NiceNisus
Rock Star
Silver Level
raise 100% of the button,
keep your raises small.
I like 2x BB but possibly 2.5x works as well.
Defend your Big Blind unless you have absolute garbage and he raises greater than 2x.
When you raise his Big Blind the small amount he will often be calling, so use your position and wits to approximate whether you have the best hand or not and continue cautiously (after making your standard continuation bet after he checks to you).
If your opponents don't understand how intensely you are exploiting them, you might get plenty of folds. Otherwise they may 3-bet you alot and not believe you have anything, which isn't a bad thing either because eventually you will have a hand that you are raising with, and might get to stack them off.
RagingAias:deal:
keep your raises small.
I like 2x BB but possibly 2.5x works as well.
Defend your Big Blind unless you have absolute garbage and he raises greater than 2x.
When you raise his Big Blind the small amount he will often be calling, so use your position and wits to approximate whether you have the best hand or not and continue cautiously (after making your standard continuation bet after he checks to you).
If your opponents don't understand how intensely you are exploiting them, you might get plenty of folds. Otherwise they may 3-bet you alot and not believe you have anything, which isn't a bad thing either because eventually you will have a hand that you are raising with, and might get to stack them off.
RagingAias:deal:
Egon Towst
Cardschat Elite
Silver Level
sharkyo01
Legend
Silver Level
mmmm I'm pretty wizzy at heads up.... there is a lot of difference between cash and tournament style and then of course the end of an tournament.
Yeah raise your button when you have a good enough hand or else fold/call depending on your opponent.
A lot of heads up play is about learning betting patterns of your opponent and abusing it.
Aggression is key in heads up play.
The other thing which I believe key with heads up is learning small ball. Betting into the pot without risking too much of chip stack.
Yeah raise your button when you have a good enough hand or else fold/call depending on your opponent.
A lot of heads up play is about learning betting patterns of your opponent and abusing it.
Aggression is key in heads up play.
The other thing which I believe key with heads up is learning small ball. Betting into the pot without risking too much of chip stack.
spiderman637
RIP Buck
Silver Level
I wanna give you some advice for playing heads up....
First, heads up is no fast and no easy money.
Second, don't play heads up if u didn't make some reading up before.
And also normal strategies cant be used unchanged in heads up.
So 4 of the most important points to remember while playing heads up are:-
1) Steal blinds (raise from small blind in general / u have the chance ur opponent folds to steal his blind and u might get lucky to hit the flop)
2) Dont fold preflop unless its a tough raise
3) If u pair on the flop ure good so dont fold the winning hand (of
course ur pair is not always a winner if it doesnt improve)
4) Play low stakes, max 5 dollar to collect experience.
First, heads up is no fast and no easy money.
Second, don't play heads up if u didn't make some reading up before.
And also normal strategies cant be used unchanged in heads up.
So 4 of the most important points to remember while playing heads up are:-
1) Steal blinds (raise from small blind in general / u have the chance ur opponent folds to steal his blind and u might get lucky to hit the flop)
2) Dont fold preflop unless its a tough raise
3) If u pair on the flop ure good so dont fold the winning hand (of
course ur pair is not always a winner if it doesnt improve)
4) Play low stakes, max 5 dollar to collect experience.
PNJs_dad
Rock Star
Silver Level
I prefer HU Omaha to Holdem but I don't agree that you only have to be aggressive. I think knowing when to call is almost as important. Maybe it's just a variation on the small ball method but if someone raises every hand I'm still going to call the majority of them to see the flop. Alot of over-aggressive players will do the betting for you. GL on the felts.
SavagePenguin
Put the win in penguin
Bronze Level
Everyone says "aggression" but I think a lot of HU players get too aggressive and get themselves in trouble with hands like A/7 and such.
The size of your stack determine your play. Muck your A/T if someone shoves on you early in the HU tourney. You have a lot of hands to play, so there's no reason to play mediocre hands for big stacks.
I raise to 2.5 big blinds most of the time from the button. 3 is too much IMO.
I do fold from the button occasion. There's no reason to play total junk if you're getting looked up a lot. Plus, folding on occasion gives your other raises some credibility.
The game is about learning how the player plays, figuring out how he sees you, and then changing your game to exploit his weaknesses.
