Heads Up Play In Sit N Gos

I have an ROI of 20% in sit n gos but I really suck at heads up play, and according to my stats I only win 2 out of 3 times when I get to heads up.

I play the regular sit n gos where you often get to heads up whilst the blinds are not that big often like 100/200 while the 2 stacks together total 13500, so you're quite deep, and its not like you just have to go all in quickly.

Does anyone know where you can find some info on how to play heads up, or any books?
This isn't covered in much detail in most books.

Does anyone else struggle with heads up play?
I've realised this is the worst area of my game by far now, and its totally different from playing even 3 handed.

I struggle with heads up with multiple tables open. If you're struggling with 1 table, then find some tips in the golden archive. If you're struggling with more than one, then play less tables.

The thing about Heads Up that a lot of players forget is OPEN UP YOUR GAME!

Remember you are up against 1 other player and chances are they have just as much crap in their hand as you do in yours.
Aggression will usually win hands in HU.
Just be careful of those over zealous all ins.

If you have a pair, that can be huge in HU, an Ace is a great card HU.
If you have position, bet!

When stacks are still deep, like 30-40 BB's, I like to see a lot of flops, but I try not to get married to any hand, because there's not a lot of pressure to get stacks in right away. Rather, it's best to just chip away slowly until you get to the push/fold period.

Most importantly, though, you just really have to adjust to your opponent. If he is limping his small blind a lot, you should raise your small blind. If he is pot-betting every flop, try to trap him. Playing your opponent's tendencies is probably the most profitable thing in heads-up.

Leo 50 said:

The thing about Heads Up that a lot of players forget is OPEN UP YOUR GAME!

Remember you are up against 1 other player and chances are they have just as much crap in their hand as you do in yours.
Aggression will usually win hands in HU.
Just be careful of those over zealous all ins.

If you have a pair, that can be huge in HU, an Ace is a great card HU.
If you have position, bet!

Click to expand...

In heads up play depending on the guys your playing hus you want to rasie alot about 2.3x and always you your postion to favorite your game.

a

Playing aggressive with a good kicker is a good way. i raise pre flop and i can make the opponent think my hand is strong so rerasing him will prolly make him think twice if he wanted to call or raise.. Be aggressive with ur high kickers and ur suited cards ur playing headsup so u gatta play hella tight

Early in heads up, I like to fold a lot of small blinds, trying to give the illusion that I'm playing really tight. Then the bluffing starts, and he's more prone to respect your raises.

If you are winning 2 out of 3 times you are not struggling with hu.

dakota-xx said:

If you are winning 2 out of 3 times you are not struggling with hu.

Click to expand...

I meant to say I lose 2 out of 3 times.

Xavier said:

I meant to say I lose 2 out of 3 times.

Click to expand...

Even winning hu 1 out of 3 times is good in sng's.

I think successful strategy for HU game in a counterbalance to the opponent is. If it is aggressive, wait a strong hand and beat him. If he on the contrary plays tight, you should take the initiative.

Harrington on holdem volume 2 has lots of good stuff about heads up play.

He suggests raising 75% of the time from the small blind, which I have been doing recently with good results.

The problem I had previously was playing tight and waiting for a good hand. You lose so many blinds against an aggressive opponent that you are unlikely to gain them back with your good hands unless you are very lucky.

A key thing in heads up is the patterns of play. Learn to recognise the patterns of both yourself and your opponent, then exploit them. For example, in a game the other day 3 or 4 times I minraised from the button the villain would reraise and I'd fold. Once I noticed this pattern I reinforced it by slipping in the odd minraise/fold. Then I decide the time is right to rereraise, he calls and the flop comes AQ5. He bets the pot, I raise and he folds. I assume he put me on AA, AQ, QQ and not the 72o I had. The bluff worked because I broke the pattern of folding, the story being I had got dealt good cards.

And that's the other thing about HU - don't worry too much about your own cards: bet that your opponent hasn't hit the board.

I had the exact same problem until few months back...
I wont play sngs much but i play MTTs lot and i reach final 5 in many times and i would allways stumble there...
But i decided a new strategy that if my stack is less than 13 blinds, i would shove with any ACE with medium kicker...
If my stack is more than 13 blinds, i would play tight...
This worked for me, u too can try this strategy at heads up showdowns...
Gl...

Rule number one: don't donk off your chips.
Rule number two: play according to your opponent's style

Basically just play steady laggy poker and when your opponent cracks cash in the chips. If the blinds get too high though you'll have to get lucky.

one thing i think would be a good idea is to just play some hu sng (like where you start playing just you and one other). This can really elevate your hu game in sngs. i used to not be good at hu (or sng in general for that matter) but when you feel confident going into the hu portion of sng it really helps your confidence for the whole thign.

In HU play you have to remember to change gears. If your opponent is aggressive trap him if he's tight be the aggressor and outplay them. You almost play all your hands to see the flop. Any 2 cards will win.

Harrington volume 2 is great, as is TJ Cloutier's How To Win The Championship, which has the best analysis in print on final table play.

heads up isnt about the card, its about the players, you can push people off pots alot more then you think you can heads up as opposed to multi player play. card value is threw the roof when heads up as well, sumthing such as q9 suited turns into a monster whereas may be an insta fold to a preflop raise with more then two players at the table.

Yeah I would play a few HU sng's, I used to play a couple a day but not so much recently.
You gotta remember that you aren't gonna win em all, a roi of 20% for STT is pretty good isn't it?

One of the best pieces of advice I ever read on how to play HU was to dominate in position and defend OOP. Be prepared to concede your BB with weak holdings and build the pot as often as possible from your SB.

In heads up. BE AGRESSIVE

The chances you have against your adversary raises . Dont worry to raise , but be carefull to pay to pay. Play with conected suiteds and with an ACE and another card. Pairs are welcome too ! any pair.

Often playing aggressive is good tactic.
Sometimes, your enemy is tight player and just waits for hands.
But dont play too loose, fold all 10 3 offsuits etc.

FEARFACTOR said:

Early in heads up, I like to fold a lot of small blinds, trying to give the illusion that I'm playing really tight. Then the bluffing starts, and he's more prone to respect your raises.

Click to expand...

I like to do the same.

After 5 SB, i start to raise with any two

i like to try and think every hand is double what it would be any other time, if you have a face card that is good heads up, plus your playing the player at this point not the cards, so when heads up id try to play a little more aggresive then normal and remember to always have the momentum going your way