Heads up play

6a6yJIbkO_o

6a6yJIbkO_o

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so it's heads up in a 6 seater tournament, the blinds are 75-150 and my opponent is playing really loosely and aggressively. my stack is about 2k chips shorter than his at about 3.5 and 5.5 thousand chips. what should my starting requirements look like? he only lets me see a cheap flop once in a great while and he'll almost always call my preflop raises unless he has absolute trash, so it's really hard to peg him on a hand.

basically just wondering what the general rule is as far as raising/limping/folding pre-flop in these kind of conditions. i had been raising with my above average and good hands but when i completely miss the flop (about, what.. 70% of the time?) my feeler bets are getting re-raised so i really have no clue where i stand in the hand. anyways, i feel like i'm rambling now..
 
arbahool

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obviously he is very aggressive player,from my experience when im in that situation i let him go a few hands and then i start to raiseing double or 3bet,you should have more confidence in your cards,especcially when you have ace high...don't let him think you are weak,you need to bluff sometimes
 
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He's playing correctly. I'd probably raise every button regardless of cards. Double raise. Any pair is a monster. You have to really open up man.
 
wildyetty

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u just have to fight back HU isn't about the cards as much as appearance
 
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Tode8

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Heads up , you must play every hand rise buttons and sometimes do a 3bet with week cards.Every pair its good in heads up , A high also.You need to be little more agressive.
 
PershingSt

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Once you notice someone is playing this aggressive in a HU scenario you must loosen your 3betting range and be willing to play back with almost any piece of flops postlfop. You have to keep in mind in HU he is likely getting about the same amount of good hands as you are , so you must make him fight for each pot . Also as your stack decreases and blinds go up be willing to 3bet shove or limp shove some of his raises. HU is a battle especially vs and aggro player .
 
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Once you notice someone is playing this aggressive in a HU scenario you must loosen your 3betting range and be willing to play back with almost any piece of flops postlfop. You have to keep in mind in HU he is likely getting about the same amount of good hands as you are , so you must make him fight for each pot . Also as your stack decreases and blinds go up be willing to 3bet shove or limp shove some of his raises. HU is a battle especially vs and aggro player .

Exactly. It's a war for every pot. There's no time to wait for anything. You have to make the action. Being hyper aggressive is the way to be in these situations.
 
wildyetty

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plus keep in mind you have already made huge profit in relation to your investment so theres nothing really to loose but a ton to gain
 
Goldog

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Don't be afraid to get it in with any ace or even decent paint. Two high cards (QJ) any pair etc... One double up and you're in the drivers seat.
 
SPANKYSN

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I hear your dilemma. Mine too...the toughest thing to do because you cannot wait for premium hands...the blinds and antes will eat you up. Just gotta leave your comfort zone, hold your nose and jump right in.
 
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sourfunklemonade

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start raising on the button...heads up thhere are no bad hands
 
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Terrell

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Its definitely going to take some practice. you have to get used to raising with hands you would normally consider light.
 
beger80

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plus keep in mind you have already made huge profit in relation to your investment so theres nothing really to loose but a ton to gain

In a 6man sng the profit is almost solely in winning,second is a min cash.
You can take advantage of their aggression by using your own but also use their aggression against him. Calling a street or two with any connection with the board is usually fine, H/U is more player and stack dependent. Your equities in a H/U match are not usually going to be extremely far apart. You want to see flops, call wider, raise wider, don't limp your button with junk. If you do limp your button and they constantly come over the top do that with the upper side of your range and be ready to shove it in with those hands. I probably only fold the bottom 10-20% of hands.
 
MasterTur

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I agree with you Pershing and you ShoTyme, every pot in the HU is important!
It's a really battle every hand.

Playing agressive and do a good read of your villain is the better think here.
 
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Feliphe Felix

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Play tight-aggressive, put all-in every time.
 
bullishwwd

bullishwwd

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Play tight-aggressive, put all-in every time.
How is TAG and 'all-in' every time a compatible 'strategy'? Seems counter to each other mate. Explain, please. Did you really mean 'ALL-IN or FOLD' ?
 
