Heads up holdem... I fail!

[Joek]

So Ive been playing pokerstars online for about 3 months... In the last week Im prolly 2/14 on 9 person holdem tables...
Im 13/14 at heads up...

I cant play heads up.. I just cant =\

Any heads up holdem guide? idk, it feels like a huge waste of time when i play a satellite and I beat out 8 people and freeze on the last guy... I always find a way to mess up...

Let me know, thanks...

oh and btw- Hey, Im Joe.. Im new

 

[Egon Towst]

Don`t feel bad, Joe. Heads-up is a difficult aspect of the game and lots of perfectly decent players struggle there.

Try this article for some pointers.

 

[Joek]

So I just read that article...

It seems my problem is that 90% of the time both myself and the other player will limp in and check our ways through to the end (pretty much making it impossible to win big with an AA or KK ect). Ill be delt an AA, for example, and I feel like if I raise, he'll throw away his cards... If I check it thru and he does as well, as soon as a J drops he'll get out of the pot because he thinks I just paired that...

IDK- I guess Ill have to try and be more agressive with my hands... Have him play some of his smaller hands after a bit...

I like the example where you raise from the small blind again and again and when you see an AA in your hands you just hit them with 'your' standard raise...

Ill see what happens (im in this week's weekly shot for the Main Event that PokerStars is hoasting so Ill have to go heads up 4 times to win it, lol.. win it.... phff) Hopfully my heads up game is improved

Cheers

 

[Egon Towst]

It`s very weak to play that passively in a heads-up game, Joe. I am playing in one right now, and my pre-flop raise percentage stands at 40%, which is not unusual.

Basically, if I were playing an opponent as tight-weak as you describe, I`d never let him see a flop.

 

[jdeliverer]

It`s very weak to play that passively in a heads-up game, Joe. I am playing in one right now, and my pre-flop raise percentage stands at 40%, which is not unusual.

Basically, if I were playing an opponent as tight-weak as you describe, I`d never let him see a flop.

40% on the button or overall?

 

[Jarod1231]

Limping in heads up is always a bad idea... you should be playing extremely aggressive regardless of your cards... you need to play like a maniac so you're opponent thinks you're are one and will call you with sub standard cards when you actually do have a hand... I usually just shove all in pf any time I get dealt an ace or pocket pair... if you do it enough he wont even try to limp with cards that arent good because hes waiting for a chance to bust you by limping with good cards and then expecting you to shove all in for him... so any time he actually limps you know he has a hand

 

[Egon Towst]

40% on the button or overall?

Overall. It was a heads-up turbo STT.

It`s good to be a maniac. :laugh:

 

[lektrikguy]

First off, welcome to Cardschat,Joe.

You have to remember that limping is a sure sign of weakness in heads up. If your opponent has anything good, you'll be raised. Also remember that the hand values go way up since you're up against one guy instead of 8, so a K 8 could be the winning hand. I play pocket pairs aggressively preflop. Don't be afraid to bet and reraise, if your opponent is playing comthing like a J 7 and you raise him, he could put you on an ace or a pair. Hit 'em hard. You've gotten to the end so don't freeze up now.

P.S. If you're new take the time to read all the great articles here, since I've joined I have tightened up my game and learned new strategies.

 

[Velutha]

^A good read that can only improve your HU game^

 

[EvilEmperor]

Aggression is key to winning HU. Keep playing low buy in heads up sngs and try raising every time you have button. Yes I said EVERY time you have button. Then follow it up with a cbet on the flop or turn almost every time. At low buy ins you'll be amazed how many pots you'll win. It's gets trickier when you go up in stakes because almost everyone is extremely aggressive.

Read up all you can on HU play and keep playing low buy in sngs even if you are losing at the moment. Eventually you'll get better and when you get down to final 2 in tourney you'll be big fav against someone who hasnt put in HU practice like you have.

 

[begley01]

Heads up just always bet/raise your BB, this disguises your real hands and makes a weak villain fold a lot of hands. If you just check 90% of your hands and raise 10% your holdings will be obvious. If you limp with monsters, you wont win big enough pots. The best way to play heads up is raise every button and still play aggressively in the BB. This gives no information to your opponent and gives you potential for a big river/turn bet when you have a big hand.

 

[silverslugger33]

I agree that aggression is important, but there are different kinds of aggression that you can use. Limping is okay, but only if you also limp with some big hands and frequently go over the top when you get raised.

 

[WildCard_QQ]

My heads up stats are pretty good live...
Online ive won about 55percent of all my headsup plays..

When playing live i usually become extremely agressive, i raise to 10 times the big bling with nearly any 2 cards and if they fire back over the top i fire back, with almost any 2 cards, namely because i represent a HUGE hand by raising and reraising, if he doesnt fold after that il slow it down, inless i have ace high, in which case i will usually just push the chips after the flop...

Unfortunately, i dont play patiently heads up.. i dont know if alot of people do but im all in nearly every hand... lol

if i see a king / ace with a 9 or higher kicked (possibly as low as 7 if they are suited) im all in...

 

[Falloooooon]

I think that in heads-up you really want to determine how you play by finding out how your opponent plays. Which does not take long to figure out since you're only concerned about one player. If he's real aggressive, make yourself appear less so. Especially at small stakes, a lot of the other players are "aggressive" in that they don't know how to play after the flop so they want to get all their chips in pre if they can and cross their fingers. So your aggressiveness against him with a subpar hand is likely to be your undoing. Instead, try to see flops, and once you hit something, then let the aggressive opponent dig his own grave.

But if the other player is weak, then up your aggressiveness. These players will fold to a ton of your raises preflop and you can often bet postflop regardless of the board because they probably missed it and will fold. They will definitely never push back at you without the goods, so if they do, you can fold and get those chips back little by little in the next few hands that they play passively.

In heads-up more than any other situation, I don't think there is a correct way to play all the time. I think you play whatever style is most harmful to your opponent's chances of winning.

 

[mundybags1]

hey joe i play a lot of hu sng's and if you listen to anyone in this forum, don't listen to anyone who tells you to play like a maniac, it don't work out for long. i have played against these players and the only way they win is if they get in with crap and get lucky and that isn't a good way to end your match. if you want to win more of your hu matches what you should do is watch your opponent very close. i like to see a couple of rivers if it is cheap enought to see what kind of hands he is limping with and what hands he is raising with. another thing that i like to do and works so well is to check raise alot. even if you just have middle pair and the board isn't very dangerous. people think that your hand is stronger when you do this and most of the time they are just betting because you checked. the important thing is to make sure you don't check raise to much and don't do this if you are the shorter of the stacks. you also have to go with your instinct. if you don't think he has it i call alot of all ins on the river with middle pair and sometimes A high if i really don't think he is strong. the only thing that is really important is that you be true to your hand and don't get to cute.