Heads up - how to deal with opponents who only want to play 3-bet or fold?

J

Jordansimo

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Hi guys,

As in the title. Played a couple of frustrating (and losing) heads up SNG's against an opponent who quite literally wouldn't flat from the BB. I played him some months ago and won so I'm not sure if he had a note on me.

I opened to 2.5x but dropped to a min-raise and he was 3-betting me from 40 to about 180/210, probably once every four or five hands. I started limping from the button but he just raised my limps to about 80. I called with the top of my range which was playable post flop (KQs etc) but was just getting duff flops and c-bet off them.

He only opened a couple of buttons and opened from 3x and sometimes even 4/5x

Would appreciate any adjustment advice apart from call him a **** in the chat box (kidding kidding let's all be friends)

Thanks

Just a quick edit: I don't just mean this game in particular. There are a ton of players who are just raising to 3x and 3-betting from the big blind as if they are following a chart and not wanting to play post-flop.
 
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eurosTotnd

eurosTotnd

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i faced some of those oppenents type , out of position i played 18.5% of the range passively let them bluff me , in position i played agressively 24.5% of the range and 4 bet like 12% of my hands it paid off :D
 
pentazepam

pentazepam

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Some multi-tabling players really do play like robots/bot and probably by a chart or script pre-flop.

Just keep on mini-raising if they over-fold.

If they start to get really aggressive you can tighten up a little and limp some middle part of your range (if they seem to think your weak when limping throw in some strong hands to trap them when stacks get short).

You can also 4-bet more (often all-in later in the tournament if they 3-bet often).

If they open that big from button you of course tighten up your calling range.

I think you did most adjustments right. Just keep "small balling" if they want to play fewer hands for more money and try to steal as long as they allow it. And tighten up when they seem to want to put a lot of money in the pot.

Just be careful to tighten up to much in the end game against some "chart players". They avoid post flop in the beginning since they play many tables or are bad post. When stacks gets short they can be very aggressive and push with a lot of hands all-in. It is easy to think they started to get good hands but they can be pushing after a nash chart or similar which means they sometimes go all-in with a lot of hands say 20bb or less.
 
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fundiver199

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Cant help to wonder, if these mass multi tabling "chart players", who seem to avoid postflop, are even human? Heads up with focus on preflop is the easiest game to program a simple poker bot to play, because the bot basically only need to know its starting hand, how much is in the middle, and how much is left behind. Just saying. ;)
 
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megiverz1

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Call them with middle range or higher and raise them enough when you flop something decent. The part when he is folding does not change much, if you raise and he folds good for you.
 
kingleo720

kingleo720

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AJ+hand 4 bet or all-in,76,89 +hand call
 
Luvepoker

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Playing against this type of player is never easy. the only thing you can do is play outside your comfort zone. Against a opponent like this you will have to realize you will need to take calculated risk and gambles. When deep normally you would not be happy to get it all in on the flop with top pair but against them you may have to and realize you are most likely ahead. They will never make it easy on you and the variance is wider vs them but they can be beaten if you take a calculate rick. Good luck.
 
aGreen

aGreen

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For me 2 outs, be more agrassive with 4bets/push or tightting calls with good equity hands.
 
James_Harrison

James_Harrison

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Open anything higher than Queen 7 .. Use.. Intuition .. any tool .. any bit of information you have. Get it over with quickly, with sneaky overbets.

Yes, Ill let you know how it works out the next time im head up at a final table :D
 
Katie Dozier

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As others have said, widen your 4-bet range. I’d also try out (balanced) completing the small blind instead of raising and widening your 3-bet calling range. Keep in mind that any time an opponent’s strategy is causing you great frustration, there’s more of a chance that it is a winning strategy than if they are easier to play against.

So much of heads-up play is about making profitable adjustments to how your opponent is playing—which makes it both really fun and really challenging at times. Glglgl [emoji4]
 
ironduke11

ironduke11

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make the initial raise fairly hefty, of course provided you have better than marginal hands
 
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natelearnspoker

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Play a wide range and raise pretty much every hand because your opponent will fold half the time. You can call the 3 bet with a narrower range of decent hands and play like you normally would.
 
RimworldDoctor

RimworldDoctor

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Play a wide range and raise pretty much every hand because your opponent will fold half the time. You can call the 3 bet with a narrower range of decent hands and play like you normally would.

This is the only thing you can do. Call the 3bet when your range is better. Calling is an art that varies by opponent.
 
yezzrr

yezzrr

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I like playing against something like this.. it allows me to get tricky on later streets.
 
el_soma77

el_soma77

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With these types of players we should change the strategy completely, that is, if 3bet is all-in or fold, we cannot re-raise, on the contrary, it is all or nothing, and if we are going to get involved in a hand, we must enter with a super strong hand, we must also wait for the precise moment to be able to capture it ...

poker is like fish, we must be very patient ...
 
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Rabberto71

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I would say put in a bigger raise/re-raise, normally slows them down a bit:)
 
NWPatriot

NWPatriot

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Good stuff!

Heads up (3 handed also) is a different animal. We do need to be adaptable and find ways to disrupt whatever tendencies our opponent has. Letting them think they have the upper hand, allows us to sneak in when they least expect it.

I used to think that position wasn't as important with just 2 players, but have since convinced myself that it is still important, especially if we are continually getting to a flop. I like to have bigger pots in position and smaller pots when out of position. I like to have stronger ranges when out of position. This is a starting point when heads-up, and then I will adjust as I learn how my opponent is behaving and see some tendencies. This wasn't a specific answer to your question, but maybe it will help someone.

Good luck and God Bless.
 
demesquita

demesquita

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Adjust your limping range to not give the opportunity to the raiser, adjust the range of 4-betting, play smart. Those types of guys never last very long.
 
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karl coakley

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In poker you can't be afraid. If you have a good enough hand to raise you should have a good enough hand to call a larger bet.

Let's see a flop.

If the villain is shoving over your raise, that's a totally different decision.

Nothing wrong with big pot poker. Just tighten your range a little.
 
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