Many of my game end with me betting, them three-betting, and me folding.
Repeat.
Repeat.
I raise, they three-bet, I shove, they feel obligated to call and I have them dominated.
Also, keep in mind that slow playing against one player is less risky than slow playing a table. So trapping someone who will stack with top pair can be lucrative.
Now, that's just the Stars HU tournaments. In the CC HU tournament people were quite a bit better than the average low stakes pokerstars player. So there's a bit more finesse because they're less likely to overplay their Ace/weak and small pair hands.
The size of your stack determine your play. Muck your A/T if someone shoves on you early in the HU tourney. You have a lot of hands to play, so there's no reason to play mediocre hands for big stacks.
I raise to 2.5 big blinds most of the time from the button. 3 is too much IMO.
I do fold from the button occasion. There's no reason to play total junk if you're getting looked up a lot. Plus, folding on occasion gives your other raises some credibility.
The game is about learning how the player plays, figuring out how he sees you, and then changing your game to exploit his weaknesses.
Many of my game end with me betting, them three-betting, and me folding.
Repeat.
Repeat.
I raise, they three-bet, I shove, they feel obligated to call and I have them dominated.
Also, keep in mind that slow playing against one player is less risky than slow playing a table. So trapping someone who will stack with top pair can be lucrative.
Now, that's just the Stars HU tournaments. In the CC HU tournament people were quite a bit better than the average low stakes pokerstars player. So there's a bit more finesse because they're less likely to overplay their Ace/weak and small pair hands.
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B
Big Maverick
Enthusiast
Silver Level
If you are playing heads up, and you feel like you have the best hand, you probably do. With only 2 players, there are many more chances of a winning hand. Just don't feel like every hand is a winning hand or you will lose everything quick!
SavagePenguin
Put the win in penguin
Bronze Level
If your opponent is better than you, take the coin flip. You want to get lucky, and you don't want him using his advantage on you over a long period of time.
If you have an advantage, you want as much opportunity as possible to exploit that advantage. Getting into coin flips robs you of using that advantage.
Keep in mind that in a $5.50 HU tournament if you win half your games you are losing money to the rake. So each time you're in a 50/50-for-your-tournament-life situation you are in the middle of a -EV hand.
Your 4/4 is 54.21% to beat A/K (which is 45.35% to win). And you're going to be on either side of that, and pocket pair will be up against a bigger pocket pair enough that it all comes down to the fact that it evens out and you'll be losing money to rake.
I guess what it comes down to is, if your all-in range is smaller than his all-in range and you both get all-in, you're going to be the winner most of the time. But if your range is too narrow, you'll get fold yourself to death. So it's finding that balance.
Early in the game you can fold A/K against a tight player because the blinds aren't worth the risk. But later in the game those blinds are significant and you will be blinded out quicker, so you need to stick your neck out more and be more aggressive to win/keep chips, because chips = power.
How do you see their tendencies and exploit them?
It's a matter of seeing what he does and when. It's fairly common to be up against people who always raise when they have a good hand, so if they don't raise I know I can probably chase them off a hand, especially if there's an Ace on the flop.
Or, if I start limping with weak hands because I found that I can chase him off post-flop, he might learn that I limp weak and start 3-betting me with his K/x hands. So I fold a few of those and then when I get A/A I limp and he bets into me and when I 4-bet he feels pot committed with his K/Ts or whatever.
It varies for different players, but it's basically getting a feel for how they play the game in various situations, understanding how they are probably viewing you, and then adapting to his game and making plays that you think he'll misinterpret to your advantage. It's all based on what you know of him, and what you think he knows about you.
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Sysvr4
Rock Star
Silver Level
I often see advice like "raise 100% on the button" and other rule of thumbs, but I think rather than memorize such "rules", you'd be better served adapting your game to each opponent. HU is about the purest form of poker there is - it's all about adapting to what your opponent is doing and exploiting weakness you discover.
Personally, I treat each HU battle as an entirely new game, because that's what it is. That's not to say that some rules of thumb aren't warranted, just not to take them to heart or make them the foundation of your HU play.
Personally, I treat each HU battle as an entirely new game, because that's what it is. That's not to say that some rules of thumb aren't warranted, just not to take them to heart or make them the foundation of your HU play.