Gamble or not ?

I played a Sit'n Go recently and had about 6000 chips my opponent had about 2000, we were heads-up.

Each time I raised he shoved and showed me a pair, I raised with hands like K10, OJ stuff like that but I never called his all-in.

Eventually he got back in the game and in the end I lost, should I have called his shoves and try to knock him out or was I right in waiting for a real hand ?

By his third consecutive all in shove I'd make the decision that he was bluffing, and I would call it with my next decent hand (say K10 or better). It could still go horribly wrong, but the odds are on your side.

X__Gandalf__X said:

By his third consecutive all in shove I'd make the decision that he was bluffing, and I would call it with my next decent hand (say K10 or better). It could still go horribly wrong, but the odds are on your side.

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If he has a pair and you have just overs, how are the odds in your favor?

To answer your question. If he had underpairs to your overcards its a flip so if you want to take a 50/50 to win, then go for it.

However, you need more information in order to just say whether or not to call

best recommendation, lear how to play number cards, theres a reason why pro's play suited connectors, runner runner cards, and when your heads up, just consider, theres 4 times as many number cards than paint... so learn to raise why connectors, if you hit flop, hey take the pot, you cant let yourself bow down to push raises every hand, or youoppenet will likely even his chip stack or worse pass u.

Good answers all around. How much were you raising when you were then folding to his 2000 chip all in? That info could be decisive.

Wixx said:

Good answers all around. How much were you raising when you were then folding to his 2000 chip all in? That info could be decisive.

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Always 3 BB

i very seldom ever advocate protecting a chip lead heads up in a SnG. i can live with myself if i lose a tournament because i made fundamentally sound poker decisions and called an all in with a reasonable holding during the end stage. i could not live with myself if i fought to protect my chip lead and squandered an opportunity to win the tournament with a reasonable holding.

with as many all in shoves that he had made, he may very well have hit a streak of pocket pairs, but the liklihood of that happening is very slim. chances are that more often than not they are making an all in shove with ace rag, connecting cards, or suited cards. hands that have a decent chance of improving. but yet, with k 10, you are still very likely to be in the lead in that event. and even if you are not ahead in the hand, you are at worst a slight underdog to take the pot. i would rather lose by getting my chips in with what is likely to be the best hand, and lose because he got lucky than to lose because i allowed him back into the tournament to where he could catch a streak of cards.

It depends on the blinds - If the blinds kill you then you need to call even with lower cards, otherwise you wait for the nice hand to call.

There is a vary basic way of looking at this and I have done it recently.

If you are a chip leader before the cards are delt you have a 50/50 chance of winning the pot based on the cards only.

So, what I do now is when I`m first to act with a chip lead I put them all in/ raise to the max every hand.

A small sample (70 games) where I have had more than a 2:1 chip lead heads up, I have won 51 games !!! about 73% win ratio in this situation - a bit better than what should be 66%

This is such a small sample that it could just be variance.
Also, take into account I have not looked at this from any other angle.

What I find happens is that the other person is obviuosly waiting for a better spot by folding. By doing this, however, my 2:1 chip lead soon becomes a 4:1 chip lead.

Just something I`m looking at

Depends entirely on the size of the blinds. If you're only playing a 20BB stack, you almost have to gamble with those hands. If you're sitting in 40BB or more... maybe you don't have to gamble immediately.

Ronaldadio said:

There is a vary basic way of looking at this and I have done it recently.

If you are a chip leader before the cards are delt you have a 50/50 chance of winning the pot based on the cards only.

So, what I do now is when I`m first to act with a chip lead I put them all in/ raise to the max every hand.

A small sample (70 games) where I have had more than a 2:1 chip lead heads up, I have won 51 games !!! about 73% win ratio in this situation - a bit better than what should be 66%

This is such a small sample that it could just be variance.
Also, take into account I have not looked at this from any other angle.

What I find happens is that the other person is obviuosly waiting for a better spot by folding. By doing this, however, my 2:1 chip lead soon becomes a 4:1 chip lead.

Just something I`m looking at

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Thanks for the tip, I always tend to play too tight heads-up because obviously I want to win it especially when I have the lead.

Blinds changes everyhting. I hate playing preflop poker but of course u gotta do it sometimes in those SNG when the blinds are so big 3 all ins withtout a call doubles u up right. Probably woulda called with K10, u probably have 2 live cards, u gotta gable to win

Your ? answers itself if u dont mind me pointing it out. If u lost and u had the lead at one point then of course u were wrong for not taking the risk

I can see playing it both ways. Too many all ins by your apponent is truly suspect. For me, I think my preference would be to draw the line in the sand and roll the dice. Pick my spot and a good double up and all that push push might end.

