Playing heads up against a wreckless player

I was playing live heads up against a player who was pretty much wreckless. the guy would call almost anything but im a rather passive player. He would sometimes fold but he would almost call or raise anything. Due to the binds killing me i lost. how would you play against a player you cannot bluff against?

easy, dont play heads up. Play head on! And remember, 50/50! Hmmm...although the easiest way to play them is to not play at all!

Good luck at the Heads up tables...I'll never c u there though.

tc.

Remember that the average hand is Queen-Seven Offsuit.

In heads-up play, if you have anything better than that, you are likely ahead pre-flop. Play back with a wide range of hands.

Timid players lose at heads-up, and tight is not right.

i was in the final two...

Easy dont try to bluff, when your cards hit go after him.

The blinds were real high zorba and the thing that killed me was a big hand when he had KQ and i had K3 the flop and the turn were all small numbers with no pairs for either of us, i was trying to bluff him but he kept calling. On the river aa K came and i thought i had rivered him, thats when the game changed for the worse. after that i couldnt really wait for a hand because the blinds were killing me. i only had about 15 blinds and he wad about 40.

Try and pay attention to how he raises the pot. It seems like the kind of player you were playing consistantly raises but there was most likely a pattern. Pay attention to how he raises on his draws, bluffs, or when he hits. With wreckless players who aren't real attuned to their style of play, there will be a noticeable pattern in their raising.

When *I* play heads up, I TRY to be REALLY aggressive.....with ANY kind of hand I raise. If I get any piece of the flop, I'll bet at least the pot.

You have to remember both of you will more often than not miss the flop. If you play Q7, and the flop is A 7 10, chances are.....only YOU hit the flop.....

You CANNOT be passive in heads up.....

If your style is passive and he's aggro, then you're simply not going to win heads up, don't try to. Playing good players wins much respect and little money, playing bad players wins little respect and much money. Remember that.

Okay, didn't get that this was a tournament. Heads up it's simple. Everything's on steroids, just bash heads and see who comes out on top. If the blinds/antes are large enough that the M's are down, and this guy really is going to put the pressure on you, take any K2+ 22+ and get it in with him, those will all win +50% against a random holding. Hu is about big cards, KJ is suddenly a powerhouse, and Ace high will often win after all the cards are out. You really need to have accumulated enough chips before now to have a solid shot at winning a tournament. If you're at a 3:1 chip disadvantage, you have to be honest about your chances, they aren't good. So, take what you can get, learn to be aggressive, and improve.

thanks for the input because i was doing exactly the opposite. i was playing passive and it eventually ate my stack. i think i will try to be more agressive. it may also make it harder to read me because im pretty much a passive player

Think it's basically been said above, but passive play + high blinds = quick and painful death heads up.

The only way you're going to win using that strategy is if you manage to catch a couple of monster hands and get the villain to bet into you. That makes you 100% reliant on getting good cards though, and in heads up that won't happen anywhere near enough to save you.

Play aggressive, be prepared to raise or shove much lighter than you would at a full table, and you'll be well on your way.

The shove can be a very powerful weapon, BTW, especially against the kind of opponent you're describing. If you make regular sized bets, some players will call you down with overcards because they figure a few things could happen - they could hit a decent hand, they might get to see a cheap showdown (it's surprising how often something like jack-high is good heads up) or you could give up and they'll be able to push you out.

Shoving takes that hope away from them - they won't have any illusions left about a cheap showdown, and chances are if they don't have a made hand they'll be drawing to six or so outs. As long as you're not heinously short-stacked, usually they won't be able to call.

Heads-up, especially in tournament play, is all about equity PRE-Flop. This has been said afew times already, and I'm not going to repeat it. You need to push your edges. And if you are against an aggro villain preflop, the chances of you needing great to flawless preflop play rises. The good news is that against a predictable aggro/maniac opponent, hand charts and % are really all that is needed in SNG NL.

But if you play against an aggro who just wants to play that trash postflop too... Here are a few considerations.

What you need to assess:
a) The blinds/ante structures
b) The level you're currently at
c) Stack sizes
d) Reads, wich can be harder to have than say @ 6-max or full-ring
e) Your image, wich can even be harder to gauge

Basically, you have to assess every one of these points. What makes every decision more difficult is that during a normal SnG, you might butt heads with someone a dozen times before bubble and high blinds. This means that your reads might be more specific because there aren't as many "white-noise" hands that come to completion: ie. random KTo against 56s on 954r flops to naviguate through to get your reads. The palette of hands the villain will play to the flop is smaller, wich means the "hitting" flops aren't as plentiful.

