Really fun HU matches

I went to NYC on Tuesday and Wednesday with my dad. We stayed in a hotel less than 2 blocks from Times Square, which was a very convenient location. We saw the Broadway show Spamalot, which is based on Monty Python. It was really hilarious, with Clay Aiken actually playing one of the lead roles. Overall, I can enjoy the hustle and bustle of NYC, but I couldn't see myself living in such a hectic setting for any real length of time.

After arriving home last night, I logged some long poker sessions. I two tabled HU versus 2 different opponents. One player was Jaywks, an online friend of mine. He has been known to tilt bad, and I remembered him having crappy HU results... so I felt it was worthwhile to play him. I had really interesting hands against COOCHED (my other opponent), but I'll just post my hands against jaywks since I have too many hands versus him to discuss. All you need to know about my match versus COOCHED: I lost an $800 pot with 80% equity, and then lost a $1200 pot with set-over-set on the flop.

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Hand 1: Never underestimate the power of fastplaying.

At the beginning of the match, jaywks was 3 betting me with a high frequency. I decided to start taking flops in position with a wider range such as JT. The flop is a standard call. When he checked to me on the turn, I felt like the best way I would get paid would be to make a large bet on the turn and try to get him to jam an ace or flush draw. I think that he thinks I would check behind most aces on the turn for pot control. The hand worked exactly as I had envisioned.

Hand 2: Looks crazy, I know.

My flop shove was completely experimental. I watched a Leggo poker HU video where a player shoved over a c-bet on a Kxx twotone flop with QQ for value and he got looked up by TT. In this spot, players expect you to have a really polarized range. I don't want to be results-oriented and say this was definitely a great play because it worked. I would have rather done it on a twotone flop where my opponent could put me on a flush draw. Regardless, I feel like I timed it at the right point of the match where jaywks was a bit tilted and willing to make a super light call.

Hand 3: If it looks like a bluff, it is a bluff?

I thought about checking behind the turn to induce bluffs by hands that floated my flop c-bet. I decided that it would be a bad time to get too passive, and would just go for 3 streets of value. The turn feels like a pretty obvious call since his range is quite polarized with his line, and since I have the nut flush draw anyway. I knew that jaywks would usually C/R good aces and most flush draws on the flop, so the hand didn't make a lot of sense. I honestly felt like his line looks SO weird that by the time he bets the river, he probably had it (since he would be aware that his line doesn't make sense). After the match, he showed me the HH and he indeed had air.

Hand 4: Pretty standard hand... or is it?

This hand looks kinda standard given our history, but I'm still not 100% sure if my flop raise is the best. He had toned down the 3 betting my this point of the match, so I can reasonably put him on an ace a lot here. No one ever flats AK when someone 3 bets, so I figured he would not put me on AK when I raise the flop. I'm guessing that my flop raise is pretty optimal given our history, but I definitely want anyone's opinions on the best line to take.

Hand 5: Sickest value bet anyone has ever done on me.

I feel completely owned in this hand, in spite of having a really good read on jaywks. He was c-betting every hand he opened on the BTN -EXCEPT- many ace highs, so I could reasonably take ace high out of his range on the flop, heavily leaning his range towards air. I ALSO knew that he loved to double barrel scary turns, so I actually felt like the flop and turn were pretty easy calls versus him. It was a little upsetting to see him bet $105 into a $160 pot on the river (as you can read from my chat in the HH), but I went with my read and called anyway. He said later that he put me on a PP, which basically has the same value as my K-high anyway. It was quite a sick value bet. I feel like this is what poker is all about - two players both having a read on each other, and constant exploitation and re-exploitation.

Hand 6: The final hand

I was unsure about what size to make my flop raise. I decided to make it a little under 3x, which in retrospect might have been best since it gets him to shove more draws. I don't hate his play, but I definitely am curious as to anyone's thoughts on both of our plays. I was pretty fortunate to get it in having him dominated "9 ways to Sunday".

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Poker has still been rough for me, as I'm about even for March thus far. However, I feel like I played my best HU session ever last night. I felt really confident in my read of both players, and I was very focused. I'm really itching to play poker in general right now, which is nice because I have the next 3 days to focus on playing.


Off-topic: I purchased a mountain bike yesterday. I haven't had a bike in literally 8-10 years, but I want a form of exercise that I would enjoy doing. Running is really unenjoyable for me, and biking around my house seems really appealing.