blonde poker forum

Can anyone give me any tips on how to play Heads-Up.

I have lost count of the amount of times, I have lost playing heads-up. I just can't seem to do it.

I was playing a $15 STT on Blonde tonight. Over the last few days, my bankroll has grown from  $0.72  to  $70.01.  I have been playing STT. Normally, I hate STT mainly due to the H-U element. I know, I am missing out on potential money because of my lack of ability to play this part of a poker game.

Tonight, I went into the H-U with almost ten times as many chips as my opponent. I lost. I got outdrawn a few times, but to be honest, I didn't play it as well as I should have done.

I don't really enjoy playing STT, but so far, it is the type of poker which seems to suit my game the most. My cashes in these type of games are respectable. But they are 2nd's and 3rd's. I have only won a few of these. It is the H-U part of a STT that absolutely kills me.

Any tips would be appreciated.

Thanks

Aggression is key.

At the level your playing at a simple strategy of bet/raise or fold and never calling, with more of the former than the latter should pay dividends.

Heads up is more about playing the player than it is about playing the cards, by the time you get heads up you should have a good idea of how your opponent plays, and you should be aware of the table image he has of you, try to use that information to your advantage

It's very important to be the aggressor at this stage, don't be afraid to get caught bluffing, you can use that to your advantage, it will help you to get paid if you hit a monster

Don't try to sit and wait for good cards, keep the pressure on, play your position

Heads up pots usualy go to the player who gets the bet in first, remember on any given flop, the chances are, he missed it

Heads up is very much a "Feel" game, there is no substitute for practice

My God, I've just had the brass neck to give someone poker advice, I must be over tired  :-X

As El Blondie said at the poker school tonight - it depends, it depends, it depends!

Your stack size, your opponents style and your position (post flop) are the key elements. The best heads up players can adapt to different styles quickly. IMO there is no "route one".

If there's a style you find overwhelming, dont be afraid to take some play out of it and start pressing the all-in button.

Thanks Red and Wardonkey. and Baron

I tend to play the same way, I have during the actual game. Very tight. This style seems to work for me in STT, but only up untill the H-U stage.

Phil Helmuths book " play poker like the pro's ",  talks about ' super tight is right '.  I can now see, that using this strategy, is not useful in alot of poker games. Heads-up is one of these. I have read the Hold-Em section about twenty times. My game is basically built around what is in those chapters.

I will take on board your advice and try and adapt this to my H-U game. Thanks. I appreciate your help.

Your stack size, your opponents style and your position (post flop) are the key elements. The best heads up players can adapt to different styles quickly. IMO there is no "route one".


ADAPT is the key word here.

Aggression is great, as long as its controlled. RED-DOG makes a good point in saying play your position strong..

And of course AGRESSION. DO NOT fold fold fold until you have hardly enough to make up a few blinds.

Also remember the average starting hand in Hold Em is Q7. If your dealt anything bigger than that, you can assume you have the best hand, so don't be afraid to get involved with stuff like K4os, chances are...your ahead!

Q7????

I always thought average hand heads up was J4

hehe,

i guess you have reason to think so! :)

I totally agree with that. When I was playing the 32Red Masters HU I had a big chip lead 150,000 to about 90,000. But I quickly found myself being outplayed by a very good player and the chip lead swapped within about 10 hands. The whole time he moved all-in anytime I made any sort of bet or whenever I limped from the SB, so I decided that the first two decent cards I get I was going to limp and call all-in because he must be doing it some of the time with junk, plus I wasn't going to let myself be blinded down to nothing. . So I picked up  Kh Th and limped and as usually he made an all-in move. I quickly called and couldn't believe he had  Aspades 9s !!! I rivered a  Td and the rest is history. So if you feel you're being outplayed just move all-in. Take some of 'their' edge from the game.

The best advice I ever read (in terms of succinctness) on how to play heads up, was posted on an online forum.

The gist of it was this: "Heads up, you want to be taking advantage of your opponent's biggest weakness - which will normally be either raising too often, or folding too often."

If ur in a position like having 10times his stack i would just be puttin them all in each hand no matter what your cards, u can afford to double him up twice really until he's equal with you, even if he folds each time till he gets a premium hand then he'll have even less chips from the few he's folded and then no matter what his cards you can always suck out. I play the same when short stacked to really.

Thats the only advice i can give, if i have an equal stack i just raise if he calls raise on flop if he calls panic.

Victoria Park is the one you want.

From the A19 take the A689 signposted Hartlepool. Follow the A689 towards the Town Centre.

It'll help to be in the Carling League One, although you might get to play H-U in League Two, as they look like they might go down this year.

 ;iagree;

Sometimes their biggest weakness is their connection, be sure to take advantage of that too.

