Bad heads up poker

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I think I found came across the worst heads up player ever yesterday. Sad thing is, I nearly lost to her. Funny how that works, but it's true. I surely would have destroyed my monitor and anything on my desk had I lost...

It was truly ridiculous. I quickly discovered a few pre-flop constants about her game. One, she never raised preflop. Two, she had to see the flop, regardless of my raise. So depending on my hand, I'd raise anywhere from 2-4 times the big blind, if I chose to raise.

Additionally, she would not bet the flop. However, if she was on a draw or caught a piece of it, she'd call a flop bet. Once again, I sized my bets accordingly. I would, however, always bet at least something on the flop, regardless of how it did or didn't help me. She'd fold if it missed her.

The turn comes, and I check, no matter what. If she is on the board and better than low pair, she bets. If she has a draw and hasn't made her hand she checks. Consequently, I assess my hand relative to the board and her bet, meaning can I beat middle pair or the obvious draw? Do I have the implied odds to go to the river? You'll see what I mean in a second.

River comes. Now here's the kicker... Supposing we build a "big pot." And said big pot is 400 chips (each of us start with 1000 chips). Furthermore, suppose blinds are 10/20 at this time. I bet 20 on the river. If she was on a draw and did not complete, she folds. If she did complete and even has the nut... she only calls.

So, here's the thing... I was taking pot after pot... Knocked her down to about 300 twice. Both times, she hit her hand and doubled up. Blinds went up to 50/100 and either I was going card dead or she was completing her hands. Long story short, I sucked out in order to re-cripple her. And then maybe she figured out what I was doing, because she moved all-in with one of those "but they were suited" hands preflop, which was the first time she raised anything preflop. Nine-three was her hand, actually. She ran into my jacks and another on the flop.

In other news, I was playing a sit n go yesterday afternoon and I made a bigtime Rookie Mistake. I was in the BB with K9s. Flop came ace-eight-eight. I bet 1/2 the pot into the field of six players. One person stays and it was the person to my immediate left (under the gun, for those keeping score). The turn delivers a King. I check, as does he. The river delivers me a nine, giving me three pair. Now here comes the rookie move... wait for it... wait for it... here it comes... I put out a pot sized bet. Now, here it comes. I did this being absolutely certain he had an ace. I was almost certain that he did not have an eight, so I was dealing with his two pair (aces and eights), versus my two pair of kings and nines. As I did this, I realized what the hell I just did. Fortunately, he was fearing I had an eight and he just straight up called me. Too much going on inside this head of mine... That mistake is out of character for me.

Due to server issues with CheckRayz, the strategy post is on hold...

Mike