The hand that put me down, but not out.

I'm playing at Sit and Go at Gutshot. It comes down to heads up, me (WildWest15) and BlUeMaGiK.

Players:
WildWest15 (4,155.00 in seat 2)
BlUeMaGiK (5,845.00 in seat 7)

Dealer: WildWest15
Big Blind: BlUeMaGiK (300)
Small Blind: WildWest15 (150)

WildWest15 was dealt: :4h: - :4s:

WildWest15 Raise (450)
BlUeMaGiK Call (300)

Flop :5h: - :Td: - :5d:

BlUeMaGiK Check
WildWest15 Bet (300)
BlUeMaGiK Call (300)

Turn :5h: - :Td: - :5d: - :Ks:

BlUeMaGiK Check
WildWest15 Bet (300)
BlUeMaGiK Raise (600)
WildWest15 Call (300)

River :5h: - :Td: - :5d: - :Ks: - :Qs:

BlUeMaGiK Bet (2,100)
WildWest15 Fold
BlUeMaGiK Payback (2,100)

BlUeMaGiK shows: :5c: - :7c: (three of a kind, fives)

BlUeMaGiK wins: 3,000.00 (with three of a kind, fives)

--
However, the next hand pretty much put me out.

Players:
WildWest15 (2,655.00 in seat 2)
BlUeMaGiK (7,345.00 in seat 7)

Dealer: BlUeMaGiK
Big Blind: WildWest15 (300)
Small Blind: BlUeMaGiK (150)

WildWest15 was dealt: :7d: - :8s:

BlUeMaGiK Call (150)
WildWest15 Check

Flop :4s: - :8c: - :Kd:

WildWest15 Check
BlUeMaGiK Bet (300)
WildWest15 Call (300)

Turn :4s: - :8c: - :Kd: - :4h:

WildWest15 Check
BlUeMaGiK Check

River :4s: - :8c: - :Kd: - :4h: - :9s:

WildWest15 Check
BlUeMaGiK Bet (650)
WildWest15 Call (650)

BlUeMaGiK shows: :6c: - :Kh: (two pairs, kings and fours)
WildWest15 didn't show: :7d: - :8s: (two pairs, eights and fours)

BlUeMaGiK wins: 2,500.00 (with two pairs, kings and fours)

--
After that, I was left with about 1,405. I later went all in 5 hands later with :qc: :3c:. I was called with :5d: :7d: and lost when a :7c: came on the flop. I had a flush draw off the flop, but never hit it. 5 7 suited is the death of me.

Would you guys have done something differently, given those 2 hands?

It's tough to play heads-up because you keep telling yourself, "They don't have that card." Half the time you're right, the other half you're wrong.

On the first hand with every card on the board bigger, I think you only had 2 options. 1 is bet bigger and hope to get him out, but since he had that 3rd 5, he's not laying it down. 2 is to check / call to the river and pray he doesn't have anything. It's a tough hand to play heads up, best to get your money in the pot pre-flop with low pocket pairs. That's the only time he'd have layed his hand down. But the problem I see with this hand is minimum raise all the way through, if you are gonig to raise, raise big. Apply pressure to your opponent. Put him under the gun on every decision.

2nd hand. Middle pair is a tough hand to go after. If you can improve, it's usually going to win you the hand, if you don't, you're usually beat, like a small pocket pairs. Again, the only 2 things to do are push harder or don't push at all. He won't lay down top pair, so you have to bet to find out if he has it.

It looks like this guy did a lot of trapping and slow playing on everything. I'm guessing that you were playing pretty meek and folding a lot. He only bet / check the big hands to get more action from you. Then again, I never once saw you bet anything more than the minimum raise. Betting does more than increase the pot.

Though you need to play smart. Don't forget that a lot of the heads up strategy has to do with whose balls are bigger.

The first hand I would've went all in preflop. In all likelyhood, at best its a coinflip with the slight edge to you, if they call. They could also call with a hand like A2, A3, or A4, which you're in very good shape against. Plus, they could very likely fold preflop and you pick up the blind there.

One other thing to consider. Another way a person could play it is to make a small preflop raise with your pocket 4s, and then shove all in on the flop no matter what hits. In all likelyhood, the flop will have 3 overs, they won't call without a pair, and will call with a pair. So, the opponent calls when they have you beat and folds when they don't. Very bad situation.

Now lets say you decide to shove all in preflop, and they call everytime when they would've called the small preflop raise in the other scenario. This time the opponent doesn't get the advantage of seeing if they hit on the flop before deciding whether to risk their entire stack. The hands they would've folded at the flop before are now still live, giving you a lot better chance of winning more on the hand, and the hands that do beat you on the flop would've had you in the first scenario as well, since they would've then called. So if they hit, its the same as before, but now you have the added advantage of having their money in the pot with you when you're the favorite after the flop.

So yeah, I like going all in preflop with small pocket pairs when heads up. You can't expect the hand to improve, so push in before they can see the board to see if their hand hits.

Hey, I just wanted to say thanks a lot to you guys for the feedback. I will definatley try to implement some of the things you said into my game. Once again, thank you.

-Kling