Heads Up NL Poker Forums

Let's say we are playing a reg, who's 3xing a 100 % from the button, that means that in order to counteract his strategy we need to be defending (calling or 3betting) a certain range, lets say 50% of hands. Now when you construct a 50% range in pokerstove/equilab you eventually have to add in Ace rag hands like A2o-A6o. The thing is, i'm not sure whether to 3bet or call them, I've been told 3betting them tends to be bad, because it will put you in to some tricky spots postflop, however I dont really feel comfortable calling them from the start, unless I'm facing a minraise, but I have no real proof that they are unprofitable to play by just calling. The only reason I don't call them that often is that I once saw it in a video and it seemed to make sense to me. So I'm wondering how people in here play hands like Ace rag.

I don't think many regs 3x 100% from the button. I would imagine a high figure would be 50%, but most probably around 30%-40%.

I am quite comfortable 3betting, c-betting and evaluating on the turn. Ultimately if he does start calling us too much he's going to have a weak holding, which we can take advantage of by applying pressure.

Another point is, just because he is raising on the button, doesn't mean he is going to call your 3bet. In fact I think most people fold.

Try 3betting, try calling, see which works for you. I'm not sure we need to go as low as a2o. There are hands easier to play than a2o.

Sorry this is a jumbled up message, but hopefully my point has come across.

gonna depend on a few things probs:

How often he folds to your 3bets?
How much he 4 bets?
How straight forward he plays on the flop in 3bet pots?

i only mention the above as i dont flat A-2 off - A-7 off in general...usually i just fold them pre but if conditions are right i'll start 3betting them, vs a very weak fit or fold villain its possible to flat them profitably i imagine but for the most part i just bin them

I don't think many regs 3x 100% from the button. I would imagine a high figure would be 50%, but most probably around 30%-40%.

I doubt many regs drop down to 50 or even 30% on the button, because if they do they'd be burning money

gonna depend on a few things probs:

How often he folds to your 3bets?
How much he 4 bets?
How straight forward he plays on the flop in 3bet pots?

i only mention the above as i dont flat A-2 off - A-7 off in general...usually i just fold them pre but if conditions are right i'll start 3betting them, vs a very weak fit or fold villain its possible to flat them profitably i imagine but for the most part i just bin them

yeah that's what I've been doing now mostly, but wondering if there are people who actually call /3bet them as default, though maybe giving up that 5% of your range might not be as bad if you can avoid alot of tricky spots postflop.

What you mean by burning money at dropping down to 50% opening on the button?

Your the one who suggested 100%.

because 100% is considered better than 50% in heads up

What you mean by burning money at dropping down to 50% opening on the button?

Your the one who suggested 100%.

In HU, if you fold your button 100% of the time you're losing at a rate of 50bb/100, so if you fold 50% of the time you're giving him a free 25bb/100 edge, because unlike in 6max or Fullring you have to pay the small blind every time you play your button.

you don't necessarily have to construct your ranges based on his stats. If Villain is very aggro pf and is also aggro and/or station'y post-flop, you can defend with a very narrow strong range, and win big pots from him when u win. I can't defend 50% of hands OOP vs a post-flop aggro player and win. EDIT: i mean seeing flops OOP with a 50% range

with AX, it does depend on his fold vs 3bet and his post-flop tendencies. If its immediately profitable to 3bet bluff, i 3bet. if its close i look at his post-flop game. If he's passive post, i will call more often, look to showdown alot, and bluff on good boards when after he shows weakness. If he's aggro post, i will 3bet or fold it. If he's really aggro, i might end up 5betting it. if its not profitable to 3bet bluff, i won't 3bet it unless he's very FOF in 3bet pots.

there's no 1 criteria for how to play it, and lots of times my 1st couple plays can be completely wrong.

I doubt many regs drop down to 50 or even 30% on the button, because if they do they'd be burning money


yeah that's what I've been doing now mostly, but wondering if there are people who actually call /3bet them as default, though maybe giving up that 5% of your range might not be as bad if you can avoid alot of tricky spots postflop.

yea i mean thats the crux of it, really speaking with those hands when i win i win small and when i lose i lose big, just not getting into those spots cant be a bad thing vs good players anyway vs weaker players it cant be too bad

Let's say we are playing a reg, who's 3xing a 100 % from the button, that means that in order to counteract his strategy we need to be defending (calling or 3betting) a certain range, lets say 50%

How do you come to 50%? If Villain is 3xing, he lays himself odds of 3:1, so you need to defend 25% to prevent him from making an immediate profit.

How do you come to 50%? If Villain is 3xing, he lays himself odds of 3:1, so you need to defend 25% to prevent him from making an immediate profit.

Actually it's 37.5%. If villain raises to 3bb, he risks 2.5bb to win 4bb.

Usually my strategy is to defend A8o/A9o+ and Axs to 3bb raise. I 3bet some of my A2o to A7o combos, but not that much cos they play pretty poorly post flop in 3bet situations against standard perceived 3bet calling range.

Against a minraise I defend any Ax and sometimes 3bet some of them.

How do you come to 50%? If Villain is 3xing, he lays himself odds of 3:1, so you need to defend 25% to prevent him from making an immediate profit.

isnt it the other way around? He lays me odds of 1:3, or 25% to call, however in order for him to make his raise profitable he needs me to fold 2.5/4 = 62.5% when he has 0% equity

Assuming he has atleast 10% equity (worst case scenario is 72o vs AA which is 11.8%) he needs me to fold

0 = 1.5x + (6*0.118 - 2.5) (1 - x)

x = 0.544

~55%, so that means I need to defend around 45%, to prevent him from making an immediate profit

If you call more than 37.5%, he doesn't make immediate profit because he needs you to fold at least 62.5%. If you calll less than 37.5%, he does make immediate profit just by raising.

62.5% is the amount of fold equity he needs for the 3bb open to be profitable.

yeah you're right I mixed things up, 37.5 is the correct frequency because we're only talking about the preflop profitability , not postflop

Actually it's 37.5%. If villain raises to 3bb, he risks 2.5bb to win 4bb.

Yep, you´re right, thx.