HU v aggressive loose drunk villain

#1 June 15th, 2020, 2:57 AM

Quick one hopefully, playing home game this week

8 man tournament down to HU between myself and known villain. He is playing crazy loose. Stacks pretty much equal at about 10BB.

I raise on Btn with AJo, he shoves - I consider his very loose range and call. He shows 82o and hits an 8 to win,

This highlights how vulnerable good hands are against even junk. Was my logic sound that I was likely getting 2:1 odds (as it turned out) or minimum a coin flip with large blinds and that I just write it off as a bad job (pat on the back for trusting read) ?

Or due to the poor nature of his play, do I hang on and aggress more to win smaller pots until I have something better?

#2 June 15th, 2020, 8:19 AM

If you fold to his shoves, he's going to gain confidence and shove more. He may also be aware that his inebriated state means he's a disadvantage so will favour getting things done quickly.

Either way I don't think you can guarantee the win if villain is determined to shove, you just to have to find good spots like you did and accept the outcome.

#3 June 15th, 2020, 6:52 PM

Heads up against this type of player, this was a good call. Some days we are just sitting in the wrong chair and another person is sitting in the hot seat of the day that does not lose.

#4 June 15th, 2020, 7:26 PM

I think it was a good call. Some days your opponent is just sitting in the winning chair and there is no way you are going to win on some days. This is an example of poker luck for villain. Some days, the luck runs better than skill. Well, in poker. Most days are like that.

#5 June 15th, 2020, 9:06 PM

Thanks for the replies - was confident I did the right thing but great to get some confirmation. Particularly because confidence is such a major part of playing a winning style of poker, which is aggressive enough to take risks but not be a maniac obviously. A few bad beats can then undermine your whole strategy and then you start questioning all your decisions.

Having followed the 30 days to being a winnig poker player, I introduced a number of the concepts and seemed to lose a lot initially, now I am seeing the rewards. Whilst variance makes so much sense, actually fully accepting it is such a difficult thing. I'm getting there!

#6 June 22nd, 2020, 10:09 AM

I like to to limp with good cards in HU, especially with big pairs. A lot of times they go all in, I call and win a lot of times. When it comes to your situation, I don't think you played bad but it could have been avoided.

#7 June 22nd, 2020, 10:52 AM

Heads up is the crucial stage of any tournament.

What happened to You should always remind you that no matter how strong a hand is on the preflop, there is always a risk of losing it. Therefore, make such decisions, after which you will not wonder whether you did the right thing by playing all in. Choose the best situation to pull the trigger. Of course, both in distance and in mathematics, you play absolutely accurately. But it is not always reassuring when an opponent with a terrible hand wins and takes good prizes. Good luck! HU v aggressive loose drunk villain

#8 June 22nd, 2020, 10:55 AM

At 10BBs effective stacks, you have to call. You're way ahead of his range and just got unlucky. You must not look at this hand and be disappointed you lost; you should be pleased you got it in good. In the long term you win.

#9 June 22nd, 2020, 4:52 PM

I think that with AJ, money already in the pot, and stack sizes of 10bbs you can call any player.

#10 June 24th, 2020, 9:23 PM

You can't let a villain with terrible cards take your pot. He wouldn't let you go to the flop with even a better hand. There is no other way out.

#11 June 29th, 2020, 6:39 PM

Originally Posted by eberetta1

Heads up against this type of player, this was a good call. Some days we are just sitting in the wrong chair and another person is sitting in the hot seat of the day that does not lose.

100% agree here. A frustrating part of poker is how sometimes you do "everything right" and lose while others do stupid things for wrong reasons and win. What we must realize (or try to realize) is that this is short term and that long term we made a good play - have faith in the system and keep learning.

Also, exactly how "loose" was your drunken HU opponent? LAG players are probably one of the toughest to play against HU (especially with short stacks), but HU we are still able to play almost every starting hand. In fact, some HU players NEVER fold preflop (if they choose this route though, then they must adjust their range for limping more solid hands to disguise the weaker holdings). I think this is a bit extreme, as I've been known to fold a few HU starting hands, but most players are probably still playing 90% of the starting hands they are dealt HU.

#12 June 29th, 2020, 10:18 PM

Originally Posted by Phoenix Wright

100% agree here. A frustrating part of poker is how sometimes you do "everything right" and lose while others do stupid things for wrong reasons and win. What we must realize (or try to realize) is that this is short term and that long term we made a good play - have faith in the system and keep learning.

Also, exactly how "loose" was your drunken HU opponent? LAG players are probably one of the toughest to play against HU (especially with short stacks), but HU we are still able to play almost every starting hand. In fact, some HU players NEVER fold preflop (if they choose this route though, then they must adjust their range for limping more solid hands to disguise the weaker holdings). I think this is a bit extreme, as I've been known to fold a few HU starting hands, but most players are probably still playing 90% of the starting hands they are dealt HU.

Thanks for the reply - as I thought regards bad luck and fortunately I'm fairly ok with the concept of variance and it doesn't bother me too much but was interested in a bit of feedback to understand the scenarios. I was trying to understand if because he shoved over the top of my open raise, whether I should have called. Throughout the game he was all over the place and showing all sorts of hands and being a known villain I know he likes to pick spots to agress rather than play the cards.

Similar Threads for: HU v aggressive loose drunk villain
Thread	Replies	Last Post	Forum
Loose-Aggressive Poker Strategy	5	August 11th, 2020 8:40 AM	Learning Poker
The 2 main types of loose aggressive. Am I correct?	7	March 18th, 2020 8:37 AM	Learning Poker
€20 NLHE 6-max: My set against his possible flush(?) (semi-loose villain)	7	November 1st, 2019 2:12 PM	Cash Game Hand Analysis

Similar Threads for: HU v aggressive loose drunk villain > Texas Hold'em Poker
Thread	Replies	Last Post	Forum
Loose-Aggressive Poker Strategy	5	August 11th, 2020 8:40 AM	Learning Poker
The 2 main types of loose aggressive. Am I correct?	7	March 18th, 2020 8:37 AM	Learning Poker
€20 NLHE 6-max: My set against his possible flush(?) (semi-loose villain)	7	November 1st, 2019 2:12 PM	Cash Game Hand Analysis

HU v aggressive loose drunk villain

Why more than 330,317 poker players have joined CardsChat