[chris]

Anyone have any general information on how to play heads up? I seem to suck at this the most, probably one of the hardest things to master. If there are any pages on it or watnot im eager to see em.

Today i was playing heads up against an aggressive player who raised always preflop, and blinds were monstrous, we were both even. I think i won partially on luck, the lead kept changing and i heard if thats happening, then someone isnt playing right.

[ballen]

Pre-Flop: If you get an Ace, a raise or re-raise to all in is a good move.. Depending on your stack, if you get dealt something like K5,etc.. it's worth calling the raise too. Higher connectors (preferably suited, but don't have to be necessarily at this point) like J10 is worth raising, or calling as well. If you keep hoping on getting JJ, QQ, KK, AA, AK, AQ, etc.. you'll probably get blinded out. Weaker hands that have no value on a full table become valuable heads up. Anything with an ace gives you top kicker so if you have A3 and the other guy has Q10, and none of these hit the board, and none hits a flush or straight then you win the hand.

If you get the wonderful the wonderful AA or KK hand, just call the raise or don't raise yourself, this hand you want to check over after the flop and hope his aggressive play will get him betting on a draw or a small pair and then you can hopefully get all his chips in the middle. With KK as long as an ace didn't come out [Smile] . Other pairs are valuable too, but with ones like 33, 44,etc.. you hope to flop a trips, and then you can come up with a plan to get all his chips in the middle..

When playing heads up you have the best hand usually half the time.. you might have garbage for a few hands, he might too.. you might get a few hands and then he might get garbage,etc.. it goes both ways.. but being too overly tight can hurt you heads up.

[chris]

thanks that helped.

another thing, if i have like 34o and im dealer in small blind, should i even bother to play it?

[lork]

You should ALWAYS raise when you are on the button. It makes absolutely no sense to let him see a free flop. You may have 34o but he may have 27o and will fold to your raise. Again, ALWAYS raise when you are on the button pre-flop.

If he re-raises you pre-flop or calls and then bets out on the flop, lay them down.

[johnf]

My rule is for the most part if I am on the button it's either raise or fold no matter what I have. Think of it this way: when you play heads up you will have the best hand 50% of the time. The more pressure you put on your opponent, the larger percentage of pots you will win.

[petronder]

My rule is for the most part if I am on the button it's either raise or fold no matter what I have. Think of it this way: when you play heads up you will have the best hand 50% of the time. The more pressure you put on your opponent, the larger percentage of pots you will win.

[petronder]

Raise or fold?

Correct me if I'm wrong (heads up is a weak spot of mine that I am trying to learn about and I do not have a ton of experience with it), but I do not think you should play by a hard and fast srategy heads up. Your opponent will catch on pretty quick.
Shouldn't you vary the strategy? Try to keep him off balance. Maybe slowplay occasionally, and maybe even give him a free card every so often?
Again, heads up is a weak spot of mine and I'm learnin' still.

[jorpot]

I agree with the "Raise or Fold".. I would say rotate and fold half the time, raise others.. not always in order though.. raise 2 times, fold 2 times,etc.. mix up your play.. but your only option is to "raise or fold" If you raise, he don't have a clue what your hand is and if he has 27, 29,etc.. he'll fold it..

It depends on your stack though.. If your about even, or have at least I'd say 30% of the chips then you can risk raising, otherwise if your down to 10-15% of the total chips, you need to go all in with Kx, Ax, etc.. pre-flop.. if you take the blinds, great.. if not, you have a good chance of winning because of a high kicker, or pair if it hits, and you'll double up.. you may get ran down if he hits with any pair, but thats poker.. Don't play scared though.. if he has 6600 chips and you have 1400, consider all in with any high card pre-flop.. or maybe with suited connectors or cards even.. If he keeps raising and you keep folding you'll be blinded away.. Head up especially is "always best to act first"..

You can't always "raise on the button" either.. He'll put you on "maniac status" if he re-raises you and you fold. If he catches you don't try this again for 5-6 hands without decent cards to play, as he'll catch you again. I've had some good heads up matches that lasted several hands.. These are good because I think of new ways to try and trap him, or play the player differently.. You get a better read of them this way and can come up with a plan, hopefully that will get you first..