Monday, September 15, 2008

HUJ11: Working on adaptation

One of the skills I'm focusing on is how to better adapt to my opponents. Every heads-up player is different, and it's entirely possible that a fishy player's style could beat a solid player if the solid player fails to adjust.

There are so many variables, and the challenge is to read hands, predict your opponents' next moves, develop counterstrategies and expose leaks. Inducing mistakes and recognizing them ain't easy, but it's damn profitable.

Here's an unrelated hand where I'm glad I didn't raise the turn when I turned the straight and had the nut flush redraw:

Full Tilt Poker, $2/$4 NL Hold'em Cash Game, 2 Players
LeggoPoker.com - Hand History Converter


BB: $813

Hero (SB): $460

Pre-Flop: A T dealt to Hero (SB)
Hero raises to $12, BB calls $8

Flop: ($24) Q 3 J (2 Players)

BB checks, Hero bets $16, BB calls $16

Turn: ($56) K (2 Players)
BB bets $46, Hero calls $46

River: ($148) 8 (2 Players)
BB bets $125, Hero calls $125

Results: $398 Pot ($0.50 Rake)
BB showed 7 T (a flush, Queen high) and WON $397.50 (+$198.50 NET)
Hero mucked A T (a straight, Ace high) and LOST (-$199 NET)

The donkbet on the turn set off alarm bells, but it also seemed suspicious because most flushes or flush draws would check-raise the flop. Maybe I could have found a fold on the river, but I like my play.

The most important point of this hand is that there was no value in raising the turn. Most worse hands would fold, and all better hands would call.

Video watched: pr1nnyraiding ep. 8

I finally finished this series. It was a strong introduction to a general strategy against various player types. Its downside was that it didn't go far into deeper concepts, but I know other series will.

My plan for now is to keep watching videos and improving, mostly at the 2/4 level. It's kind of hard to find weak players at limits 5/10 and above, so I know I need to be better prepared before I take on many of the solid regulars.

I also intend to start taking a closer look at hand histories, which is something I haven't been doing as much since playing heads-up because so many decisions are circumstantial. But that's no excuse not to review and analyze my play.

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