T
The_Pup
Rock Star
Silver Level
I played a HU tourney tonight against a player who had me completely flummoxed. It was a $6.25, 4 player HU, winner takes all. I quickly won my first game, so I went to take a look at the other table to see how the other finalist would play. The game was odd. With average stacks of 1500 and blinds at 50/100 moving up to 200/400 every hand was limped by the button and both players pretty much checked to the showdown. Neither of them took the initiative: there was no raising preflop at all, and if anyone hit the board a min raise would get a fold. I watched both players limp with AJ+ hands and check to the river with quality made hands. The game ended when one player was blinded out and their Q7o fell to J8s.
So, I get to play the winner and it turns out they are the instigator of the weirdness. My initial strategy was to place value bets, lots of small pots and get fairly aggressive. The first thing I noticed was that the villain would limp a pot and check down as they had done previously - it was as if they had they 'auto fold' button ticked. But if I put in any bet they would call or even double it. Within ten hands or so I was down 2000/4000 as my value bets on flop or turn had been cracked by a river card. It continued like this for 15 minutes until I was dead.
A typical hand would be: I get QTs on button and raise; villain calls; villain auto checks flop; I bet half pot; villain calls; check, check, check, check to showdown and villain takes pot with K5o to a A7827 board. It went on and on like this, if I bet they called or raised, if I checked they checked. Common strategies such as raising from BB and betting any flop (which usually gets a fold 4/5 time) just didn't work; check raising wasn't an option as they didn't bet and any kind of bluff was out of the question.
The most exasperating thing was catching a bit of the flop (say Js8d to a 8h5hQh flop), value betting and getting raised an amount I couldn't call or a call that left me weak on the turn.
The question is, was I up against:
a) a computer program?
b) an idiot?
c) a genius on a level I don't understand?
d) someone having a laugh at lower stakes?
So, I get to play the winner and it turns out they are the instigator of the weirdness. My initial strategy was to place value bets, lots of small pots and get fairly aggressive. The first thing I noticed was that the villain would limp a pot and check down as they had done previously - it was as if they had they 'auto fold' button ticked. But if I put in any bet they would call or even double it. Within ten hands or so I was down 2000/4000 as my value bets on flop or turn had been cracked by a river card. It continued like this for 15 minutes until I was dead.
A typical hand would be: I get QTs on button and raise; villain calls; villain auto checks flop; I bet half pot; villain calls; check, check, check, check to showdown and villain takes pot with K5o to a A7827 board. It went on and on like this, if I bet they called or raised, if I checked they checked. Common strategies such as raising from BB and betting any flop (which usually gets a fold 4/5 time) just didn't work; check raising wasn't an option as they didn't bet and any kind of bluff was out of the question.
The most exasperating thing was catching a bit of the flop (say Js8d to a 8h5hQh flop), value betting and getting raised an amount I couldn't call or a call that left me weak on the turn.
The question is, was I up against:
a) a computer program?
b) an idiot?
c) a genius on a level I don't understand?
d) someone having a laugh at lower stakes?