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Heads Up

published on 05/01/06 at 4:39 am

For those of you new to the poker scene, Heads Up (HU) is played between two players, head to head. Most players do not get to play at HU very often when playing tournaments because it is often difficult to get into that position from a field of several hundred players. I play a lot of single table tournaments and Sit ‘n’ goes (STT or SnG), you are more likely to find yourself in a HU situation as you start in a much smaller field from 5 or 6 up to 45 players (although 45 is not a STT it is still considered a SnG).

As in any tournament the main aim is to finish in the money, this has to be your number 1 target, but when you are in the money and you have stopped congratulating yourself for getting to the money you then have to start changing your style of play, the value of your cards has changed and the level of the blinds should now be in the area that you should start to defend your chips with ferocious tenacity.

The next stage of the game is HU, you have managed to stay in the game long enough to finish at least 2nd, most of the time I feel I have done better then I have expected as 3rd was my aim (in STT or SnG) and I’m more than happy to have finished in this position. Although I have played HU after playing in a STT of SnG I still found that I struggled if I had the advantage and was chip leader. This was because the other player, who had fewer chips, has picked his game up and become more aggressive and he needed to defend his chip stack and attack mine. I became very passive and checked or folded to any signs of strength. This is not the right way to play.

What is the right way to play Heads Up?

Now, I think it is universally agreed that your aggression level will need to rise and the value of your hand will need to be lowered. For instance any Ace or picture card is a good starting hand, a raise is almost automatic. Pocket pairs are very strong and are worthy of a raise as are AK, AQ, AJ, KQ, KJ and QJ which are all hands that should play themselves. If you get cheese throw it away. Especially at the early blind levels when you are establish your tight table image. Don’t show bad cards, it will not help you later on. Suited connectors are also very attractive when HU, more so than when playing 4 or more players. I do play these but I like to limp, if they hit you usually get paid!

If there was a set formula to play we would be winning more games, but there isn’t, your trips can still be beaten and your straight can still be broken, you have to judge each hand for its own value and the player you are playing against.

It is not unusual for a HU match to last half an hour and its not unusual for the game to end before the 2nd level of blinds have kicked in. For instance I had AK and 2 Kings hit the flop, I bet heavy, my opponent bet heavy, the river was a rag, I go all in, he goes all in and he shows a K high hand and I hit an ace on the river winning with a full house! Now my opponent must have been thinking to himself “I have this game won, look he’s gone all in and I have 3 Kings, he can’ beat me…oh shit, a full house!”

I played a HU game the other day and every time I had a hand with a 10 or higher in it I raised the preflop bet to 3x the big blind or higher and my opponent folded. Every time I saw a flop and didn’t bet the opponent put a min bet in, I saw this pattern and started to see the flops regardless and then put a bet in after his flop bet, then he would fold. When he worked this out it was nearly time for an all in to any bet and the game had ended. I have to stress that I was rarely bluffing and only played cards I thought were winning.

However, I played another HU and my opponent waited until the timer was almost out of time before making any action every hand and then put a massive raise into the pot, this started to get to me and I only saw his raises when I had a good hand, even if I put a large raise in my opponent would also put a re-raise in and make me think hard about my Q high hand or my low pocket pairs. Then I held KJ suited and decided that the bullying would stop. A raise of 250 should show I have a good hand and good to form the large re-raise came so I push all in and my opponent sees the all in and shows what was probably the best hand he had played during the whole game, AA and I had lost my discipline.

Discipline is key, stay calm, don’t get drawn into hands your not going to win, fishing for flushes and straights are costly so don’t get caught chasing unless it is cheap. As a wise man once said to me, “Play good cards and the rest will sort itself out.”

I am currently winning 3 out of 4 HU matches at the $10 and below level and found the quality of player is very variable. I have played very fishy players who have gone all in with an Ace high hand and played with others who are as tight as they come and only play top 10 hands, I on the other hand am becoming more tight and aggressive with every match, I am looking to move up to the $20 level as soon as I have built my bankroll up to 10x the buy in.

I don’t consider myself a good poker player, but at these levels I think I am better than average. It is excellent practice to play these HU matches and I think I have improved my game ten fold over the last 6 weeks thanks to the PokerPlasm guys for their help and support with all things poker!

One last note: I wouldn’t go from playing a HU match straight into a 1500 seat tournament without a bit of a break, having to change speed the quick could give you whiplash!

All my best and I hope this helps!

A student of the game, darKPlay continues to improve his poker knowledge. He shares his ideas, thoughts, and progress through his blog, Killed on the River and is in the process of building a new comedic site called Sherbertdip .

1. Heads-Up SnG Action