Improving in Heads up!

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Deedoox

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Hey!
I know the basic strategy of heads up, I play aggressive but not as a maniac etc etc. I win a good percent of my games but I haven't played so much yet to make a reliable conclusion about my ROI.
( I play on the lowest stakes, 1.5$ 2-player HU SNG)
But there are some games when I lose and I can't figure out what I did wrong. I think it is not about luck and I feel like the opponent was really better (mostly regs) he put a pressure on me and after he reraised me 3-4 times a row I start to not believe them and call with a decent top pair or middle pair, but then he shows straight or better pair. So I don't say they were lucky, because that's the main goal that when he hit something he want me to not believe him and call.

My main question is: how can I improve my heads up game? Which factors should I focus when I lost the game and I want to figure out why? Or generally what should I do?




I know I shouldn't play with regs or good players, but I don't know who is reg yet AND I want to improve to beat them. :icon_stud If I only play with bad players, I will never be better.
 
This Fish Chums

This Fish Chums

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I may have some advice for you, but when are they raising you? Pre-flop, on the flop, etc. Also, are they simply raising the blind, or are they re-raising your bets. And finally, can you describe your play? When you say you play aggressive, do you mean you are raising every button, or do you raise large when you do raise? Some more info will help me with possibly giving some advice.
 
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agriggy

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sounds like you are making it cheap for him to see cards and hit something, make them pay big to see cards.
 
Amanda A

Amanda A

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Go all in pre flop with a hand you are ok to do a coin flip with, any ace any pair or if you feel they are weak, if they just call your BB or do a min raise. Maximum aggression gets respect and you may get those straighty hands to fold that would otherwise draw out on you.
 
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Deedoox

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I may have some advice for you, but when are they raising you? Pre-flop, on the flop, etc. Also, are they simply raising the blind, or are they re-raising your bets. And finally, can you describe your play? When you say you play aggressive, do you mean you are raising every button, or do you raise large when you do raise? Some more info will help me with possibly giving some advice.



Let’s see:

Preflop:
If the opponent fold often then I open raise with all my hands on the button. I never limp because they raise me then and I always open raise 2BB. So I hope they cant figure out what I have if I minraise with T7 as well as AK.

Postflop:
I usually C bet when I was the preflop aggressor. When I Cbet It doesn’t depends on what I have, if I hit the flop I C bet and if not, I C bet. It depends on the board texture and the opponent.
Sometimes when the enemy was the preflop aggressor and he Cbets on dry flop I raise him to see what he does. Usually they fold if not then I give up.


The opponent 3bet me preflop sometimes but it wouldn’t be a problem.
But when I Cbet the flop some (strong?) opponent reraise me a lot of the times and If I call then he usually do a second barrel on turn. So if I don’t have a decent hand (which is usually the case) then I have to fold.
And that’s when I call them with decent pair and they have something better.

What do you think? How can I be more aggressive without risiking a lot of chips? Or what should I do?
 
nopainnogain

nopainnogain

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Joeisi our cardschat member made home game to train HU. He's a good coach I was told.I think I need some classes too.Take a look at his post about HU it's very interesting.
 
This Fish Chums

This Fish Chums

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Let’s see:

Preflop:
If the opponent fold often then I open raise with all my hands on the button. I never limp because they raise me then and I always open raise 2BB. So I hope they cant figure out what I have if I minraise with T7 as well as AK.

I don't think min-raise every button is the way to go. When someone does that to me 3 or 4 times, I decide a min-raise is just the cost of playing and so I call every time and decide what to do on the flop. I'd say vary your button raises from 2-4 BB regardless of hand.

Postflop:
I usually C bet when I was the preflop aggressor. When I Cbet It doesn’t depends on what I have, if I hit the flop I C bet and if not, I C bet. It depends on the board texture and the opponent.
Sometimes when the enemy was the preflop aggressor and he Cbets on dry flop I raise him to see what he does. Usually they fold if not then I give up.


The opponent 3bet me preflop sometimes but it wouldn’t be a problem.
But when I Cbet the flop some (strong?) opponent reraise me a lot of the times and If I call then he usually do a second barrel on turn. So if I don’t have a decent hand (which is usually the case) then I have to fold.
And that’s when I call them with decent pair and they have something better.

What do you think? How can I be more aggressive without risiking a lot of chips? Or what should I do?


In my opinion you may want to consider being less aggressive post flop. If the opponent KNOWS you are always c-betting with nothing then they could very easily be 3-betting with nothing to push you off the hand. So, if you know their going to do the 3-bet, then let them do the original bet and get to know what they have before you bet on the turn. This would limit the amount of chips you're losing when folding on the turn.

Also, just because it's heads up does not mean a pair is all that strong. Even in heads up 2-pair plus is pretty common.
 
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Deedoox

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I don't think min-raise every button is the way to go. When someone does that to me 3 or 4 times, I decide a min-raise is just the cost of playing and so I call every time and decide what to do on the flop. I'd say vary your button raises from 2-4 BB regardless of hand.









In my opinion you may want to consider being less aggressive post flop. If the opponent KNOWS you are always c-betting with nothing then they could very easily be 3-betting with nothing to push you off the hand. So, if you know their going to do the 3-bet, then let them do the original bet and get to know what they have before you bet on the turn. This would limit the amount of chips you're losing when folding on the turn.



Also, just because it's heads up does not mean a pair is all that strong. Even in heads up 2-pair plus is pretty common.



Thank you for the useful answer! I will try these things out.

The problem with Cbets is that I do about 70-80% of the time because when the opponent is aggressive: if I cbet he may fold, but if I don’t then he will bet with anything and when the turn comes I still won’t know where I am. So it is easier for him to push me out in this case.
 
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