HU, JJ with A on flop, $20+2 6-man at FTP

I don't know if I played this badly or not. This guy had eliminated the other four players and pretty much thought he was invincible by this point (he called an all-in from a not-so-short stack with Q9 and hit a straight). I had just taken a big pot off him the hand before, the biggest one he lost the whole tourney.

In retrospect I think I should have reraised more preflop or even pushed. What to do on flop?

Full Tilt Poker Game #1828774119: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (13582326), Table 1 - 25/50 - No Limit Hold'em - 8:33:31 ET - 2007/02/19
Seat 1: baudib (2,740)
Seat 4: xist (6,260)
xist posts the small blind of 25
baudib posts the big blind of 50
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to baudib [Jd Jh]
xist raises to 150
baudib raises to 500
xist calls 350
*** FLOP *** [4h 8c Ad]
baudib checks
xist bets 1,000
baudib ???

baudib raises to 2,240, and is all in
xist calls 1,240
baudib shows [Jd Jh]
xist shows [Kh 8s]
*** TURN *** [4h 8c Ad] [9d]
*** RIVER *** [4h 8c Ad 9d] [5d]
baudib shows a pair of Jacks
xist shows a pair of Eights
baudib wins the pot (5,480) with a pair of Jacks
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 5,480 | Rake 0
Board: [4h 8c Ad 9d 5d]
Seat 1: baudib (big blind) showed [Jd Jh] and won (5,480) with a pair of Jacks
Seat 4: xist (small blind) showed [Kh 8s] and lost with a pair of Eights

I think that you played it fine considering your read on player. HU, you have to think that your JJ is good. I learned from Rizen that when HU, the highest card on the flop can be discounted and replaced with a "2". Example with this flop: 4h 8c Ad would be 4h 8c 2d. The reason why is because it is highly unlikely that he has an Ace because you are HU and the way he played his hand.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you guys have fairly deep stacks compared to blinds. You can't push preflop here because you are losing value with JJ. JJ is a very strong hand HU. You want him to call. Especially since he over plays his hands and is so loose.

This is later in the same HU match, this hand confused me and led to the next hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #1828779851: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (13582326), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 8:36:20 ET - 2007/02/19
Seat 1: baudib (7,140)
Seat 4: xist (1,860)
baudib posts the small blind of 30
xist posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to baudib [Td Jc]
baudib calls 30
xist raises to 120
baudib calls 60
*** FLOP *** [2h 5d Kc]
xist checks
baudib checks
*** TURN *** [2h 5d Kc] [Ts]
xist checks
baudib checks
*** RIVER *** [2h 5d Kc Ts] [3h]
xist bets 1,740, and is all in
baudib folds
Uncalled bet of 1,740 returned to xist
xist mucks
xist wins the pot (240)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 240 | Rake 0
Board: [2h 5d Kc Ts 3h]
Seat 1: baudib (small blind) folded on the River
Seat 4: xist (big blind) collected (240), mucked

I usually never make this call, but I was so annoyed for donkplaying top pair away, plus I wanted to see exactly how far he was willing to go on a bluff.


Full Tilt Poker Game #1828781948: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (13582326), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 8:37:24 ET - 2007/02/19
Seat 1: baudib (7,110)
Seat 4: xist (1,890)
xist posts the small blind of 30
baudib posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #4
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to baudib [Kd 6d]
xist raises to 120
baudib calls 60
*** FLOP *** [Ks 9c Qd]
baudib checks
xist bets 60
baudib calls 60
*** TURN *** [Ks 9c Qd] [Ts]
baudib checks
xist bets 360
baudib calls 360
*** RIVER *** [Ks 9c Qd Ts] [7c]
baudib checks
xist bets 1,350, and is all in
baudib calls 1,350
*** SHOW DOWN ***
xist shows [3h Jh] (a straight, King high)
baudib mucks
xist wins the pot (3,780) with a straight, King high
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 3,780 | Rake 0
Board: [Ks 9c Qd Ts 7c]
Seat 1: baudib (big blind) mucked [Kd 6d] - a pair of Kings
Seat 4: xist (small blind) showed [3h Jh] and won (3,780) with a straight, King high


BTW, I used the info gained from the JJ hand to lead to these two hands:

Hand 1: Donked up all the way, but I intended to bluff this pot all the way.

Full Tilt Poker Game #1828786194: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (13582326), Table 1 - 30/60 - No Limit Hold'em - 8:39:28 ET - 2007/02/19
Seat 1: baudib (4,830)
Seat 4: xist (4,170)
baudib posts the small blind of 30
xist posts the big blind of 60
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to baudib [4d 9h]
baudib calls 30
xist raises to 180
baudib calls 120
*** FLOP *** [Kd Qh As]
xist bets 60
baudib raises to 360
xist calls 300
*** TURN *** [Kd Qh As] [6s]
xist checks
baudib bets 660
xist folds
Uncalled bet of 660 returned to baudib
baudib shows [4d 9h] (Ace King high)
baudib wins the pot (1,080)
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,080 | Rake 0
Board: [Kd Qh As 6s]
Seat 1: baudib (small blind) collected (1,080)
Seat 4: xist (big blind) folded on the Turn

claimed he had QJ


Full Tilt Poker Game #1828790924: $20 + $2 Sit & Go (13582326), Table 1 - 40/80 - No Limit Hold'em - 8:41:47 ET - 2007/02/19
Seat 1: baudib (5,790)
Seat 4: xist (3,210)
baudib posts the small blind of 40
xist posts the big blind of 80
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to baudib [Jh 8d]
baudib calls 40
xist raises to 240
baudib calls 160
*** FLOP *** [5s Js Ac]
xist bets 240
baudib calls 240
*** TURN *** [5s Js Ac] [7h]
xist bets 500
baudib calls 500
*** RIVER *** [5s Js Ac 7h] [5h]
xist checks
baudib checks
*** SHOW DOWN ***
xist shows [Tc Ks] (a pair of Fives)
baudib shows [Jh 8d] (two pair, Jacks and Fives)
baudib wins the pot (1,960) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,960 | Rake 0
Board: [5s Js Ac 7h 5h]
Seat 1: baudib (small blind) showed [Jh 8d] and won (1,960) with two pair, Jacks and Fives
Seat 4: xist (big blind) showed [Tc Ks] and lost with a pair of Fives

Originally Posted by Sprayed

I think that you played it fine considering your read on player. HU, you have to think that your JJ is good. I learned from Rizen that when HU, the highest card on the flop can be discounted and replaced with a "2". Example with this flop: 4h 8c Ad would be 4h 8c 2d. The reason why is because it is highly unlikely that he has an Ace because you are HU and the way he played his hand.

The other thing to keep in mind is that you guys have fairly deep stacks compared to blinds. You can't push preflop here because you are losing value with JJ. JJ is a very strong hand HU. You want him to call. Especially since he over plays his hands and is so loose.

yeah, I have heard about taking off the top card before. however, I usually treat aces as special cases and against a lot of other players I'd probably check-fold...

Small blinds are smaaaalllllllll, what is going on here?

I fail at HU only.

ya, I can't honestly say I played this well but as small as the blinds were, I felt there was a good enough chance that he didn't have a better hand that the size of the pot was irresistible.

I would have estimated I was 70 percent to be good here....

What I want to know is if this is really a standard fold...I can't recall making a play quite like this with such a big stack relative to blinds.