An interesting Razz hand

Since the majority of my posts are regarding no limit hold 'em, I decided to throw a razz hand in the mix. My favorite way to play razz is heads up. I was playing a small heads up tournament on line and was dealt (A-2)-J and my opponent was showing a K. Clearly, this is a raise on 3rd street situation. Whenever my opponent is showing a K as their first up card, I will raise about 95% of the time. I'll even raise with (Q-Q)-Q. Of course, my opponent calls the raise so I reasoned that he must have two playable cards hidden (9 or lower). 4th street brought interesting cards for the both of us. I caught another jack and my opponent caught another king. Having the best hand, I led out and bet. I was surprised when my opponent raised me.

In my opinion, this is clearly a donkey move for razz. In order to have any chance at winning, my opponent would have to hit 3 more perfect cards (lower than a jack) and not pair to even have a shot at winning a show down. With my opponent so obviously weak, I was on auto pilot and was going to bet all the way down until my opponent folded. I catch a 9 on 5th street and my opponent catches an 8. I now have a 3 card draw to the nut 9 low and I figure my opponent has a decent better 3 card draw as well. I hate playing 3 card draws in heads up razz--especially after you are on 5th street. Obviously, I have a 4 card jack low which I know will beat my opponents most likely holding of a king low. I get a 4 on 6th street and my opponent catches a 4. I know I have the best hand so I bet again and get called again by the donkey. At this point, I know I don't have the best draw. I make my nut 9 on 7th street (A-2-3)-J-J-9-4. My opponent has a board that reads: (x-x-x)-K-K-8-4. Since I didn't have the best draw, my plan was to check call on the river. If this donkey was crazy enough to call bets on 5th and 6th, I don't want to get in a situation where I have to call two bets on the river with the worst hand. The only hands that would raise me on the river are hands that have me beat. I checked and my opponent bet. It really didn't matter if my opponent made his hand or not as the pot was way too big to fold the nut 9 for one more bet. My opponent revealed (5-6-7)-K-K-8-4. The worst 8. One hand better than mine.

Sometimes, horrible play gets rewarded in poker and you just have to deal with it. Of course, when you play a razz donkey like this, you get paid off all of the time when you make your monster hands. I did go on to win the heads up match, but this is certainly one of the more interesting razz hands I have ever played.