tallseas wrote:
Another fellow poker player posted this on another site. But I thought it significant enough to share with you all here. Of signifcant importance is the 13th paragraph, you just can't give up because you never know. I went into a HU match with another long time poker buddy of mine after 2 hours of MTT play. We were HU with me having 63k in chips to his 7k. He won. It was an hour long HU but he never................gave up.:thumbsup
Heads-Up with E-Dog
I choose the poker tournaments that I play with great care.
I don't miss many WSOP events which means I'm booked
in Vegas from the end of May until the middle of July each
year. I also like to play the major WPT tournaments, so
that's another twenty days per year that I'm away from home.
Add in all the made-for-television games like Poker After
Dark, High Stakes Poker and The Big Game, and man,
that's a lot of poker!
There is one other event that I always try to play, the
$10,000 buy-in heads-up tournament at the Los Angeles
Poker Classic. What's fun about this tourney is that it
features a unique double-elimination format -- lose two
matches and you're toast.
In 2008, with 110 players signed up to play, I got lucky
and randomly drew a first round bye. But in the second
round, I had to face the always-tough and well-respected
pro Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, that year's WSOP Player of
the Year and an all-around great guy, too.
In the second hand of our match, with the blinds at
$100/$200, I limped in on the button with Q-3 offsuit.
Erick raised $300 and I called.
The flop came K-7-5. Erick fired out $600. Attempting to
bluff E-Dog out of the pot, I made it $2,600 to go. Didn't
work, though, he called.
Another king fell on the turn. Erick checked this time,
probably wary of my raise on the flop. Continuing my
bluff, I bet $1,800 and Erick called again.
The river was a ten and Erick checked. I studied for a
while then decided to check, too.
Wow, good thing I didn't try to bluff on the river as E-Dog
rolled over K-10 for a big full house.
Let's take a closer look at this hand.
I don't mind my pre-flop call for $300. My $2,000 raise
on the flop was a decent play although it certainly didn't
work out as planned. I'm pretty sure that my bluff would
have done the trick if E-Dog was weak, but that just
wasn't the case.
On the turn, I like my $1,800 bluff bet. It was designed
to deliver the deceptive message that I had a king and
wanted a call. Also, it afforded me the opportunity to
continue bluffing on the river.
I love my check on the river. I mean, c'mon, it was the
only move that worked to my benefit in this hand!
E-Dog, you played the match like a true champion.
When I was down to my last $5,000, a less experienced
player might have eased up, or conversely, might have
played recklessly. But Erick never let me back into the
match. He played fiercely until he had the victory in hand.
Of course, I didn't make it easy for him. It's important to
play your best right up until the end because you just
never know when a run of good cards will come your way.
One more tip: You've got to be willing to change your
heads-up tactics depending on how your opponent
plays his cards.
My preference is to play patiently and trap a
super-aggressive opponent by letting them do
the betting. And when I do catch a strong hand, I'll
make a small bet to induce a call. But if my opponent
plays tight, I'll try a few well-timed bluffs. In fact,
I might bluff every single pot until he finally calls
me down.
Heads-up poker requires flexibility, imagination, and
well-timed aggression. Keep that in mind the next
time you get to down to the final two.
-Phil Hellmuth
Join:
2010/04/18
Messages:
181
Heads-Up with E-Dog
I choose the poker tournaments that I play with great care.
I don't miss many WSOP events which means I'm booked
in Vegas from the end of May until the middle of July each
year. I also like to play the major WPT tournaments, so
that's another twenty days per year that I'm away from home.
Add in all the made-for-television games like Poker After
Dark, High Stakes Poker and The Big Game, and man,
that's a lot of poker!
There is one other event that I always try to play, the
$10,000 buy-in heads-up tournament at the Los Angeles
Poker Classic. What's fun about this tourney is that it
features a unique double-elimination format -- lose two
matches and you're toast.
In 2008, with 110 players signed up to play, I got lucky
and randomly drew a first round bye. But in the second
round, I had to face the always-tough and well-respected
pro Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, that year's WSOP Player of
the Year and an all-around great guy, too.
In the second hand of our match, with the blinds at
$100/$200, I limped in on the button with Q-3 offsuit.
Erick raised $300 and I called.
The flop came K-7-5. Erick fired out $600. Attempting to
bluff E-Dog out of the pot, I made it $2,600 to go. Didn't
work, though, he called.
Another king fell on the turn. Erick checked this time,
probably wary of my raise on the flop. Continuing my
bluff, I bet $1,800 and Erick called again.
The river was a ten and Erick checked. I studied for a
while then decided to check, too.
Wow, good thing I didn't try to bluff on the river as E-Dog
rolled over K-10 for a big full house.
Let's take a closer look at this hand.
I don't mind my pre-flop call for $300. My $2,000 raise
on the flop was a decent play although it certainly didn't
work out as planned. I'm pretty sure that my bluff would
have done the trick if E-Dog was weak, but that just
wasn't the case.
On the turn, I like my $1,800 bluff bet. It was designed
to deliver the deceptive message that I had a king and
wanted a call. Also, it afforded me the opportunity to
continue bluffing on the river.
I love my check on the river. I mean, c'mon, it was the
only move that worked to my benefit in this hand!
E-Dog, you played the match like a true champion.
When I was down to my last $5,000, a less experienced
player might have eased up, or conversely, might have
played recklessly. But Erick never let me back into the
match. He played fiercely until he had the victory in hand.
Of course, I didn't make it easy for him. It's important to
play your best right up until the end because you just
never know when a run of good cards will come your way.
One more tip: You've got to be willing to change your
heads-up tactics depending on how your opponent
plays his cards.
My preference is to play patiently and trap a
super-aggressive opponent by letting them do
the betting. And when I do catch a strong hand, I'll
make a small bet to induce a call. But if my opponent
plays tight, I'll try a few well-timed bluffs. In fact,
I might bluff every single pot until he finally calls
me down.
Heads-up poker requires flexibility, imagination, and
well-timed aggression. Keep that in mind the next
time you get to down to the final two.
-Phil Hellmuth