Thanks for the help everyone. I appreciate it

For a scot i was quite impressed with your knowledge of lower league English football - til i got to the bit that said "Carling League One"....

As Sark is from the outer reaches of the earth - or Kilmarnock as its more commonly known - i fear the reference to Hartlepool United would be lost ;)

lol, matt.

I thought the Carling league was a rugby team league.  So I had no chance with the reference to Hartlepool.  :D

I would echo much of what has been said here. 

Agression is key, but it has to be controlled.  If you go all in every hand you may take down a few point but the time you walk into a hand it maybe night night.

Know your opponent, you should be observing everything going on at the table.

Get your money in first.  I tend to think that if BB checks HU its a sign of weakness its not often you will see monsters being slow played HU.

Vary your play.  Most importantly for me is be aware of your image.

like you Sark, I consider myself a tight player. 'Rock' is too strong but very tight. HU is completely different. I worry very little about the cards Im dealt.

I find the first half a dozen hands set the tone for a HU battle (assuming niether me or the other player is a huge chip leader). I will try and make a small pre flop raise every hand to start with to see what the reaction is. if I get re-raised most of the time I re-adjust to a trapping game (which I don't like HU because you rarely get hands big enough, and they're hard to get paid off when they come). if he passes or calls I stay aggressive and try and pick up as many small pots as I can. If he's particularly passive it's easy to spot when he gets a hand or hits a flop. if he's making it cheap enough i'll try and stay with him and bust his big hand, if he prices me out I get away cheap and go back to pick9ing up small pots.

for me, it's usually a case of steady gradual pressure without getting myself too commited to pots. Obviously if I'm being very aggressive I make myself a target for traps.

if you fancy some $1 practice sark, PM me and I'd be happy to be a sparring partner. as Red says, there's no substitute for practice.

another trick I like is to set up some patterns, for example I might try minimum raising from the SB and passing to a big re-raise. I do it LOTS of times so that if I get a monster in the SB I've set him up to re-raise me with junk. I'm giving him false information, making him think he's found a weekness, when in fact for only a few chips I'm setting a trap for later.

What are you crazy kids calling it these days?

Well the product is a liquid which is consumed and it does begin with "C" so i'll give you a 9 out of 10 - but its Coca-Cola

I tend to slow play more often heads up then in a multi way game, most people consistantly raise on the button heads up because all they hear aggression is the key, but aggression can me manipulated by a trapping style player plus in the BB online you are out of position, AK heads up out of position against aggressive players isnt the best situation to be in.

Playing the player is you best play imo, Weak players that dont adjust to the heads up game - raise in position because there checks post flop generally mean weakness.

Recklessly aggressive players - Prefer to trap them, check raise and slow play. Only problem with that is when the cards dry up you are in trouble and I tend to look for 50/50 situations.

The player with diffrent gears and more creativity are the ones you have to watch, if you feel they have your number or have an edge of you just go for the 50/50s and try play pre-flop poker, should limit there edge a bit.

All really depends on chip stacks, blinds, image and lots of other things but those styles work out ok for me.

I remember when it was just 'Division 3'...

If you're playing heads-up at the end of an STT, then the blinds are usually big enough that there's not a lot you can do wrong, provided you don't fold too much. The first time the pair of you get half-decent hands, it's all going in the middle and you have to hope your hand holds up. Never, ever, fold from the small blind - raise 3/4 of the time and flat call the other times, but mix up the hands you do this with. The easiest way to do it is pick one of the suits, and if your left hand card is of that suit, call - if not, raise. If you get re-raised, you can then 'look at your hand' and decide whether it's good enough to call. Don't look to call too much from the BB - you'll be out of position if you miss the flop. If a hand is good enough to play from the BB, it's good enough to raise/re-raise with.

Beware players who re-raise you very rarely - when they do it's likely to be a monster, so don't start thinking A6 might be good enough. Of course, if the blinds are very big, pot-odds might dictate a call even if you know you're behind - get to know the percentages of certain hand types (one overcard v pair, dominated cards etc) so you can quickly ascertain whether the odds are there.

End of STT HU battles usually come down to who can steal the most blinds - the most common crime people commit is being too passive. As someone else said, going all-in almost every hand may not be far off the best strategy.

In a one-on-one match, which begins with small blinds, the key is getting inside your opponent's head. What hands does he play, what does he raise with? Is he a trapper? Is he a bluffer? Early on, I find it's best to 'kick the tyres' of my opponent. Bet into him, re-raise him - does he fold or play back? Ease off on a few hands - will he take the initiative if you give it up (by raising pre-flop then checking flop/turn). The more passive your opponent, the easier it is to play him as, not only will you steal pots with nothing, but his raises will be rare enough that they'll signal his big hands (though watch out for potential trapping if you've been a bully - he may be waiting for the opportunity to call you with a monster).

