Quick 6-seat SNG with great Heads Up battle

Poker Strategy Hand Review
1

First hand of a 6-seat SNG I won, with a particularly nice HU battle that lasted a while and had multiple reversals of fortune. 3kings252 takes out the player ahead of him on the very first hand to double up. I would end up heads-up with 3kings252 and came out on top.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467910491

I took a few small pots, nothing over 1000 chips

Pair of Aces: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467911154
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467911558
High card Ace: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467912507

My first big pot came: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467913056
Followed quickly by another. Three of a Kind, 2’s: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467913497 I pair my two and sustain calls to soft betting, enabling me to hit 3 of a Kind on the river and raise to take excellent value out of my bottom trips.

Then hit a Flush: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467913702

Then went back to taking small pots:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467914373
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467914562
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467914609

Third place finisher is eliminated here, making an unwise play with A4, shoving it pre-flop, and getting taken by AK. I held 76o, and would have flopped 2 pair, and Turned 6s full of 7s if I’d stayed in here:

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467914735

And just like that I was heads-up with 3kings252. He knew how to play heads-up poker. In the BB, I was usually looking at a 3BB raise from him, ensuring that I didn’t call very often. He had a stack advantage, and I had to wait patiently for cards that I could play with. But his aggression wasn’t always backed by good cards, and so when I would call with something, he often got the worse end of it. But he made up for in volume.

https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467914925
https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467915233

Eventually winning big again, this time with a pair of 9s: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467915888

3kings got a lot of my chips away from me when I shoved pocket 8s into KTo. He had nothing when he called, but ended up with 2 Pair, KKTT on a Turn-River suckout that left me with just 728 chips. Pairing just one of his overcards would have been enough, thank you.

And at this point, I think I’m done for, and it’s probably all over next hand.

Suddenly, I get hot cards and win three huge pots in a row to get back in it:

Shove A9, make 2 Pair, QQ99 https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467916337
Flopped top pair 9s, holding 96o, shove it, end up with 999 over ATo: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467916403
K9o, flopped into top pair, villain shoves holding 95o, I call, turn pairs my King, for 2 Pair, KK99 https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467916487

And now I’m ahead, with a 2:1 stack advantage.

3kings252 came right back after this and made it a contest again – KJo over KTo, for a better kicker on KK77 https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467916589

And now suddenly the 2:1 stack advantage swings back his way.

T5o, I have to make an aggressive move to buy the pot when my Top Pair becomes threatened by the Turn putting a pair of 8s on the board, and a possible straight for someone with 9 and either a Jack or a 6: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467916663

Another small pot: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467917066

Got lucky on a pair of Tens to take a big pot and gain the lead from him: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467917534

The game finally broke open when I took Quad Queens up against Queens full of Aces, and doubled up: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467917723

Even then it was far from over. 3kings252 came back at me with 2 Pair 9944, and got a lot of his chips back: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467918065

I ended up taking a 1200 pot here: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467918223

Then made a gutsy call from behind on this hand, AQ making nothing on a 775 board, but rivering a Q to win it, QQ77A over 7755Q: https://www.replaypoker.com/hand/replay/467918367

I think this was a poor call on my part, and I shouldn’t have made it, but I got lucky with the river for once.

2

In third place of three and heads up, it is fine to shove with A4, because the odds are in favor of you dominating the opponent, as there is only a 1 in 17 chance that he holds one of the other three aces, but as it happened small blind held AK, so not the case. Still he had 7 outs on the turn and the river, but it was not his day.

I will sometimes raise from the small blind with a mediocre hand (not complete trash) like any ace or king, or any two cards nine or higher as the BB will often call with any hand. If an Ace comes on the flop, I will often rep the ace, and most times (statistically, BB will fold). With a timid player on your left, this can be profitable, however this play may backfire badly, so you do need a conservative table image.

In the example you showed, the small blind was probably happy enough to get the BB to commit all his chips preflop, although with AK you are a marginal second favorite against any pocket pair. Your best bet is if you dominate a hand with a lesser Ace or King, which is what happened here.

3

Hmm, I don’t know. I think if you shove A4, you’re more likely to be called by someone holding cards that will beat you. It’s marginal to shove as a blind steal, but from a risk-reward standpoint it’s not a great play unless the blinds are pretty high. If you’re small stack and that desperate, you can do it, but it’s not high percentage.