Is this one of those hands...

that you will find yourself playing against mediocre LAGs/maniacs? And that while these players are where you bread and butter comes from, crazy hands come with the territory?
Obviously i could've approached it different ways, but how?

No hand history. Something is screwy with the computer receiving the downloads, however i wrote some of the information and remember the rest.

Heads up with villain. 6 -max table had petered out.
Like i said, villain seemed to be a mediocre lag, possibly even a maniac. Had a short stack that was fluctuating. Seemed to bet out alot, bet out of position, but not take down pots, give up facing resistance, and lose some pots at showdown. I was multitabling so couldn't get a more specific read than this.

Stacks (give or take some cents):

Hero: $238
Villain: $81

Blinds: .50/1.00
Villian has button.

Hero is dealt Ad Jd.

Hero completes.
Villain raises to $2.
Hero calls.

(I know, I know. I've been employing couterplay strategy recently when dealing with maniacs/terrible LAGs. It seems to be working nicely, but is this taking it to the extreme?)

Flop: As 2h 8d
Pot: 4$

Hero checks. Villain bets $2, Hero raises to $5, Villain calls.

(I'm ahead here, right? Villain seemed the type to preflop push or significantly raise up AQ or better. )

Turn: Kh
Pot: $18

Hero bets 9$, Villain calls.

(Bet more, or check raise again seem much better. This bet was read-dependant on villain, however, as villain had shown to make or call any crazy bet, but bow out against further resistance.)

River: 10c
Pot: $35

Hero checks, Villain bets $20, Hero ???

(To be honest, this river scared me. I couldn't put villain on a range. Thought about A10, i was guessing a weaker ace. Maybe JQ, chasing. Though both of would seem to warrant a higher preflop raise. Villain was preflop min-raising much, and not winning those pots. There was action on three tables at this point, and i believe in hindsight that this would should garner the most attention.)

The play?

Play faster and bust him already

Originally Posted by Fnord

Play faster and bust him already

What might you put the villain on?

This might be foreshadowing, but this one was a shocker.

First off - I can't see counterplay being good for heads up. Aggressive play is optimal for HU. If you feel pots will get uncontrollable with marginal hands against this guy, then leave the table. I wouldn't multitable and have one HU table going anyway. Doesn't seem like a good combination since it's going to be your turn at all times on one table and mostly this one.

I'm not a fan of raising to 2bb HU or ever. I don't play much HU, but I don't think it accomplishes much...especially against somebody who will call with any two. Like Fnord mentioned, increase your bets on each street. And don't check a river to a LAGG when you were strong the whole way. They will raise regardless which tells you nothing. Now if he reraises your river bet, then you can let it go if necessary. But, I think if you bet higher on each street, you will get a better indication of his hand before this.

HU is about aggression unless you are playing a super aggro.
half or all my stack may very well be in on the turn HU here.
Play a lot faster and a lot harder imo

AA

Originally Posted by r8ed

First off - I can't see counterplay being good for heads up. Aggressive play is optimal for HU. If you feel pots will get uncontrollable with marginal hands against this guy, then leave the table. I wouldn't multitable and have one HU table going anyway. Doesn't seem like a good combination since it's going to be your turn at all times on one table and mostly this one.

I'm not a fan of raising to 2bb HU or ever. I don't play much HU, but I don't think it accomplishes much...especially against somebody who will call with any two. Like Fnord mentioned, increase your bets on each street. And don't check a river to a LAGG when you were strong the whole way. They will raise regardless which tells you nothing. Now if he reraises your river bet, then you can let it go if necessary. But, I think if you bet higher on each street, you will get a better indication of his hand before this.

True enough. I wasn't seeking out heads up, the table had just filtered perhaps one hand earlier out quickly filled up again. It isn't a good idea and can get very hectic. The counterplay was the gear i was in and didn't switch. Usually i'll just sit, but this seemed like prime pickings, and was.
I didn't preflop raise, but called. But, yes perhaps potting the turn was called for. On the river, I checked to induce a bet, considering my read on villain, assuming she'd try to steal against weakness but laydown to a bet.

Originally Posted by Miffed22001

HU is about aggression unless you are playing a super aggro.
half or all my stack may very well be in on the turn HU here.
Play a lot faster and a lot harder imo

True, though i couldn't tell if villain was super aggro or just plain bad, i. e. "hey, maybe by middle pair will be good all the way through"
Had donted perhaps 3/4 buyin to me before this, and some afterwards, making plays similar.

But I agree with the replies, that I'm straightforward TAG when not counterplaying. I find the counterplaying incredibly effective against certain players, especially loose ones that think just a little bit. Even with this counterplaying strategy, the flop will come cheap, and maybe even a turn, but the river and a showdown are going to hurt.

Anyhow, thanx for the replies.
The result is what I wanted feedback about. I called the river and villain turn over 28o, for the flopped two pair.
Considering the title of this post, is this just one of those hands? Even though I lost a $50 pot, villain had donked off well over a buyin to me alone playing this exact same way, while sitting on one middle pair, and should i just shrug and say meh, it happens? In the same way villain rode middle pair to the river, I knew i wasnt pushing him off of two pair.
Is it too results oriented to say, whew, i'm glad I didn't play for stacks like my gut told me too?