04-12-06, LearnTexasHoldem:
Playing Heads Up
Thanks a lot again,
Reza
Top 3 Beginner Rooms
Answer:
That's a big question but I'll try to give you some tips. Heads up play is the hardest part of holdem to master because more than any other part of the game, you rely on counterstrategy and how your opponent's thinking.
- How big are the blinds in relation to your stacks? The more money you have, the more play there should be. On the other hand if you don't have much left in relation to the blinds, you can't throw your hand away even if it isn't great. Tourney play is easier than cash games in this respect because of the time factor. More options means more complexity. When you have limited moves because of the blinds eating away at your chips, you are forced to play.
- You'll do yourself a big favor if you sit down with a deck of cards and keep dealing out hands, flops, turns and rivers. What you'll notice that it is very hard to get a good hand heads up. Part of what you need to do to become a decent heads up player is to readjust your thinking on what is a good hand. I can't give you exact rules, but against many players, I would be confident with any pair on the flop. And because it is very hard to both get a strong hand preflop and connect with a flop, aggression pays. If for example you were to play a regular tight full table game with an aggressive heads up player, you would lose. You won't hit enough hands and he would run over you.
- Now, the first thing you want to do is figure out how your opponent is going to play. Ideally you want to do this before you get involved in a big pot with him. Maybe a few hands down the road you'll put all your chips in with middle pair, but you would like to get a little more background info before you make a play like that. Is he raising every hand preflop from his dealer button? Or is he raising only good hands? You have a limited amount of time to figure this out because of the blinds, so their size will determine how long you should wait before you protest.
- When experienced players are against inexperienced players in no limit holdem, they would prefer to play what is called "small pot poker." What that means is that they would like to avoid getting in all the money preflop in a situation where they may not be that much ahead, to instead see more flops and try to just chip away at the guy. So if your opponent doesn't know how to play as well as you do, I would recommend you don't get the game too aggressive. See more flops and put the money in when you have a bigger edge. As you'll see below, even in situations where you think you are way ahead, you are only a 3:2 favorite. Now, if the opponent is more experienced than you, you can do the opposite: You can play bigger pots with him and take the "play" out of the game completely. This is all-in poker. You basically just push all-in preflop and let him decide what to do.
- With the aggressive opponent you can adopt two strategies: You can call your big blind more and then play from there, or you can fold more and then reraise when you have a decent hand yourself. A combination is usually best but I can't give you more details on when to do either. The more the raise is relative to your stack, the more you should consider going all-in if you play. You wouldn't want to just call a raise for half your stack preflop. That is the point where you are committed.
- High card strength matters. A pair preflop is great in heads up play. After that you want the Ace high, then King high, then some cards that work together.
- Understand that since hands like Ace high and King high don't hit flops that often, you would prefer to reraise preflop and get the guy to fold or have all the money go in. This is like why you like all the money to go all-in preflop with AK, so you get five cards to draw to-- flop, turn and river -- as opposed to missing the flop and getting shut out.
- Remember that when the blinds are large, odds give you a lot of leeway to play junk. Here are some examples and their odds:
| Opponent | You |
| AJ 64% | 75 36% |
| A7 63% | Q4 37% |
| KJ 63% | 98 37% |
| AK 68% | 72 32% |
Now, that doesn't mean that 72 isn't that bad. These stats can be interpreted incorrectly. These are stats to the river if both hands go all-in. To get these odds, the money all has to go in preflop so you get the five drawing cards.
- You would prefer to bet all your money with a weak hand than call one. Never forget this. A hand changes value when you are the bettor or the caller. There is a small chance the opponent will fold if you are the bettor, while if you call, you have to make the best hand to win.
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