Is my poker losing streak over (epic heads-up battle summarized)

[kingnebwsu]

Poker threads pop up pretty often around here, and I wanted to throw one out there. Just took part in my biggest heads-up battle yet, and it was a blast. I'm glad I came out on the right end of it, but it was a great learning experience either way.

Note: skip further down for hand analysis if you want

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Situation: $5+$.50 NL Sit&Go on PokerStars. 13,500 total in chips. Hope this is readable

Started heads-up down 10175-3325. Won 4 pots in a row and doubled up to 9350 with AJ v T3s. He called with a flush draw that missed. I gave it right back with 2nd pair and he had top pair. Down to 7100-6400 lead. Lost a 3600 pot with a straight but there were 4 clubs on the board. So he pushed on the river&I folded. Thought it was a decent fold, as any club would have beaten me. Down 8500-5000. Won 10800 with AA! He had TT and I doubled up. Had him down to 1900 then he won 4 pots in a row to take a 2-to-1 lead. Bluffed a big pot and took a small lead. Went up 9400-4100, then lost a big pot with my K9 vs his Q7. Flop was K77 and I put him all-in and he called. Couldn't believe he hit that...wow. He won a few more pots to take a 2-to-1 chip lead (again). Hit me again when my A2 didn't flop anything and I'm down to 3500. Classic race I won with TT v AJ to double up to 9500! He then took a slight chip lead before I won the pot of the match. I had 75s and flop was 876 with two clubs. I had an open-ended straight flush draw. I called his bet on the flop. He then pushed all-in after a blank fell on the turn. I thought about it for a bit and figured I had the best hand at the time...and for one of the first times ever, I read that situation correctly and called him. He had A5, an open-ended straight draw. My pair of 7's held up and I took a 13000-500 chip lead!!! He doubled up with 22 v my A8 when he flopped a set. He doubled up AGAIN with J2 vs my JT when he spiked a deuce on the
river (argh). I was fearing a huge comeback, as this had been an epic battle so far. He's up to 2000 to my 11,500. He stole the blinds once, then I got dealt QQ on the button. I raised 3x the BB and he pushed and I called! My QQ held up vs his A4 and I won!!!
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That was easily the most epic heads-up battle I've ever been a part of. It lasted nearly 30 minutes and had 9 lead changes, several races, and some monster flops. I made some huge laydowns (something I've been working hard to "master"), and I probably laid down 1 too many hands (hand analysis below). This makes two wins in a row for me, after I didn't cash for 13 STRAIGHT $5+$.50 Sit&Go's. Hopefully my slump is over after netting $34.00 in the last two!

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Here's the big hand. I raise on the button pre-flop 3x with K4 (400 more to 600 total). He re-raises 800 more to make it 1400 to go. I call. Flop is KQT, two hearts. He bets first and pushes all-in for 5175 into a 2850 pot. He appeared to be a pretty solid player, maybe a bit too aggressive at times, but I respected his pre-flop raise combined with an all-in on the flop to consider that I had been beaten. I figured he maybe had Kx or something along those lines. Definitely a better kicker than me. He also could have had a J,
giving him an open-ended straight draw. But I laid down top pair with a crap kicker. I was really proud of myself for this laydown, as I'm always so damn curious to see what my opponent has (fatal flaw). This was a decent-sized pot, as it went from a deadlock to him having a 8000-5500 lead. Did I make the right play? The more I think about it, the more I think I DID make the right play, but at the time it was REALLY really tough to lay it down. He may have had a lower pocket pair, but I bet he at least had an A or a K
Wish I could watch it on TV later to see what he had
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Any thoughts on how I played that hand? I always appreciate the advice from my fellow FOFC'ers. Any of you guys have an epic heads-up battle like this one? How about big slumps you've broken out of? What I did was take a 3-week break from poker to help bust myself out of the slump. It seemed to work well, as I came back feeling refreshed and excited to be playing poker again. I was on a massive losing streak, and was almost down to even (after being up $80+ this round). Hopefully the streak is gone for good and I can continually consistently cash.

(end ramble)

[kcchief19]

For what it's worth, I give that hand up too. I'm even a bit hesitant about calling the preflop re-raise, but K4 is certainly playable head-to-head. If the chip stacks weren't even and I had a nice lead, I might call, but not in that situation.

If I flopped a pair of kings in that situation out of position I'd probably check rather than go all-in. It indicates a certain level of weakness, so I doubt that he had QQ or TT, but it's certainly likely he some piece of the flop. But if he has Kx, you have to figure his king is stronger. For all the hands you could put him on, with no draw you're really down to a maximum of six outs and he could half the deck in his favor, given the possibility for an open-ended straight, a flush, a pair or a set.

[Barkeep49]

There are quite a few hands I think he could have here. AK-A10 all make sense as do KQ, and depending on his style, possibly KJ and K10. He could also have AA, KK, QQ, or 10-10 (though I too view this hand as not very likely). I think he did this push as he figured that he was ahead now but you could have either a straight or flush draw (or both) and wanted to win the chips now. As you had very few draws, especially as your kicker is EXTREMELY likely to be counterfieted by the board, I think this was a good lay down.