Is heads-up grinding profitable?

BvBrMTW

BvBrMTW

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Hey guys,
I'm wondering, could it be profitable to just grind HU SnG's on pokerstars for example?
Like u win almost twice the amount you buyin with, so if you'd 4-table for an hour, you'd play around 30 games?
let's say you win 25 of those, then you'd make 25x 1.30 - 5x1.50 = 25$ an hour.
Is this reasonable? Or is luck to much of a factor?
thx!
 
Jillychemung

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Variance is higher in HUSNG but a number of online 'pros' make HUSNGs their primary game and it can be very profitable. Table selection and volume will be your keys to success.
 
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Sori

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yeah, pretty sure HU can be one of the most profitable games to play, although as Jilly said it also comes with the highest variance...I just started playing some HUsng myself and am really enjoying it. I also think it can really help your hand reading since you are constantly trying to put your opp. on ranges throughout the match.
 
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Samweis3

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If you are a shark it is definetly profitable, but if you go there as a newbie in HUSNGs it will be hard work to go break even in the beginning. You should take notes on the opponents as i am quiet sure that there are always the same players in there
 
XXPXXP

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depends on the players. And just depends on your bankroll.

basically, any game is profitable.
 
Poker Orifice

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Hey guys,
I'm wondering, could it be profitable to just grind HU SnG's on pokerstars for example?
Like u win almost twice the amount you buyin with, so if you'd 4-table for an hour, you'd play around 30 games?
let's say you win 25 of those, then you'd make 25x 1.30 - 5x1.50 = 25$ an hour.
Is this reasonable? Or is luck to much of a factor?
thx!
Winning 25 HU SNG's of 30 played is totally unreasonable expectation.

There are alot of HU Sng specialists. Like anyother game/format, it'll take lots of play & a fair amount of studying if you want to get good & become a profitable player.
 
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Blown01Cobra

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I was watching this TV show called Two Months, Two Millions about a group of four online poker players who had made it their mission to win 2 million dollars in...well...two months.

They seemed to play nearly 95% of their games as HUSNG. They seemed to play extremely aggressive and were extremely profitable in doing so - but I'll leave out the ending in case you feel like searching up the show on Netflix or something.
 
bz54321

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I was watching this TV show called Two Months, Two Millions about a group of four online poker players who had made it their mission to win 2 million dollars in...well...two months.

They seemed to play nearly 95% of their games as HUSNG. They seemed to play extremely aggressive and were extremely profitable in doing so - but I'll leave out the ending in case you feel like searching up the show on Netflix or something.

I watched that I think you mean they played HU cash games.
 
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ChipTowerz

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yes i built up a lot long time ago on FT by playing HU
and still do ok on bovada in HU

$ChipTowerz$
 
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Blown01Cobra

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I watched that I think you mean they played HU cash games.

Opp...sorry for the misinformation. You're probably right. It's been awhile since I watched it and I don't know what I was thinking.
 
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aircasar9876

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heads up on bovada is very nice. winning 25 of 30 games is not going to happen consistantly though. basically you have to win 21 for every 30 to make it profitable...ive done it a little bit. i used to play bovada stud heads up..when i first started playing stud heads up in bovada i won my first 22-23 games. it felt pretty good. while people are getting very good at hold em i think stud and even omaha or draw games are very easy against players just learning. ..not saying im an expert stud player by any means. i ran really well and i think most of the time i was playing people that were newer to the game. not going to lie though while i was on that run i remember a few times thinking to myself, i must be the greatest stud player to ever live. now im fairly sure im only one of the top 10 greatest lol
 
RiverMeTimbers

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Winning 25 HU SNG's of 30 played is totally unreasonable expectation.

There are alot of HU Sng specialists. Like anyother game/format, it'll take lots of play & a fair amount of studying if you want to get good & become a profitable player.

Yeah 25/30 games is winning over 80% of the time which is really unreasonable. Also another thing to consider you still have to win around 55% of the time just to break even considering the rake.
 
starting_at_the_bottom

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Heads up is profitable.

From a cash perspective I used to play 2nl/4nl, avoiding the nit regs I would make a couple of hundred quid a month.

Had one month at 10nl (bumhunting) and made about £400. But my blood pressure and stress levels couldnt deal with the variance.

