TEACH ME HOW TO GET GOOD HEADS UP DAMMIT

[temp0r]

this is a genuine appeal. as alot of you may have picked up from my hand analysis posts i play little cash and am a MTT specialist. i have been on a great run of late making final tables in more than half of MTTs played since the new year that started with less than 200 entrants.

i have however, failed to win a MTT this year. finishing 2nd a rather stupid 4 times. having worked out how much profit i've missed out on by this poor heads up record i've decided to get desperate and ask to you. the blondes. if you would to play me heads up online a number of times. and then give me feedback on what i'm doing wrong. obviously i'd like someone with a decent heads up record who has the time for 5 or so heads up matches and able to give me some feedback.

look forward to hearing from someone?!

[TightPaulFolds]

Maybe play quite a few pure heads up games, maybe even the turbo ones.
Strategy depend very much on your opponent. A passive player who feels intimidated by you should be handled very differently from a maniac. This is the first judgement you have to make before you do anything. Then you have to create an impression in them of what you are like, I always try and show a few pure bluffs, get into their heads. If you have a really good player, a rock, you have to remove them from their 'comfort zone' by appearing to mess them around, then you can turn into the rock. Once every so often, about one in every 25, I'll come across a genuinely tricky player, one who is always trying to work out what I have from my pattern of play, and is really playing *my* cards against me, not his own. After all, most of the time neither of you is really hitting much, and the advantage is mostly with the aggressor. I hate coming up against this type of player, normally I tighten up a bit and hope to trap if they get too ballsy, if the blind levels permit it.
I try to fit in about 15 of these a day, then I'll go for a workout, at maybe $5 or $10, just to try new things, see how people react. If you practise pure headsup you'll have a big advantage at tourney end, it's a totally different game from earlier stages.
Having said all that, you're always learning, and there are some great texts on the subject. "Harrington on Holdem" has some good stuff, with some real match analysis.
Good luck!

[kinboshi]

There's always plan B.

Push every hand.

[RED-DOG]

The best bit of basic heads up advice I ever had was given to me by a true HU specialist.

"Keep the pots small until you know where you are"

[vegaslover]

maybe you should try a few cheapish STTs to get some practice. I think these are more accurate representation of MTT heads up then straight heads up matches.

'Normal' heads up u start with equal chips, small blinds etc. As u well know this is not representative of tourney situations.

[TightPaulFolds]

There's always plan B.

Push every hand.

I see this more and more on the net, it seems to be the last refuge of the despondent, bad-beaten, or short-stacked. It can feel pretty bad, you've worked hard to outplay this guy, now he's creeping back up just by stealing your blinds. You have to keep a close watch out for it, it may not be blatantly every hand. If he's doing it one every 3 or so, he's all in with maybe any paint, any pair, maybe even any decent connectors. Once you're on to this, you're going to just have to take a stand. You're never that far behind in most races, at worst they're normally doubling up to only level. What are you waiting for anyway? If you're lucky you'll pick up JJ TT and even then you're not that big a favourite.
Be very very wary of the button limper, often they do it hoping you'll raise on that info alone.
Be very reluctant to give up your button.
Call every small blind, unless they are in total-maniac mode. In this mode, they often put you all-in just because you button-limped.