Is a 9 handed SB vs BB the same as playing headsup?

Is a 9 handed SB vs BB the same as playing headsup?

Imagine you are in the BB

With 7 player folding, would SB be shoving with a stronger hand than in heads up in the same position?

We can imagine he has increase odds of having A or K because 7 previous players folded. Making it more likely those players had J and under cards. Than boardway cards.

But there is also 1 BB worth of ante in play lots of free money.

So which shove against you would be stronger?

Assuming it is a 15 BB SB vs your 7.5BB?

blix177 said:

Is a 9 handed SB vs BB the same as playing headsup?

Imagine you are in the BB

With 7 player folding, would SB be shoving with a stronger hand than in heads up in the same position?

We can imagine he has increase odds of having A or K because 7 previous players folded. Making it more likely those players had J and under cards. Than boardway cards.

But there is also 1 BB worth of ante in play lots of free money.

So which shove against you would be stronger?

Assuming it is a 15 BB SB vs your 7.5BB?

Click to expand...

In HU the BB acts first after the flop because SB=Dealer/Button. That is a major difference giving the SB position post flop, so that might be an incentive for SB to not shove as much.

I don't think you can increase the odds of SB having A or K because, unless you are very short stacked because A2o, K6o etc. are very bad hands that could have easily been folded.

The extra money would probably mean that the SB would come in the pot with a wider range. If the only options were to fold or shove, then the hands shoving would be weaker on average.

The main difference is, that SB has position postflop in heads-up. This give more incentive for mini-raising or using 2,5X and less incentive for limping or showing.

I may push to defend my number of times that I do this and I always take my hand by putting strength in my hand.

Ignoring the betting strategy for a moment, if the question is "is it more likely for a single player to have a top 20% hand if 9 players are dealt cards than if only 2 players are dealt cards?" Well, yes, it is more likely.

Each specific player has a 20% chance of being dealt a top 20% hand. It is likely that a table of 9 players, 2 people should have a top 20% hand. If no-one in the hand has opened the pot, then it is reasonable to assume the SB may have one.

In a heads-up match where only two players are being dealt cards, it is quite likely that neither player will have a top 20% hand.

So, I would say Yes, there is a difference.

Good luck, God bless.

blix177 said:

Is a 9 handed SB vs BB the same as playing headsup?

Imagine you are in the BB

With 7 player folding, would SB be shoving with a stronger hand than in heads up in the same position?

We can imagine he has increase odds of having A or K because 7 previous players folded. Making it more likely those players had J and under cards. Than boardway cards.

But there is also 1 BB worth of ante in play lots of free money.

So which shove against you would be stronger?

Assuming it is a 15 BB SB vs your 7.5BB?

Click to expand...

If I understand the situation, you are in the BB with 7.5BB, and the SB is shoving into a 2.5BB pot with a larger stack. Chances are they are doing this with every hand, because the fold equity and stack size makes it the right move.

The median hand is Q5o, which means most hands are pretty bad when facing an all in. If the small blind thinks you will fold trash, they should shove any two cards. Even when you call, SB will likely have a 1/3 chance of winning at worst.

So what should a 7.5BB stack do when SB goes all in, making the pot effectively 10BB? Probably you should call with almost any hand. Even with no fold equity, you are getting good odds. I would call with any suited cards, anything remotely connected (like 63o+), and anything JX+. Best hand I would fold would be T5o.