Playing heads up as a newbie1

wynne1938

Post this in POKER CLINIC and you will get all the tips you need,dav

wynne1938

Hi Tikay.
I hate heads up, so neeed your advice.
Do I call or raise every hand  or is it okay to fold hands you do not like.
Is there a disadvantage if you fold too many hands?
Do you shove on all playable hands?

wynne1938

Thanks guys for your advice, I am waiting for Sir Tikay Kendall and his wisdom to spill out !

JohnConnor

Hi Wynne,

By far the best advice I can think of here is to read Harrington's chapter on heads up play (It's in his 2nd book). Honestly, it's only a few pages, it's an enjoyable read, and it will probably improve your results by far, it did mine anyway.

bandini

In Response to Playing heads up as a newbie1:

Hi Tikay. I hate heads up, so neeed your advice. Do I call or raise every hand  or is it okay to fold hands you do not like. Is there a disadvantage if you fold too many hands? Do you shove on all playable hands?
Posted by wynne1938

I'm not TK, but,

Aggression, aggression, aggression.

Raise on the SB EVERY time.
CB EVERY time.
Unless it's a ridiculously loose player, then just wait for the hand, it will come.
Never go all-in unless you're very strong or blinds are huge.
Oh yeah, and be lucky. That's quite important too.

I love heads-up.

DOHHHHHHH

Hi wynne Im starting a weekend of only heads up sit n gos and mtts today.

Its something Ive wanted to have a serious go at for months now, and as I cant trust myself on cash tables atm, I decided it might be a good way of "taking a break" from the usual grind.

If you just search "heads up strategy" on google you'll get loads of stuff back.

gl.

N1CK

what kind of HU are you talking about, mtt, cash ?
as you say you "hate it" im presuming its mtt heads up?

Sky_Dave

Hi Wynne,

While I don't quite have the time to give this the full blown treatment, the main thing to remember with heads-up poker is that the game becomes more about emotional focus and control and less about the cards. You should be playing the button relentlessly, with all but the very trashiest of hands. Why? Because you're in position in what will be a guaranteed two way pot at worst. Raising on the button with T6s becomes utterly standard. Raising with K2o is standard. You should play position and exploit it at every single opportunity.

Hands will hit flops less often, monster hands become rarer.... the hand becomes far more abstract. It's about feel and pre-empting what your opponent will do before he even realises is. Table image, changing gears and balancing your ranges become absolutely vital.

That might sound a bit airy, but heads-up poker is just that. Far more like chess, try to get a grip on your players style and then move them out of their comfort zone as soon as possible. Don't let yourself tilt for one second because you won't have the luxury of walking away or sitting out for a few hands.

Most of all, run good

Good luck at the tables.

Dave

wynne1938

Thanks guys for all your words of wisdom,I will take on board what I can absorb and leave the rest to the poker gods.
Yes Nick I am talking about MTT and SNG tournaments.
Straight HU (2 seater Tournaments) is definitely not my cup of tea.

N1CK

obviously the blind structure is very important to how you play, and your opponent and how he plays, when i learned HU  i went down the SNG route so il talk about that, in the early stages 30/70 BBs my opening range is about 63%, i open x3 and adjust to calling frequencies and stack sizes, as his stack gets smaller you can open smaller

DEFENDING:

VS minraise id defend 46% of my range and i would tighten that up vs tight or better players

VS x3 raise defending with 28%

VS x4 or more defend with any pair and only high cards q9, 10,9s a7s kind of hands 

if havnt got poker stove get it and you can see what cards are in the % ranges

this will give you an idea of what cards you have to play if you want to know more its £150 ph lol

beaneh

play your opponent, base your play off his.

pod1

in june i played a whole mnth of hu. nowt else just hu (not here mind). the only advice i would give is always be the 2nd player on the table and have sc up and running, a quick check of the player can save you alot of money!! came across a couple of players who would drop down  levels and mop up. tried to play players with a score below 70 and av stake was lower than the level i was playing at. obviously didnt work all the time but it did help alot.