Heads-up Strategy: raising the BB preflop?

Being the SB in heads-up is advantageous in two ways:

1. The SB has position on the BB.
2. You stand a better chance of stealing the BB's blinds, than he stealing yours.


Here, we are looking at stealing the BB's blind by raising him preflop. This will work a few times, but the above average player will put his finger on your evil, shallow scheme. The BB (the above average player) will notice your third or fourth preflop raise to him, and he will counter with a huge re-raise, in which case, he now steals your blinds.

Raising the BB preflop might be effective against some amateurs, but not very much so against the adept.


What do you think about this strategy?
What are the advantages and disadvantages?

It's a good strategy but just mix it up. Don't raise preflop every hand if you know the other player is good. But you've got to go on feeling i think. If someone made a huge re-raise to me preflop headsup and I thought he was just getting sick of me taking the blinds, I'd call with any kind of decent hand and usually they'll miss on the flop and you can bluff at the pot right there and take it.

its like anything really... do not use it too much.

I agree also, aggression is the key to HU, but used in moderation only.IMO

^^^this^^^ The basis still remains selective aggression. All that changes is the range of selectivity because you are HU (and obv you have a much wider range because it's HU).

I only know i have played 3 tourneys Heads up, and i won all without any strategies knowledges. lol

I think that raising while in the sb is a good idea
now if you have like 27 or somehting just fold. But if you have half decent cards go ahead and raise so he doesnt get a free look. Sometimes you may want to just limp in but with any face card i say raise. if he re raises you than he might actually have a hand or he might just be trying to test the strength of your hand. depending on how much he raises i say call.Overall though Heads up can be very easy or very hard. You need to be aggressive and still play smart.

Rightly or wrongly, I use the "computer hand" as a benchmark for heads up strategy. If I've got Q-7 beat, play aggresively; if weaker than, play tighter preflop. This is by no means an infallible strategy/system, adapt it to your games and situation.

In order for stealing the blinds in heads up matches to be effective, you need to mix it up and try to steal the blinds from both the BB and the SB.

The benefit to making such a move from the SB is that you can gain a full bet from your opponent if he should fold. The drawback is that if you are called or re-raised, your hands value (unless you are very strong) just decreased, putting you in a defensive position where you are forced to call a lot more marginal situations or even fold the best hand to any reasonable bet at the pot.

The benefit of trying to steal the blinds when the SB flat calls is that you can gain a full bet from your opponent if he should fold, or you gain position as you will be first to act post flop, putting your opponent in a position where they have to have hit a relatively strong hand to continue. The drawback is that the SB can trap you a lot more when you use this strategy, creating a lot of situations where your TP/TK is no good to a re-raise post flop.

Like everyone has always said, switching it up is always the most effective strategy, that way it is more difficult to get a read on you. I have found that if you set an expectation for the hand prior to placing any bets, it makes all post flop decisions much easier in marginal situations, which eliminates all of the headgames associated with stealing the blinds and trying to steal position in heads up matches.

I disagree to mixing it up alot in HU from the SB. I raise to 3xBB everyhand with any hand. HU, in my experience, isn't about the cards so much. If he comes back over the top of you you can go with your read from previous play. The advantage to raising a consistent amount with any two cards is that when you do have a top 10 hand your strength is 100% concealed. If you get re-raised not only do you have a decent idea of his range, given your read, you can call with position and try to outplay if you feel it's possible or flop a hand you can go with. If you decide to mix it up what hards are you going to limp with? nothing that has two face cards, maybe the connector/gap hands, or one face card. If you're limping from SB you're giving the BB a distinct advantage by giving away a possible range for your hand and you're giving a free flop to the BB with absolutely no idea what he might be holding. BB is usually going to play slightly tighter giving the disadvantage of position. Also, if you're limping, when you do decide to come in for a raise it's giving away a possible range of hands that you could be holding depending on your post flop play. If you feel that 3xBB is to much then do 2 1/2 but the min raise, imo, is the worst idea out of any. Whatever amount you decide to raise, keep it consistent with all your hands you raise with. Raising isn't about trying to steal blinds in HU, we're past that part of the tourney, it's about gaining information on our opponents hands and keeping steady, consistent pressure forcing them to hopefully make a mistake and eventually break into giving us all their chips.

Raising from the SB is a must with any above average hand. I dont know about raising every time you are the SB, because if the BB plays back how do you proceed with 72o? The point of raising great hands and good hands is that the BB doesnt know if you have KK or 98s. If you only raised the premium hands, the other player will peg that. And if you raise constantly and the BB has been laying down and playing tightly, when they do play back you can narrow theyre range down and play accordingly.

Remember, just completing the SB may seem like a discount for a cheap flop, but you just let the BB see it for free. Put the pressure on the other player to call.

fold