Were not both getting EXACTLY the same hand, like card by card. were just both getting 1 pairs or 2 pairs and never anything higher. eg. player 1 jh 6h player 2 ac 8d the board ad jc 10c 2s 7c. we also played 10 games and none of our hands was higher than a two pair, is this normal?
NORMAL - playing heads up greatly reduces the odds of completing a monster hand, as opposed to:
a full table of players who will see that the average winning hand is only 2 pair - meaning 2 pair is a MONSTER when you are heads up with only two players.
So where you might go to showdown in heads up with 3rd or 4th pair (or even A high) - you will more than likely be folding that hand by the turn at a full table.
So yeah - NORMAL - you will have to put in a lot more hands to start seeing those big cards come together. Sets, Straights, Flushes, Boats, etc are a lot more rare in heads up than a full table.
A very crude example would be a lottery draw. Say we write on different pieces of paper all the different hands in poker and throw them in a hat. Take two guys who each are blindfolded and get to pick one out of that hat. What are the odds one of them pulls out a "great hand"? Now have 10 guys do the same. What are the odds one of them pulls out a "great hand"? Still not great but it is 5 times better than only two guys.
Bottom Line - Heads up hold em is not about getting great hands. You will not have that luxury. It is a head game to outwit, outbluff, misdirect, and exploit your opponent.