There are two ways to compensate for this:
a) Either try to not play postflop with tricky hands, wich will not work against a good (or even bad) aggro opponent.
b) Switch gears often in borderline situations where the EV is hard to gauge (nearing 50/50) and milk mercilessly the very obvious +EV situations.

ya for sure if you cant play your big hands pre, then change your hands or range of hands your playing vs a player like that tight loses in heads up , change your game so if your better player you should be able too out play this guy , dont raise pre only big (pkt pairs)and stuff aggr. doesnt work vs some player sthey want the action so they are willing too take more chances with bad hands , all you need too do is trap the guy once into big hand get him down too point where you have stack advantage over the fool lol and always expect anything too be played by player like that !

i got down to final 2 in a tourney the other day and had about 8x the other guys chips. he was playing every hand and i was trying to play only good hands and everytime i would get one and play he would hit and i wouldnt needless to say i got 2nd. if i could go back i would play it alot different and maybe get 1st.

its best to avoid these type of players-but if you do play them u have to pick your spots if you find that u are getting run over u have to take a stand-once you start pushing back youll find that they become less aggresive-if u have no edge its best to avoid these players

the_urge27

" how can you play against a player you cannot bluff against."

easy bro, you dont.... wait till you have a hand and milk him in ....

Jeffred made some excellent points. I would advise rereading his post.

YOU ARe gonna have to see some flops or you will blind out....you will hit your cards and sometimes when you are stuck with middle pair and the bet is reasonable, make the call...hes obviously not hitting everyhand but just taking advantage of the fact that you are folding to anything

When HU I take 2 things into consideration -
1. The flop is 70% of the hands "information"
2. Usually any pair wins the hand
So, I try to see as many flops as possable for as cheap as possable. If I hit a pair I bet. If I hit 2 pair or trips I check and then use his aggression against him. Thats my martial arts training coming out in a mental form .
IF the board looks scary you can always fold and try another hand.
I am very confident in my HU play. I have told people that I will play anyone with a 1:5 chip ratio. Many times I have got to HU with 2500 in chips and the other guy at 10-11 K and Ive won. One last thing I try to remember is that I have already locked in 2nd. I'm playing to take first. The other guy is playing not to lose first! Just the .02 of a self proclaimed noob.

you must be the pusher and not the pushe.
I will play aggressive in a head to game and even in a cash game till more players come in but still find the one to push on some yet...
play aggressive do not be weak even if your short stacked or wait and let the blinds take you out.
And yes i know this from playing freerolls

I have to agree. Agressive play can seem like reckless play in heads up.

reckless would be allin every hand now thats being reckless in a game

Be more aggressive, once you show him that you cant be bullied, he will back off.

If memory serves right Harrington says something like you should always call preflop if you are in the small blind and are not raised. If he raises constantly then only tighten up to the top 70% of hands. That is a LOT of hands.

Middle pair can often be considered a great hand since you miss the flop so often.

If the other player is pushing allin preflop constantly, pick a hand that is in the best 40% or above and roll the dice.

Another thing worth noting. 72os is NOT the worst hand when it comes to heads up. It is actually 23 os.

I believe these are things you should use if the blinds are always a threat. If the blinds aren't really an issue you can tighten up a little more but dont be waiting for premium hands.

if its like, uy should see that he was raisin with a great variaty of hands, theyr somethings that i cannot explain in letters, u have to feel the moment he is just bullying u, and no mather what r u holding, come over the top.

First passive play after last 5 left in tourney will not work....Aggression wins tourneys at this stage...in the worst case scenario that he is just a stupid player, just get to the flop and if you hit at all, go all in, until to he backs down... if he sucks out he sucks out...

Take advantage of your table image and slow play or check/raise your top 40%.

Then if you get any of the top 15 hands, shove!

When you get to the final table is the time to throw out your rule book and change strategies. By now you should have pretty good notes on what the Villain will push with, and what you've folded you shouldn't have.

That's plenty of information to help raise your aggression level.

If that's true, why are so many hands determined by the river?

It is a mathematically correct statement.

The information available to you, in terms of cards revealed, consists of your own 2 hole cards and the 5 community cards. After the flop, 70% of that is visible.

I Tho i would try it out and it does work One thing that also works is to trap them, and then they back off quick and everyone at the table will rethink about pushing you off cards even if you just limp in with J7 and hit 3 more 7s hmmmmm now were did i play that hand at !!!!!!! even tho no one fell in to my trap coz of the last one i did, but was still funny....
Lesson i picked up never play the same 2 hands the same.....

This ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. and don't worry everyone wrecks eventually.

would you guys personally say that heads up has more to do with reading and bluffing than the actual cards you get half the time?

id play him hard and fast, every time he calls, raise and every time he raises fold , and just wait for him to do the big raise when you got a really nice hand and go all in. heads up is 50 /50 so you shouldnt play so tight or he will bully you until the blinds are all his.

Against a person like that i would get even more agressive than him. If you have something slowplaying would maybe be a good choice.

what i see a lot in tournaments is people who get blinded out. That's not how you wanna get in the money... crowling with only a 1,2 or 3 big blinds.
You have to take a stand and go allin when reaching less then 10to15 big blinds. If u don't, u won't be able to make a comeback as good. The odds may not be as good but if you're lowstacked you gotta be willing to gamble. Even if there is a reckless player. Cause he will just try to steal your blinds