Heads up at the end of S&G

I'm coming 2nd a lot. Not sure if I'm just playing it wrong.

I tend to be happy going AI with any two picture cards, or even something like A5+. I'm I being too broad. It seems like sometimes I let people run over me (i.e., they steal my blind but then reraise my raise attempt) sometimes, but then when I put a stop to it I end up the worse. Heres a few example hands, can I get some feedback on them?


PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero (t7765)
Button (t5735)

Preflop: Hero is BB with Q, J.
Button calls t100, Hero raises to t800, Button raises to t1500, Hero raises to t2600, Button raises to t5200, Hero raises to t6800, Button raises to t10835, Hero calls t735.

Flop: (t18370) 4, K, 3 (2 players)

Turn: (t18370) 7 (2 players)

River: (t18370) 3 (2 players)

Final Pot: t18370


This next one had gone from 4k-8k my favor to this. Mainly from steals/resteals, I decided to draw a line in the sand before I got overtaken by a more aggressive opponent.
PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

BB (t6645)
Hero (t6855)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A, 6.
Hero raises to t700, BB raises to t1200, Hero raises to t3000, BB raises to t4800, Hero raises to t9130, BB calls t1820 (All-In).

Flop: (t15750) 5, 2, T (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t15750) 8 (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t15750) 9 (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t15750



PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (2 handed) Hand History Converter Tool from FlopTurnRiver.com (Format: FlopTurnRiver)

Hero (t3420)
Button (t10080)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 5, 5.
Button raises to t600, Hero raises to t3420, Button calls t2820.

Flop: (t6840) 2, 4, K (2 players)

Turn: (t6840) J (2 players)

River: (t6840) T (2 players)

Final Pot: t6840

First off, you'll find that there's a lot more luck involved heads up at the end of an SNG. Essentially you're pushing any decent hand, and hoping to be 60/40 most of the time. In the first hand, I would fold to the reraise. You both have tons of chips, so there's room to play poker. Don't get AI with QJ with blinds that low.

Second hand is tougher. If blinds were at 300/600, this is an easy shove. At 200, it's an easy raise. However, you have enough chips left behind to fold to the reraise. If you really think he's making a play on you, just shove all in over his reraise. Otherwise, fold and outplay him before the blinds get outrageous.

Considering villain's stack size in the third hand, I don't mind this. You need to double up to have a shot at first; on the other hand, you still have plenty of chips left to play with if you fold. I think this is a good shove if you have a strong read that villain is trying to steal. Otherwise, fold begrudgingly and, once again, look to outplay him in the next few hands. Hope all this helped, if not, ask some more questions.

Hand 1: 7-bet (!) with QJo? It's not a premium hand, m8.
Hand 2: ditto. Draw you line in the sand, but choose a hand less likely to be dominated (even such as 56s)
Hand 3: Raise pre, but try to see a flop. I advocate pushing heads-up only w/ 99 or better (+AK, AQ). However, my heads-up play sucks, so don't listen to me.

Ok, so my raising range is probably ok, but my AI range needs to tighten up? Sounds right.

Hand 2 I went back and reviewed the tourney. In reality there were only 2 resteals, but he was also stealing every time he was SB. Reading over it, it appears maybe it seemed worse than it was to me at the time.

Hand 3 wasnt a strong read that he was trying to steal, but my thinking was he was about 40% stealing, 30% raising with unpaired hands (Ax or 2 pictures), and 30% had me beat from the go. More just 'odds of it happenning in HU' than a specific read.

Hand 1 - I agree with zachaser, just fold to the re-raise. You're behind any ace, any king and you have lots of chips behind.

Hand 2 - just call the re-raise and see a flop, you're deep enough to see a flop here. You could then likely get it AI on that flop with the nut flush draw and an overcard and probably have more FE postflop than preflop.

Hand 3 - this is fine, I play it the same against this villain. Pocket pairs fare very well preflop and you've got some FE here too.

Yeah, I realise I see very few flops HU, I need to realise sometimes its ok to just play poker at that stage.

argh just shove over if you are RRd and want to play. this minrereraise thing is horrible and i dont see the point. just put hte chips in, its good that you posted these coz these are the reasons you are coming in second alot.

try experiment with playing small-ball instead of just sticking chips in the middle recklessly and blaming luck for losing.

Sry sounds harsh but try play smaller pots HU and get a feel for opp, often times opp's can see a flop for cheap,hit second pair and stack off to your TP. you are a massive favourite then, remember shoving allin can indeed be +EV but may not be the most EV you can get,

One of those mini-raise fests was due to unplugging my laptop and it being a real hassle to use the slider or click in the text box to do raises, thats not normally my style. Not sure about the other one though, thats not normally my style, if anything I'm usually too keen to get into push/fold mode.

Agreed, I need to play some poker HU rather than gambooling every hand.

Not harsh, I like critism, its improved my game a lot so far, and hopefully this does the same.