Heads up cash is beatable. So I expect HUSNG is as well.

Perhaps invest in sharkscope and dont join games with winning players. That will be very +ve
 
LuckyBundy13

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You would have to be pretty damn good to win 25 of 30. I would think it's more of a 50/50 w/ a slight edge if you're "better than average". Good luck though!
 
Kahntrutahn

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Hey guys,
I'm wondering, could it be profitable to just grind HU SnG's on pokerstars for example?
Like u win almost twice the amount you buyin with, so if you'd 4-table for an hour, you'd play around 30 games?
let's say you win 25 of those, then you'd make 25x 1.30 - 5x1.50 = 25$ an hour.
Is this reasonable? Or is luck to much of a factor?
thx!


It is indeed possible. And not just on Pokerstars. I know guys who personally do this, even from the USA still. Their approach is to multi-site and sit a wide variety of tables and limits looking for fishy action. Playing as much volume as they can.

However, as other posters have said, winning 25/30 is not realistic by any means. Depending on the stakes your play, much of your profit could come in the form of SN/SNE benefits.

Like anything else, requires discipline and skill to succeed :)
 
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beazer

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HEADS UP SNG

I have a system that works pretty well with heads up. I play lowish entry fee games and if i lose i double up the entry fee teach time till I win. Its not often you need to go to silly high stakes before u win and are in profit. Then start the process again
 
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Weissr

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I have a system that works pretty well with heads up. I play lowish entry fee games and if i lose i double up the entry fee teach time till I win. Its not often you need to go to silly high stakes before u win and are in profit. Then start the process again

Doesn't that set you up to take a massive nosebleed loss if you go on a bad stretch of consecutive losses?
 
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RamdeeBen

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Yes it's called the martingale system and not a system that wud work long term unless u had an unlimited bankroll and there was unlimited stake buy ins. Both of which isn't possible in the real world.
 
Poker Orifice

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I have a system that works pretty well with heads up. I play lowish entry fee games and if i lose i double up the entry fee teach time till I win. Its not often you need to go to silly high stakes before u win and are in profit. Then start the process again

your other name isn't "dj" by chance is it?
 
Blobweird123

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I have a system that works pretty well with heads up. I play lowish entry fee games and if i lose i double up the entry fee teach time till I win. Its not often you need to go to silly high stakes before u win and are in profit. Then start the process again

Do NOT take this advice if you wanna go the HUsng route! You face harder and harder regs every step up the ladder. Esp. mix in tilt for losing a few in a row and it's a recipe for disaster/bankroll busting. Just bad bad stuff lol
 
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beazer

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Yes i know doubling up is dangerous and can badly wrong. Ive had a few big losses but more often profit.. You obviously need to cap the amount you double to and if you are on a bad streak stop!
 
Blobweird123

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Yes i know doubling up is dangerous and can badly wrong. Ive had a few big losses but more often profit.. You obviously need to cap the amount you double to and if you are on a bad streak stop!

Still bad advice. Just pick a stake that fits your brm and play it. Dobt complicate things and use bad brm!
 
Aleksei

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HU is hugely profitable so long as you only play fish. HU cash realizes your skill edge more sharply than any other format (making it the most profitable format to play relative to your skill edge), but it's harder to find fish on it precisely because it becomes so obvious so quickly that they're outclassed. HU hypers have minimal room to realize your skill edge, but make up for it with the most fish field of any OLP game plus volume (if you 2-table them you're playing 20 an hour, but don't play more -- multitabling HU games in general is a terrible idea).
 
MadMaddie

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I am starting at the lowest buyins for HeadsUp Sitngoes and even though I am winning more than losing in them it seems like a slow way to build a bankroll.
I have not seen very many players in the lowest buyins ($1.50) who are winning players. Also alot of them seem like newer players because my TopSHark shows that they have mostly only played less than like 50 tournaments and regular Sitngoes and all of their games are pretty much in HeadsUp.

I think with a bit of experience it is easy to win in them but I do not know if you would win very much money after paying the rake.
I am playing them more for the challenge of trying to becoming a better poker player more than to make money from them. I do not have much time to play poker so they also fit in good with my schedule.

I think in the higher buyins there are some players who win alot from them.
 
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