Heads up poker

T

Tiltmode1987

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Oct 7, 2020
Total posts
76
Chips
0
Do you ever practice playing heads up poker? I know i need to work on my heads up game. This kinda relates to my previous post about tournament placement. I believe that i dont really care about 1st place too much because i rarely expect to place 1st. This is largely due to my lack of skill in heads up play.
 
TulasMoreno

TulasMoreno

Visionary
Platinum Level
Joined
Feb 6, 2016
Total posts
937
Awards
3
MX
Chips
140
Its one of the things that i have to practice even more because its too important.
 
Atararo14

Atararo14

Visionary
Bronze Level
Joined
May 28, 2020
Total posts
690
Awards
5
MA
Chips
219
Heads up is a form of poker that requires hard work + a rigorous mental aspect, good luck :)
 
ObbleeXY

ObbleeXY

Visionary
Bronze Level
Joined
Jul 28, 2020
Total posts
935
Awards
2
GB
Chips
223
I like the $0.25 Spin N Go's for that level of practice. You have to play it to win since there is no money for second or third place.

The trouble is, Spins can feed some bad habits if you try to play the same way in a deep tourney as you do in a spin. Obviously, you need to widen your range a bit when you play Spins and heads up games. Otherwise you're going to be bled dry by a severe case of the dwindles, unless you are on a heater.

There are heads up games on poker stars for relatively cheap if you're not getting enough practice via MTT's. Another option is playing single table Sit N Go's (SNG). You should be able to reach heads up at least every four games. The 18-45 On demand SNG's are good for getting Final Table experience, but obvs, not as good for heads up practice.

On Poker Stars now, you have
- Heads Up games in the Sit N Go section
- 3 player games in the Spin N Go categroy
- 4 player games in the Kick-Off (Grand Tour) game
- 6-Max
- Full ring (9 players)
- 18-45 player on demand
- 45, 90, 180 and 360 player SNGs
- MTT's with small numbers (like sunday Storm Satties) and large MTTs, like the storm itself.

So pick your poison for whichever type of practice you need.
I think it is good to play a handful of games in each format. You might find that you have just the right balance of plays to make you profitable in one or more of these games.

Enjoy!

Cheers,
ObbleeXY
 
BussinessSox

BussinessSox

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Total posts
25
Chips
0
I play heads up as much as possible. Live and online. One of the finer ways to hone your game and skills. Specially when to not be afraid to bluff or getting in your opponents head on when to over bet trap or just exploit their weakness willing you picked up on these things.
 
pavel1111111

pavel1111111

Legend
Platinum Level
Joined
Dec 22, 2014
Total posts
3,211
Awards
34
RO
Chips
739
from time to time I also play a heads-up tournament, but very rarely, I usually play spin & go which in my opinion are the closest to simulating heads-up and most of the time i am winning :), plus that most of the time, when I get to the last two i win, I don't know if it's luck or not but I get to win the tournament when I'm in this situation:)
 
Sergei 9417

Sergei 9417

Visionary
Silver Level
Joined
Jan 15, 2020
Total posts
753
Chips
0
I do not like heads-up, but from time to time I play on small hoods, sometimes I have to deal with this in a tournament, and this is my weakest point.
 
C

Cooking

Legend
Platinum Level
Joined
May 19, 2011
Total posts
2,728
Awards
2
Chips
274
I play mostly tournaments, so, it's not very common to play HU. I know that I need to improve my skills in HU, because I usually play tight and I need to be more aggressive to play HU.
 
Phoenix Wright

Phoenix Wright

Legend
Loyaler
Joined
Feb 18, 2020
Total posts
2,915
Awards
4
Chips
415
I like HU play, but it is certainly different than 9-player tables in some respects such as opening range for instance :D

HU isn't only useful in HU events or being the final two in an MTT though. The same HU skill can also be implemented to some degree throughout MTTs - especially later streets in the hand after an isolation play, but also Big Blind vs Small Blind clashes :)
 
KozakAlex

KozakAlex

Visionary
Bronze Level
Joined
Nov 26, 2017
Total posts
979
Awards
1
Chips
0
I play regularly. It is interesting. And you can win a lot if you get a series of successful games. Here you need to change your strategy regularly to confuse the enemy.
 
