blonde poker forum

I am getting very nervous about the upcoming game that I, perhaps foolishly, decided to play. (Thank you Blonde/Frank and TCs)

I have almost no experience playing HU live and I feel a bit like a lamb to the slaughter, so I am looking for any advice.

I play HU online a fair bit but mostly around $5 which isnt quite the same as a £100 buyin :/

This article looks quite good, should I use this as a guideline?

http://www.pokersite.org/poker-strategy/heads-up/10-tips/

In my experience with HU, they never have it, right up until the hand they do.

You need to spot when this hand is one hand earlier than I do. :)

 :D

Thats kind of what I figured, so is it more down to luck than skill?

i am sure you have played the blonde HU on more than one occasion just assume the blonde is a turbo

you will have more time to sit back get a feel for the oppos play

just remember to raise your button more often than you limp with it

and 3b from BB when you have a pair or suited connector or 2 broadway cards

and dont forget 4bet shoving with your aces

Hope that advice is a level

would be a level if suzzane wasnt a novice by her own admission if she isnt confident in her game she needs aggression

suzzane is a rock in mtts and can make tikay look like a lag as she waits for hands

playing HU she needs to open up her range and play them strongly

for a more experianced player playing HU deep there is obviously more to the game

but for suzzane there is no point in her playing flops when she isnt comfy playing with or without a hand

So you're suggesting she 3bets small pairs and suited connectors out of position?

I am no heads up expert in fact i am very ordinary at it.

If you feel you are a clear underdog in the match, varience is your friend. That means being more aggresive and playing bigger pots, I would very much turn it into a preflop game personally in that spot.

Just trying out one of your new ideas......

let the blinds get big and them jam big cards Aces and pairs

yes because you need to take advantage of the fact the oppo will release his button raises to suzannes 3bets more often than not

i agree with longy bigger pots with more marginal hands preflop is what suzzane is looking for

Very much what Longy says.

Don't be afraid to call off your whole stack with A9 or even a small pair pre.

It'll usually be ahead especially against someone who thinks you're weak so continually raises.

Don't necessarily look at getting it in first so that they fold. They'll only be folding worse. Let them try to bully you then call.

Even if you're a 30% dog it's still probably better than you would be long term so you should be happy with it.

Was going to say this as well.

Obviously depends on the structure.

If it's fast then this is a great strat.

If u believe ur opponent has an edge try and get into big pots/flips

Best advice- enjoy it and the result will come

lol, nice rub

The structure is 7500 chips, 15 min blinds starting at 25/50, best of 3.then round 2, 15k chips etc. Doesnt sound very fast.

I am expecting to be bullied (men always try to lol), so wondered if it would be best to do what has been said and wait for big hands, let my opponent bet into me and get chips that way, throwing in the occasional 3 bet bluff, or get involved in a lot of pots and hope to get lucky. Advice here says sit tight and gamble when blinds are big, yes?

Ironside is right, I am not exactly known for my aggression  :D

if you're not confident and dont enjoy it (youve never played it before) why are you even playing.

Wouldnt suggest 4b shoving Ax when more than 35bbs deep.

I actually disgree with Longy. If your game plan going into a deepstacked HU event is get short and try to run good then you will be a huge huge dog to go deep in the tournament and a ridichuge dog to win because the players who arent content to wait for the blinds to get big will have decimated ur stack.

dont do anything that you are not comfortable with, just play your normal game

I didnt say I wont enjoy it, I love playing live poker just dont get to play as much as I would like which obviously means I am not as experienced as some.

So how would you play pleno?

One thing that has occured to me is that in general there isnt that many HU tournaments so I think I wont be the only one who hasnt played this kind of game before.

Ohh and the reason I am playing tbh is because its free :)

http://blondepoker.com/forum/index.php?topic=53501.0

pretty much this - try not to stress out overthinking it, enjoy, and get lucky :)

Just be natural and enjoy yourself :)

try and project confidence, even if you're not.

Don't talk to your opponent.

wear a revealling top, 3b >30% and smile when you do it.

Please don't overanalyse it Suzanne

enjoy it, play your natural game, simple as that

Raise. GL enjoy the game.

Okay boss.

Im really looking forward to it and a little bit excited :)

........you'll probably be surprised how bad they are :)


 ;goodluck; ;goodluck;

i said aces not Ax

Most live players are pretty tez heads up because they don't often get to play out heads up either because they never get that far or dO some sort of deal when it gets down to the last few.

You hit the nail on the head when you said guys try to bully you but this is because your natural game is solid and tight. If you played back at em more then they would think twice about trying to run you over. Most guys will believe a woman never bluffs and always has it so use this to your advantage. You ain't stupid and obv know heads up you are going to have to play a lot more hands. Position is key so the button is crucial and if you raise in position more often than out of you should be mathematically Playing ok too.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty don't be caught out shoving hands that are gonna be a big dog if you get called ( small pairs and 1 good card with a rag)

Gl

If you raise when I've bet I pause...u usually have it....try n get this perception without actually having it.....enjoy n win.....

