I think that, if I decide to take a stand, I 3-bet preflop; showing him that you'll occasionally call isn't enough, you need to show him he's risking more than just 1.5 small bets any time he tries to steal from the SB.
Post-flop, whether you called or 3-bet, I think you have to go the showdown once you've paired up, albeit a small pair . If he lets you take the lead, you keep it; otherwise, I'd back down and just play to get to the showdown cheaply. My main concern is your river raise. To me, his bet is almost always either gonna be the straight or a busted draw, so raising with bottom two seems to be negative EV; if he missed a draw, he'll fold, and if he made the straight, he'll at least call.
As far as "reckless or a good read," I'd say definitely a good move; you can't consistantly let yourself be run over in the blinds, nor can you afford to wait for a strong hand to defend with; it's certainly ballsy to defend with the worst heads-up hand in poker, but that doesn't really matter, because at this point, you're playing the man more than the cards.
-TWStatistics: Posted by TightWad — Sun Mar 06, 2005 3:34 pm
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