Hi all,Looking for some feedback on an issue I have been having playing the $22 turbos on PS. Some games it seems I literally get straight garbage for cards like J6o, 83, 94 etc. When this is happening should I be tightening up and limping or min raising? When this does happen it seems my opponent calls about 95% of my raises and I can't seem to shake them off their hand. I guess my question is, is there another strategy to take for this type of situation or is just tightening up the best option. Any feedback is apprecitated. thanks.
I am certinaly no HU (even Poker) expert, but i had this exact situation in a HU SO tournament for title of 'Best HU Player' in a league i am involved with. My 2nd opponent was a player I respect alot (HU and Ring), and i was literally card dead for most of the game.I approached it by thinking - I WILL get cards at some point, so i just need to 'stay afloat' until I do, and i figured the only way to do this was to bluff selectively to win back the chips I lost (I HAD to, as not only was I getting very mediocre hands, i just wasnt connecting with the flop AT ALL!). I found the best way to do this, was moves like a chk-raise shove whenever they showed some weakness. Or a preflop 3bet, sized to let my opponent know "I am willing to go the whole way with this hand! - Are you?" - with the best outcome for me a fold. Obviously this needs to be coupled with ranges and board texture etc, as you are basically bluffing you need to pick spots you are quite sure your opponent isnt striong enough to call... - Hence the allin/'impression of being prepared to play for stacks this hand' is important, as extra fold equity...But yes, i would also limp/min-raise so as not to commit much preflop. - But this is opponent dependant to, you can limp if they dont raise them OOP often.It worked - I took out the title, but i played this one opponent for over an hour! Granted out game length got to the point where we were roughly even in stacks, and effective stacks were < 6-7BB, so it became push/fold and kinda bingo, but it took some ballsy plays to get there! But this turned out to be one of my proudest wins, precisely because my cards were irrelevant for alot of my hands.In a nutshell, this is a situation when your cards cease to be relevant, and it is all about playing your opponent. Pick spots where you are as sure as you can be they are weak, and push them off the hand. If you are only limping/folding your buttons, you really only have to do this say 1 in 12 hands to keep your stack roughly where it currently is. After all - your opponent doesnt know you are card dead ;-)Like I said, i am no expert, but i hope this helps even a bit;-)
Sometimes the poker gods just say screw you.