Scenario is heads up in a $5 dollar NL Holdem tournament. I have a chip stack of around 40k to his 25k...blinds are at 1k/2k... This player im up against has been super aggressive raising preflop manier a time.
I am dealt read aces in the SB.. and i only call...hoping he will raise which he does 4k..and then i re-raise him 8k...Trying to give him the idea im buying pot..he cant possibly put me on aces...he just calls.
Flop comes k 4 j rainbow......straight away he is all in..with his remaining chips...Im hoping he didnt hit two pair or a set...but im pretty happy putting my chips in..which i do..
He turns over K2 to my AA...
Turn - j .........River 3...
Aces and jacks beats king and jacks and i take out tourney..........Im not a fan of slow playing aces but this was 2nd time in a row ive done it and both times ive taken entire chip stacks....Good play or just lucky?
Good play, but of course slow playing bullets can be detrimental. especially in heads up. I wouldnt take the chance.... but in your case it worked. Congrats!
Let me preface by saying that I'm new to poker, but learning as much as I can. So please correct me if I'm wrong.
Isn't what you did essentially a pre-flop check raise? You had reason to believe that he was going to raise and you were able to suck him out. I wouldn't consider this slow playing.
And a question for Ricky Chan. Why would slow playing AA be more detrimental in heads up than in a full table? It would seem to be the opposite to me.
Thanks for any insight.
In my experience it is much better to slow play heads up contrary to what another poster said especially against an aggressive player because you only have one hand to beat you're not really risking a free flop for 5 callers like early in a tournament when lots of people see the flop with drawing hands hoping to hit when the blinds are low. Good play.
I play NL .25/.50 Hold Em' at Ultimate Bet. I will never slow play aces again. I had always made huge raises pre-flop and then another big raise after the flop, and I had never taken a bad beat when doing this strategy. Granted, I never won huge pots, but basically some small-medium pots.
However, last week I decided I'd slow-play them somewhat. Instead of going all-in preflop, which is what I usually do, I only raised $2.00. This was a substantial raise in my mind, but not huge, I got one caller. Flop comes 9 7 4. I bet another $2.00 and he calls. I've got him on a pair of nines at best, maybe a higher pocket pair, but I doubt it. Next comes a 2. I bet another $2.00, he calls. The river bring a 10. I bet another $2.00 and he reraises to $10.00, and I can't figure what is going on. Anyway, I can't lay down pocket aces and I call it. He flips over 6 8 (unsuited too) for the straight. Needless to say, I was pissed. I just couldn't understand how he even called my raise pre-flop with that crappy hand.
Since then, I have made it a rule to basically just go ahead and push it all in if I get pocket aces. If I get a caller, great, if I don't, at least I won't lose a big pot.
Smooth calling and/or slow playing aces pre-flop is exactly what you are supposed to do heads up.
Shivvy in your example you should have ratcheted up the pressure post-flop with a potential straight on the board, and certainly not called the last $10 with only pocket aces.
Heads up it's a smart play. Just be ready for the occasional loss that will happen when he gets his card on the turn or river.
I actually do it rarely. Typically only very late in tournaments when I'm almost guaranteed aggressive raises and heads up play.
It's been done to me twice. I got knocked out of a tournement last night holding KQ flop was QT2 rainbow. I put in about half my stack against the one guy who had called my raise after thinking about it I went all in and he turned over AA.
About a week ago I was dealt pocket JJ. Raised, was called by one player. Flop comes JXX. I bet huge am raised all in. He turns over AA I show him my 3 Jacks. As an observer he tells me how lucky I got.
