https://www.cardschat.com/replayer/124xJo1eb

Hello everyone, hope you are all doing well and staying safe. I recently got heads up in a 45 man SNG with a chip deficit. After check calling twice with a marginal hand (link above) I thought the river Ace bringing a straight was a decent chance to bluff what was surely not the best hand. Curious for feedback on this one

thanks!

With A you would play all-in preflop.
Therefore, bluffing is very bad.

I am by no means a heads-up specialist, but here is my take on the hand:

Preflop
Checking seem very standard here. No reason to go crazy out of position with suited junk like this.

Flop
You connected, so folding is clearly not an option heads up. You could however go for a check-raise to protect your hand, since your pair is so small. It sucks, if you get action, but when you check-call, all turns are going to suck as well, unless you improve, or he check back. I could go both ways here, so just mentioning, that there was a different way to play the hand.

Turn
As played I would probably just fold now, unless you had a feeling, he had been completely out of line. You have a very bad pair and no draw, and his bet was pretty large.

River
First of all I dont agree, you are always behind. And if you think so, why did you call the turn bet? You can not call such a large bet only hoping to hit trips or two pair. You still beat busted clubs and air other than the air, that rivered top pair. So I think, you have enough showdown value to check and basically hope, he gives up and check behind. You dont however have enough showdown value to check-call. But this is the time, you can consider turning your hand into a bluff by check-jamming to really represent a 4, especially if his river bet is on the small side.

Your play is standard and correct until the turn. With a second barrel being fired and it being a larger % of pot bet than the flop, I think with only a pair of 3s and no draw this should be a fold. If you are going to call as you did then thats acceptable but there would not be too many folds you would have on the river. The turn in this hand is a classic example of how you must think a street ahead and not in a vacuum when making an action. If you are going to call the turn then you really should be thinking of calling almost all river bets unless they are on the large side. Calling the turn and then folding the river if the bet is half pot or less would be a mistake so you must be thinking about the river when you call the turn (meaning you must be prepared to call the river bet if you are calling turn).

The bluff on the river to me is unnecessary since you should have only called the turn thinking you were already ahead. If that is the case then there should be no need to bluff and you should use your pair of 3s as a bluff catcher (I don't personally like that line of play but if you are calling the turn thats what you should be doing).

Originally Posted by levidoff

With A you would play all-in preflop.
Therefore, bluffing is very bad.

Thanks for the reply tho at 19bb effective I wouldn't be shoving all aces preflop

Originally Posted by fundiver199

I am by no means a heads-up specialist, but here is my take on the hand:

Preflop
Checking seem very standard here. No reason to go crazy out of position with suited junk like this.

Flop
You connected, so folding is clearly not an option heads up. You could however go for a check-raise to protect your hand, since your pair is so small. It sucks, if you get action, but when you check-call, all turns are going to suck as well, unless you improve, or he check back. I could go both ways here, so just mentioning, that there was a different way to play the hand.

Turn
As played I would probably just fold now, unless you had a feeling, he had been completely out of line. You have a very bad pair and no draw, and his bet was pretty large.

River
First of all I dont agree, you are always behind. And if you think so, why did you call the turn bet? You can not call such a large bet only hoping to hit trips or two pair. You still beat busted clubs and air other than the air, that rivered top pair. So I think, you have enough showdown value to check and basically hope, he gives up and check behind. You dont however have enough showdown value to check-call. But this is the time, you can consider turning your hand into a bluff by check-jamming to really represent a 4, especially if his river bet is on the small side.

Hello friend, thank you very much for such a well thought out and elaborated response. Looking at this hand again a couple weeks later (not remembering any reads I may have had at the time) I agree upon replaying the hand that the turn bet was too large to just call. Check raising the flop and then barreling the turn on any middling cards except a 4 I think would be a decent option. Or do you think just checkraising the flop and then checking every turn? Sometimes when I XR bottom pair type hands as a semi-bluff (semi in the sense I could often have the best hand on the flop but any subsequent cards coming out will likely damage my equity) I don't know whether to continue betting or not on turns and which ones are better for checks or bets. Would definitely be a bad ass bluff to get through check raising the river all in as played after two check calls. What value hands would triple barrel though that I could get to fold? No ace is folding, no set, perhaps two pair? I dont think he has many single pairs that bet the river (maybe an ace) and I guess his bluffs (flop gutshots and flush draws) would fold

Originally Posted by 300HPGOD

Your play is standard and correct until the turn. With a second barrel being fired and it being a larger % of pot bet than the flop, I think with only a pair of 3s and no draw this should be a fold. If you are going to call as you did then thats acceptable but there would not be too many folds you would have on the river. The turn in this hand is a classic example of how you must think a street ahead and not in a vacuum when making an action. If you are going to call the turn then you really should be thinking of calling almost all river bets unless they are on the large side. Calling the turn and then folding the river if the bet is half pot or less would be a mistake so you must be thinking about the river when you call the turn (meaning you must be prepared to call the river bet if you are calling turn).

The bluff on the river to me is unnecessary since you should have only called the turn thinking you were already ahead. If that is the case then there should be no need to bluff and you should use your pair of 3s as a bluff catcher (I don't personally like that line of play but if you are calling the turn thats what you should be doing).

Makes sense how you explained that, thank you. Yeah I agree, no reason to continue against that turn size with this holding, as I wouldn't feel comfortable check calling the river. I definitely don't feel like I'm ahead most of the time when I call the turn there.