When confronted by a maniac, I sometimes stop playing poker and use game theory instead -- I might start shoving, for instance, with any 2 red cards. I know it sound ridiculous -- but they will never be able to figure what you are doing, and if you gain a further lead, start playing poker again.
Not advice for the cautious...

Yeah, when you are HU, you have a 50/50 chance of winning every hand based on the cards. You want to be aggressive with any pocket pair, suited connectors, suited gaped connectors, any two paint cards and any ace.

By aggresive, I mean raise when you are the first out and call when you are second. It's a totally different game from you and nine others to you and 1 other.

It has be remarked upon a few times already but the size of the blinds is key to how you should play. If the blinds are large in relation to the size of the stacks, then you have to call fi you believe you are 50% or more to win the hand. I understand you don't want to double him up but if you allow your opponent to dictate the action or lose your chip edge before you play back then you'll lose more often than you should.

yea headsup is brutal especially when the blinds are high. Usually it ends when one player picks up a10 and the other has 9s and its a race or a player picks up KJ AND the other has A9 or somethin like that. so yea if u feel its a race situation which more likely than not it is u probably should call, if he or she steals your blinds a few times they will have been doubled up anyway w/o having to be allin and surviving. go with your gut and gl.

When you've got the stack advantage you want to be the aggressor. You should be bullying the shortstack, not the other way round.

Raising in when you have a fair chip lead is good play, because it forces your opponent to fold marginal hands and generally gives you the right odds to call a reshove. i.e If you have K10 or QJ vs. an underpair you're about a 45%/55% underdog. If he shoving regularly enough then you're K or Q high is probably in the lead anyway.

It depends on what the blinds were at too.. but in the situation you described, I wouldn't be raise/folding very often. If the opponent shoved to a raise, I'd be calling in just about any situation where I thought I had two live cards.

You can't wait too long for a real hand when you're playing heads up

This comment sums it up

"Sometimes, to live, you must be prepared to die!!!"

The blinds are very important here, so much so it's impossible to give you advice for that situation without knowing what the blinds were in relation to the stacks. It's likely you were in a situation where short stack had less than 15BB, in which case if you're unsure you could probably use optimal jam/fold calculations. While generally you want to be open jamming around 11BB or less, it's probably not terrible to do it a bit higher, especially as the big stack heads up.

If you want to get an idea of what you should be pushing with and calling with try playing with this calculator for a bit: HoldemResources.net: ICM Nash Calculator
It is important to note most players play too conservatively in this situation so jamming at a higher frequency yourself and folding to jams more frequently is often the superior play, which it seems your opponent may have been counting on.

AlexeiVronsky said:

The blinds are very important here, so much so it's impossible to give you advice for that situation without knowing what the blinds were in relation to the stacks. It's likely you were in a situation where short stack had less than 15BB, in which case if you're unsure you could probably use optimal jam/fold calculations. While generally you want to be open jamming around 11BB or less, it's probably not terrible to do it a bit higher, especially as the big stack heads up.

If you want to get an idea of what you should be pushing with and calling with try playing with this calculator for a bit: HoldemResources.net: ICM Nash Calculator
It is important to note most players play too conservatively in this situation so jamming at a higher frequency yourself and folding to jams more frequently is often the superior play, which it seems your opponent may have been counting on.

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That sums it up nicely. Especially the last paragraph. A lot of people (including myself at times) get into a chip lead by playing tight conservative poker.. but then give it up because they fail to loosen up enough when it becomes a heads up battle.

good idea for you

recently i had the same issue in a high steaks game no limit 1.00 /2.00 and theis guy was pushing all in 300 or 400 every hand just stealing the blinds know one wanted too risk it all well i said ok ill play this guy waite till i know i havem well i did that only too lose 300 too 58 against my aa after 30 hands of him stealing well wouldnt you know it out comes 599 on the flop i just about shit myself.best advice is never bring all your bankroll onto the fealt because its devistating when you lose like i did.

channing73ny said:

recently i had the same issue in a high steaks game no limit 1.00 /2.00 and theis guy was pushing all in 300 or 400 every hand just stealing the blinds know one wanted too risk it all well i said ok ill play this guy waite till i know i havem well i did that only too lose 300 too 58 against my aa after 30 hands of him stealing well wouldnt you know it out comes 599 on the flop i just about shit myself.best advice is never bring all your bankroll onto the fealt because its devistating when you lose like i did.

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Not to nitpick or anything, but how does 58 beat AA on a 599 flop?

Heads up is all about selective aggression so after the first all in i prob would have called because i would imagine that some of those pairs were middle pairs. The you have a coin toss for all his money and you would still have a chance to keep playing if you lost. If you lose you lose. You can't control your opponet catching pairs.