Heads Up Texas hold em

Hi,

I'm new to cardschat and would like some advice on playing heads up Texas Hold em. I play Texas Hold em in cash no limit, limit and tournaments, but have never played in just a heads up one. Next month I will be playing in one. Do ya'll have any advice, recommend readings, etc...

Thanks,

The Blade

Hi Blade, and welcome. I'm going to move this to "Learning Poker" where it will get more repsonses.

Probably the biggest piece of advice I can give you for heads up is be aggressive. So often you will take down pot after pot, just by being aggressive once you get to heads up. Especially if you have kept a solid tight image the whole way up to that point.

I have to disagree entirely with that...object in heads-up to get the most info and set the traps. Reveal as little as possible and create false patterns.

I have to agree with both of these, thefatman is correct in saying "in heads-up get the most info and set the traps. Reveal as little as possible and create false patterns" but when you do get a good hand and you think you are ahead then be aggressive, it is no good being aggresive on a bluff.

hu is a completely different world of poker, and you have to be ready not to be pushed around. You can't fold your lowest pair on the turn, just because he has been two barreling big.

It's not always the scenario of course, but overall you need to be able to put your opponent on hand ranges much more quickly, learn his tendencies and exploit that accordingly.
these are easier said than done but you can search the forum about these(they are there): play tighter oop, learn to 3bet pre, learn which spots are best to bluff, mix up BUT balance your game.

Play aggressive against a tight player and simi-tight against a loose player. You should never play real tight head-up. If you limp you are allowing for the chance to lose a big hand against 2 and 3 hole hands that make straights. (Seems to happen to me a lot if I limp with a big hand.) Don't be affraid to bet the flop or re-raise a continuation bet. Pay very close attention to the board and go with your gut.

Like the fatman said, Reveal as little as possible and set irregular patterns. That's how to work it!
Ray

Thank you for the advice... I look forward to more of the same.
The Blade

Some say you should always raise in the small blind in heads up since you are acting first.

I like to raise every hand in the SB, besides like the bottom 15-20% of hands where i just fold "2-7-3-8,10-5" etc. I constantly raise to mask my real hands and it also takes down many pots, since my opponent will miss 70% of the flops. If a opponent gets aggressive with my I will re raise them with nothing from time to time, to test them. If you are always raising, most weaker players will become frustrated and make mistakes.

Hi.

The only thing I can tell you is that the 3 times I played HU I lost because not being aggresive. I wait and wait for a good hand and when I had it the other guy folds. Meanwhile, I lost a lot of blinds.

I think the idea is to play like Zorba says.

Bye.

My thoughts:

1. Check the nuts to milk your opponent.
2. Raise with A-high, it's a good hand preflop.
3. Any pocket pair is good to go all in with (44 or higher)
4. Do not overplay AK-AQ

Hi again.

Last week I played 2 HU and play aggresive, in the first one I was very aggresive (call everything, always raise) and win fast, really had a nice time. In the second one I didn't play that much aggresive, but I call almost everything and also win.

Of course the first one was more intensive and interesting than the second one, but I probe to myself that in a HU you must be aggresive if you want to win.

Bye.
manalva

Its great that these 2 posts are side by side.

Both are true, but what if we start out aggressive, and villain takes that as the norm. Then we can still gather the info, and set the traps, all the while gathering dead money chips. Shocking revelation ain't it?

Heads up:

It's the Goal of every Tournament you enter.
There is nothing more pure in Hold em.
One against One.
Perfect.


Four things that are Key:

1. Timed Aggression
2. Table Image
3. Trapping
4. Play the Player not the cards.

Practice Practice Practice
Many players only play heads up if there lucky enough to make it to a Final Table.

Add a new dimension to your game and devote a night a week and only play Heads up.

Good Luck at the Tables

be aggresive preflop and also try to slowplay good hands like aces cause if you limp your opponent will feel that your hand is weak and will probably raise.... in the flop dont check quick cause this give information to your opponent cause its pretty obvious that you dont hit anything ....
try to bleff only when you noticed weakness from your opponent, and be patience.. wait the correct momemt to risk your chips... and if you have lots of chips with a decent hand try to push all in in order to press the player with the smaller stack...
good luck at the tables!

Heads up texas holdem is totally different than a full table. One thing you
have to keep in mind is that you have to be a lot more agressive. The great
majority you wont have any hand cause i mean face it, in a normal game
of a full table, your folding most of your hands cause they arnt good enough
while in a heads up match you have to call with bad cards so that the
opponent doesnt keep getting all your blinds. You have to try to get a good
solid read on your opponent and be the one in control. Make bluffs, steal
blinds, and hopefully, sucker him in when you get that monster.

There is no time in a hu match to wait for a hand, you have to blow your range wide open and get in there and gamble.

you wanna remember the less people at the table the more your card value goes up. so when playing heads up you have to remember that your k10 are no very strong hands as appose to a nine seater table were they would be ok cards.

Heads up texas holdem is completely different compared to a full table.
The reason for this is the manner in which someone has to play in order
to get the biggest benefit from the pots he is constantly participating in.
When your playing heads up, you cant fold most of your bad hands cause
u know the other guy probably isnt beating you half the time, and youd
be feeding him your blinds, so obviously the range of cards you chose to
play now is much broader. Keep that in mind when playing heads up.
There is a looott of bluffing involved, and remember, the size of your
stack is just as important as the quality of your cards!

Well, the best advice i can give you is to play aggressive. you dont so much have to slowplay when your playing aggressive because for one, your playing heads up and your opponent will not often put you on top pr. etc... Another thing is that you have to remember, dont play for the pots, Play for the chips..

Short and Sweet BE AGGRESSIVE.
HOPE THIS HELPS
GL

Ace high is a strong hand.

A pair is a monster.

Always call from the SB, the odds dictate that you must. Never fold unless its to a raise.

Try to induce bluffs by being weak.

You must slow play monster hands. This could include top pair if the circumstances allow it.

Observe their patterns.

When their stack size is 10:1 compared to yours, put them all in with any two cards.

Bully people by coming over the top of raises if you think they are bluffing.

And lastly, if you lose don't be too hard on yourself. Heads up is very hard, its probably the hardest bit because it is a lottery it can be like playing blackjack with a few more decisions.

HU - Position is key. If you raise from the SB, you have 2 advantages:

1) He might fold. You win blinds. Yay!
2) He calls. You can see the board. If you hit, you can always bet. He goes first, if he bets.. he might have it and you missed the board, easy fold. Of course, you can bluff and act strong but that really comes down to your image and whether he buys it.

Raising with any 2 cards as the SB - you have an advantage. But as people here have mentioned, blinds can kill... and if you're up against a fish, he might call your raise on the flop with a mid pair.. beating your bluff.

So, POSITION is an advantage but adapt it to the player you're playing with. Play him and not just your cards.

turby hit the nail on the head. here some more advice. trap a bully, he'll think twice about raise or bluffing. always raise on sb unless you have the hammer. if you have a pair or two faces in bb reraise. show a couple monster cards if he folds. then bluff. he'll think your catching hot. play aggresive so he doesn't outdraw you. don't let a loss get to you. i've come back from 135 chips. (very stupid lucky). don't be afraid of the all in. if you bluff and show, remember your bet, when you have a monster bet that amount.

"Play him and not just your cards." turby.

perfectly said.
good luck