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canabero

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it depends of the level of agressivity. if villain is quite agressive, raise 3x or 4x then wait a good hand and push hard ( shove if it's neccesary) but if he raises only 2x just call and take care of your decisions post-flop.
 
MAdesG

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When you are at heads up the best mistake is be tight ,you have to be aggressive ,play with confidence and sometimes you have to bluff, I usually play with the cards at the flop I just see the prospects and I 3 bet trying that he think that I have the color flush or another hand, be tight = loose the tournament, remember to be aggressive in heads up and GL!!
 
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Poker247

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Playing HU well takes some practice. Most of the time you should raise almost every time you have the button, and 3-bet anytime you have a decent hand (any pair, Ax, higher suited connector). The temptation is to tighten up against a super aggro player, but that only works early in tourneys where the blinds and antes won't eat you alive. Push yourself out of your comfort zone. On the plus side, you've already won the min cash, so you might as well go for it!
 
kbuinowski

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heads up

so it's heads up in a 6 seater tournament, the blinds are 75-150 and my opponent is playing really loosely and aggressively. my stack is about 2k chips shorter than his at about 3.5 and 5.5 thousand chips. what should my starting requirements look like? he only lets me see a cheap flop once in a great while and he'll almost always call my preflop raises unless he has absolute trash, so it's really hard to peg him on a hand.

basically just wondering what the general rule is as far as raising/limping/folding pre-flop in these kind of conditions. i had been raising with my above average and good hands but when i completely miss the flop (about, what.. 70% of the time?) my feeler bets are getting re-raised so i really have no clue where i stand in the hand. anyways, i feel like i'm rambling now..

me I really have not played heads up tourney a whole lot so i can say much. most of the time if i have a good hand and the guy raises me I mostly called or just went all in.
 
Poker Orifice

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so it's heads up in a 6 seater tournament, the blinds are 75-150 and my opponent is playing really loosely and aggressively. my stack is about 2k chips shorter than his at about 3.5 and 5.5 thousand chips. what should my starting requirements look like? he only lets me see a cheap flop once in a great while and he'll almost always call my preflop raises unless he has absolute trash, so it's really hard to peg him on a hand.

basically just wondering what the general rule is as far as raising/limping/folding pre-flop in these kind of conditions. i had been raising with my above average and good hands but when i completely miss the flop (about, what.. 70% of the time?) my feeler bets are getting re-raised so i really have no clue where i stand in the hand. anyways, i feel like i'm rambling now..


There's really no short answer to this. Far too many things to attempt to give you any kind of response here that you'd find helpful (imo).
Study... play,... study,... play,... study,.. play. gl
 
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bizbakol

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I like heads up, because the poker skills are very important here and could be profitable.
 
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Alexandre Koga

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in this situation if I see which players are weak I tend to call with Ace high or pair of 8+ flipping with him , because we have to command respect at the table and play forward , especially in a headsup , good luck at the tables
 
Lucothefish

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so it's heads up in a 6 seater tournament, the blinds are 75-150 and my opponent is playing really loosely and aggressively. my stack is about 2k chips shorter than his at about 3.5 and 5.5 thousand chips. what should my starting requirements look like? he only lets me see a cheap flop once in a great while and he'll almost always call my preflop raises unless he has absolute trash, so it's really hard to peg him on a hand.

basically just wondering what the general rule is as far as raising/limping/folding pre-flop in these kind of conditions. i had been raising with my above average and good hands but when i completely miss the flop (about, what.. 70% of the time?) my feeler bets are getting re-raised so i really have no clue where i stand in the hand. anyways, i feel like i'm rambling now..
HU is great, it's a giant game of chicken.

You should be raising super wide on the button, virtually any two suited are good for a minraise, any Ace king queen or jack, just go nuts.

Be willing to call wide and play back too with reraises, when you flat remember he's missing 70% of flops as well. Ace high or even king high can often win the hand, any piece of the board is usually good.

And as a last resort... if you feel like you're getting destroyed postflop then start shoving wider preflop and remove his post flop edge. Once he gets a 3:1 chiplead you should be willing to shove any ace or king, any pair, anything with a bit of postflop equity just push push push till you double up or die.
 
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