Heads up, never just call on the SB

[FreeZey]

I was discussing this with a friend of mind in KFC yesterday. We’d been watching the PartyPoker tournament on TV and there was a player (a pro no less) who kept flat calling the on the SM while playing heads up.

Any sign of weakness, such as a check or call will almost always induce a raise from your opponent. So calling the small blind is a wasted bet unless you’re willing to call the inevitable raise as well.

In heads up you can’t wait for those comfortably strong hands before you raise, but then again you don’t need to. Strength is relative and against a single player hands like straights and flushes are just overkill. Most of the time you can happy raise preflop with just and ace high and any kicker.

[Top Pair Ace Kicker]

But doesnt this start a circle of thinking?

If a big blind thinks that a call is a sign of weakness, and therefore he should automatically raise, what does the bb do if a raise is followed by the sb re-raising? Is the limp such a sign of weakness then?
Perhaps a check is the best option after all? What if the sb was waiting for the auto raise... willing for it to happen.... oh yes baby, raise me raise me, you know you want to.... GOOD! I RAISE YOU BACK!

I have a few rules in poker. One is not to say you never do something, (eg i never play 7-3 and look at that flop 7-3-3!) and one is not to say I always do something (e.g I always protect my blind or i always raise heads up if the sb limps.

[TylerStroud]

The post above you is 4.5 years old.

[Top Pair Ace Kicker]

I thought it was interesting and merited a response

[DaMatrix]

ZeeJustin recommends limping a lot H/U from the SB with stack sizes 12-22 BB.

[Aidan77]

Yeah limping is ok with those stack sizes where it would suck to raise/fold and where we're a bit too deep to just jam.

[lucky_scrote]

I don't know much about HU but I'll throw this out here.

In sng format you should limp the same as you raise/fold. I generally limp 1/3 of the time with raggy hands and about 2/3 with stronger hands. Harrington said this in his book and is a great way of disguising your hands.

In cash, I almost never limp, but if someone is 3-betting me constantly I may just do it to slow them down.

[waltypies]

What did you have at KFC? Zinger towers FTW IMO

[cayton]

mix it up mate, mix it up

[jingjangjong]

yeah mix it up. mini fillett burger and hot wings is good