steal the pot).