Again thanks for the comments. They will be studied closely.

I will difinately take you up on the $1 H-U practice games, Adam.  After my brain takes on board all that has been discussed in these posts. I will PM you...   

 1.  For me i like to play aggressive.
 2.  Show abluff now and again.
 3.  watch out for there style.
 4.  Use your postion.
 5.  Mix it up well.

I have watched some HU on pokerstars recently.  However, I don't really think it is something that a person can learn by watching other people.

I don't know if other people have noticed this, but some of the players on the high limit tables on pokerstars play really strange hands. It may just be my fish like poker brain, but I can't see the worth in a lot of the hands that are played.

This is steering away from HU, but can people please give me their views on this.  The other day on the $100/200 Limit table, a player raised with J,9 H  from 4th position. He continued to raise untill the end of the hand and his pair of Jacks ( after the board cards were out ) won the hand. The thing was, three other people were involved in the hand. Someone else made a pair of 8's. At my Low limit games, I don't think anyone would raise with that kind of hand. They definately wouldn't continue the hand untill the end with a board of  J,T,8,K,4. To me there are obvious dangers, straights and one overcard. Someone could have a pocket pair or have made trips. Am I just too tight, or is this the difference between the Sark Limits and the High Limits. The players at the higher limits are able to read more into things, that I can't. If someone calls three of my raises, I would be afraid they had a straight or held a King.

In general, I would say the players at the lower limits play a more 'book' type of game. I know that people like Mike Matasow complain that nobody folds hands at Limit Hold-Em online. Is he correct. I am sure there is a reason behind the styles of play at the higher limts , but I cannot understand it yet in my poker studies. I may need to put ' Play poker like the Pro's' to one side and learn to loosen up abit. If I watch some of a $10/20 game, I can follow most of what goes on. I am sure, I would be crushed if I played against the players at this level at the moment. I am not ready yet ( besides I don't have a roll for that kind of game.. :D ). But when I try to follow the higher limit games, they just confuse me. It is more like a Play Money Limit game. There is no holding back. It is just all out, raise, raise, raise. 

Am I alone in this. Has anyone else seen this?

Sorry, this is in the wrong bit. It should be the Internet section..

Isn't Hellmuth's book meant to be one of the worst books ever?

Maybe it is. But I read it recently and I saw the way it was writen. I thought to myself, that is almost exactly how I play.

Jeeez.... ' worse books ever ' ........ Sark fish........   bollox, that explains why I am a fish....lol

I am reading PPLTP at the moment; can't say I'm too impressed... but it's not unreadable.

Sark, you need to learn to beat the limits you are playing now before you worry about the $100/200 game.

There is a natural progression, as you get better and move up the ladder your game evolves. The game required to beat $100/200 will not be the best game to beat $1/2. 

Also, while the games at higher levels are definately tougher do not assume that everyone playing at those levels is a strong player. There are a fair few fish in the deep end too.

Yea, I agree Wardonkey

I guess, it is just like being at school. When you are in your early years, you watch the older kids going to parties and going out on dates. Then a few years down the line, it is you who is going to the parties and on the dates. Then, your minds starts looking further up the ladder.... fancy cars, big houses and supermodels.

I am in junior school in poker terms right now. The $100/200 players are the older kids.  The $100/200 players are the ones looking up the ladder. But their ladder is the Big Game at the Bellagio with Doyle, Gus and Johnny Chan.. They no longer want $100/200. Their minds dream of $4000/8000 blinds

i disagree about the helmuth book. it's a good tool for getting a beginner to the interdediate stage. it's no good for an advanced player but then all the advanced players are kicking helmuths ass these days. someone who's been playing a short time would learn more from this book than anything Doyle, harrington or sklansky has written.

I like the book. I have only read the Limit / No-Limit sections. I have still to read the other parts. Hopefully over the next couple of weeks, I have the time to start them. 

like this:

http://youtube.com/watch?v=LEfLXr3eSxs (http://youtube.com/watch?v=LEfLXr3eSxs)

yep like that, but for people who are not aliens. He must be an alien to be able to play as good as that. I am not an alien, I am a fish

That's sort of the impression I'm getting from it. It's all explained very much from first principles, covers all the main games, and is still a small enough book - unlike the bohemiath that is Super/System - that it won't put newbies off.

aggression is key but you need to adapt if you are playing against a super aggresive player you need to make him think you are timid this way you can use the aggression to steal big pots while he keeps nicking the small ones

agaisnt a normall oppo you can use aggression very easy they are looking for average hands to play with while you can play and win with 72o