TeUnit

TeUnit

Legend
Loyaler
Joined
Jan 20, 2009
Total posts
4,779
Awards
14
Chips
126
I think HU hypers are a good way to work on your end game play. The effective blinds are similar to situations you would run into in an MTT.
 
niphon56

niphon56

Legend
Bronze Level
Joined
May 23, 2015
Total posts
2,574
Awards
2
Chips
1
HU is depend on good hand and good luck.

Most of time A.* K.* packet pairs raise , reraise or all-in.

Bad hand should not bluff, for there are not much choice for players, so they will call as possible.
 
R

ROYALROAD

Visionary
Platinum Level
Joined
Jan 1, 2019
Total posts
735
Awards
2
Chips
48
The end of MTT is, of course, heads-up, I have experienced it more than 100 times.
The winning percentage is about 70%.
 
Uncloggie

Uncloggie

Visionary
Bronze Level
Joined
Apr 20, 2019
Total posts
847
Awards
1
Chips
70
Good idea, practice Heads Up ! I think I'll try a few tonight.
Lately I lam too busy to play serious poker anyway, it's a good way to play something fairly quick.
Cheers and Good Luck!
 
Poker_Mike

Poker_Mike

Legend
Loyaler
Joined
Aug 15, 2017
Total posts
4,769
Awards
2
Chips
382
Do you ever practice playing heads up poker? I know i need to work on my heads up game. This kinda relates to my previous post about tournament placement. I believe that i dont really care about 1st place too much because i rarely expect to place 1st. This is largely due to my lack of skill in heads up play.


Headsup is soooo important right?

You use all you luck and skills to get to the final table.

Headsup is where the money is!

I like to practice with headsup sit-and-gos or even headsup cash.

But probably most of my headsup experience is from STTs.

Good luck !
 
M

Medina

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
Sep 7, 2021
Total posts
109
Chips
0
There is very little chance of me getting into this situation.
I don't practice heads up, i think so too is not important to me.
I like almost every sng variation, this is not one of them.
Played a few times and I didn’t have a good experience. It is completely different from the other variations, so you have to play differently, which you can’t practice anywhere.
However, anyone who is very good at it can quickly build a Bankroll with it!
 
A

airvikki

Rock Star
Silver Level
Joined
May 31, 2020
Total posts
169
Chips
0
Very weak heads-up at the moment. We need to work more on this as well. It will come in handy both in the final stages of tournaments and as an independent game. I believe that it is necessary to develop multilaterally, if there is time and desire
 
dsmilez

dsmilez

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 24, 2021
Total posts
33
Chips
0
Practicing heads up is a must if you're a tournament player. I will admit, they were scary at first. After a few videos and articles, you'll get the basics down pretty quick. Heads up sit n gos are the best for this in my opinion. Adapting to your opponent is key. If they are aggressive, let them hang themselves and call down lite. If they are a tight player, run them over until they fight back :)
 
BussinessSox

BussinessSox

Enthusiast
Silver Level
Joined
Nov 18, 2021
Total posts
25
Chips
0
I do not like heads-up, but from time to time I play on small hoods, sometimes I have to deal with this in a tournament, and this is my weakest point.
If you want to take tournaments and winning them a little more seriously you should practice and work on this. Like stated in one of the posts on here. HU doesn't just happen at the final table and it comes into play more than you'd think. Specially later in a tournament when the blinds can really effect your outcome. But I think it's good you recognize that it is a weak point in your game. Just some friendly advice work on it practice. Even if you got someone that plays poker with you at home this is a great time to try new things out and you don't have to feel like you're doing something wrong or helps you get the heebee jeebees out of ya lol. Good luck to you.
 
T

theStarfish

Legend
Platinum Level
Joined
Oct 24, 2021
Total posts
1,184
Awards
2
DE
Chips
448
I also think, that I need to practice HU way more often. It is a important part of the game. There was a HU tournament (play money) on Pokerstars years ago but it has disppeared now. I played this often to practice. It would be cool to see this kind of tournament again, play money or real money.
 
Top