Head's Up Quirkiness

Today I played several HU SnG, and found myself opposed by the same villain many times. His general strategy was to bet 60 asthe small blind for each of the first two blind rounds, almost irrespective of his stack (3xBB @ 10/20 and 2x BB @ 15/30).

It was annoying at first, and then I realized I never knew whether his 60 represented QJ suited, 58 off or 1010. Quickly I decided my best play was to become a rock - nothing but high PP or colored suited connectors.

When said villain's stack dropped below 1000 chips, he'd simply call every time from the small blind.

Here's my question: good strategy by our villain? or good way to quickly go down to 3-2 or 2-1 chipstack ratio (as the villain had happen with me most of the time)?

I find heads up is very erratic sometimes, but I've found there are 3 main types of heads up players. First are opponents who either fold or shove pre-flop with a premium hand or pockets, usually ending up far in front or behind when the other player calls. Second are the ones who bet or raise every hand, and play aggressive if they hit the flop, this seems to work against tight players, especially with weak flops when the tight player doesn't hit (think LAG). The third are ones who will pay to see any flop, and take action from there, whether it be bet or fold

This opponent probably falls into the second category, then the third. He wants to limit his losses to stop himself falling falling too far behind. I know at later stages of tournaments I'll go from 3-betting to 2-betting when blinds get higher, so maybe that's what he were doing.

Your analysis sounds reasonable; regardless, I took 7 of 9 of our meetings - I guess I should just schedule an hour or two every day to pad my bankroll with him as my favored villain ;-)

I love heads up you should be asking yourself your villians bluffing frequency, and tightness.Then look as they explain their rationality in their play and you can feel their mind.

playinggameswithu said:

I love heads up you should be asking yourself your villians bluffing frequency, and tightness.Then look as they explain their rationality in their play and you can feel their mind.

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I loved playing that villain - definitely felt like I understood his play (and poor, as it turns out, strategy). Then again, maybe he just had a really cold run of cards?