Other people suggested waiting for the blinds to get big. I was not favouring that, I am favouring playing very aggro pre from the get go. Lots of 3betting, makes us awkward to play against and should make the game play more shallow and therefore more varience etc.

just play ur usual game.

not gonna have long enough to try and adapt ur game and trying to remember what tips people have said on here will just confuse you mid hand.

just enjoy it and win!

if you can get a copy of timoskenkos semi final awesome display of aggression

My thoughts exactly :) I am guessing that there wont be anyone there who knows me so I have this "oh its a woman" to my advantage.

Also hoping that my opponents google my name and see this thread :p

this

all the very best with this suz

Half thinking I shouldnt have posted but really did want some advice.

I only play for fun and all live games previously have been Blonde/Apat/Local/Ladies games. This will be the first time I have walked into a cardroom knowing no one (eeeeekk) and being there hoping to win.

As has been said, I will play the best I can and enjoy.

I have a vision of Frank doing a facepalm LOL

One of my top 10 players ;)

suzz if you wake up in time
http://ru.justin.tv/peng0#/w/1290505248

The other thing was to play your own game. You Are the best in the world at your own game and no one knows it better. It's better to play how you know and also if it goes tits up you won't feel bad that you went out trying someone else's advice. When my mate made the final of the Irish winter festival last year Neil channing said to him that he needed to steal the blinds from the button more. First hand of the final it folds to him on the button. I am all in he announces strong as anything and bb looks him up with QQ. His 9 2 off makes a straight and takes the devastated bb out, but it could have been a lot worse

great tip for your heads up tourney


wear one of these ;)

(http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcToqJ5YR41nvxJmtoH9eh-07s6LIvg4bI71Qv1G4IBYS5IU06-d)

Love it.

Live HU is still the same game as online HU

Pots big when your IP and small pots OOP. Adjust to ur villains style, if he is batshit crazy, play a bit snug and look for a good spot to exploit the over aggression, if they are too passive then exploit him by raising near on 100% of hands from the btn and 3bet much wider IF and only IF they are showing a willingness to fold to 3bets, either tight aggro or loose aggro if you play passivley you'll get crushed.

And please do not 3bet 33 or  5c 6c unless the player is going to fold a high % ;)

gl

'Aggressive' calling can also slow down someone who is trying to bully you a lot. Calling them down on each street when you haven't necessarily got the strongest hand. 

Good ploy or not?

agressive calling doesn't really exist in my head. I wouldnt make a point to activley call more than normal to stop someone bluffing as the natural reaction to this from a decent lpayer would be to bluff a LOT less and really widen up the hands that you bet for value.

If someone is showing a perpensity to bluff a lot than you would want to be calling with hands that are strong enough slightly more than you are betting them

Read this 5 times and still dont get it.

Am I right in thinking aggressive calling is checking to all bets then shoving on the river? I know the moves but not the terminology.

Think they mean calling quite wide as a statement of intent.

eg, calling down 3 streets with ace high and it being good. May well put them off bluffing you in the future.

[ ]

Good first brackets was a test run to see if it works. Must be [X] that I mess up. Hey up. That works too. A Sunday afternoon sat with tighty getting IT lessons sure helps. Even tho he can't even post pictures using my laptop. Anyway here is what I wanted to say

[ ] Ace hi is  a big/wide call and should be at the bottom of your range.

It's not a ring game, you are h/u Ffs and ace hi is gonna be ahead the majority of the time. But we can't make sweeping statements like this because every hand presents it's own problems. There are times when you may call with 8 hi on the top end of a busted straight draw (if you think they are bluffing the river with some quirky lower straight draw and trying to take a pot they can't win without bluffing.) Now that's some heavy shit right there and if you own a mans soul in a live heads up game with a call like that then the rest of the match is easier. But when one of these calls comes off for you as a lady you have to look him straight in the eye, wink at him and say "I've got your number  son. I've got your number"

What I meant in response to the question is I dont think "aggressive calling" exists as a strategy particularly, opting for a strategy that is centered around a passive approach leaves you very open to being exploited by anyone able to adapt

If someone is showing a willingness to bluff/semi-bluff and barrell off much more than he is to call than I'd be wanting to chk/call with hands that I might otherwise want to bet with, these hands would as a stnd be from the mid-ish section of my range in any spot.

gogogogogogogogo post results plz :P

Hahahahaha....love it :)

And yes I will post results. I dont have one of those posh phones that can log onto the internet but will let you know how I get on the day after.

Thanks to all who have given advise. Really looking forward to it now :)

Enjoy yourself, think through everything you do and most importantly just win when you are all in :)up