How To Play Heads Up Poker

Preflop Heads Up Play Playing the Button in Heads Up Poker. A simple and straightforward explanation of who is a small blind in heads-up poker – a person who has the dealer button is the small blind. After the hand ends, the other player gets the dealer button. In heads-up no-limit hold'em, aggression and position are paramount and you should be raising from the button with a very wide range of hands. Your aim is not just to put maximum pressure on your opponent and build pots, it's also to develop the opportunity to put him to tough decisions later in the hand. Heads Up Poker can be referred to the type of poker that is either played between two players only or it can also occur at tournaments and single table games after the elimination of every other players. Alternatively, heads up poker may be performed on purpose, either in a cash game format, or as an SnG, where only two players play against each other, and the winner takes away all previously agreed. The great thing about heads up games is that they are usually pretty fast paced, and it can be hard for an opponent to get a good read on you if you vary your style of play. The only good thing about playing against an aggressive player in heads up poker is that you can. These heads up tactics are not designed to be implemented when five players start a hand and only two remain on the final card, because at that point the bet by either player is much less likely to be a bluff. The strategy behind heads up poker is simple; make your hand appear stronger than your opponents.

Heads up poker is the purest form of the game and is one of the most profitable game types for skilled players.

Heads up poker format means that you will have to play the blind every hand and hence will have to play LOTS of hands - in some cases 100% of the hands you are dealt.

It's a high-pressure environment, that's for sure.

For a proficient player, this gives the opportunity to impost their skill set onto weaker opponents every single hand and can mean higher win-rates when compared to 6-max and full-ring games.

The key skill in heads up poker is the ability to adjust to your opponent and exploit them - that is what we will be covering in this article as we try to adjust to another professional player and target his leaks and weaknesses.

Adjusting Your Heads Up Strategy

A winning player's heads up poker strategy consists of a malleable game plan ready to go from the onset. Solid ranges they’ve developed that they look to adjust as new information is learned about their opponent.

Playing against a past challenger allows you pick-up where you left off in your previous encounter. Looking for ways to get an edge. Exactly what I was doing in a recent heads-up poker SNG tournament battle where I was pitted against a coach from Japanese poker site, www.pokertrainingjp.com.

I had won 2-1 in the previous bout of HU SNG’s, but Akinori issued a new challenge. He was keen for revenge since the games would be recorded for content on the Japanese poker training site.

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The key to defeating Akinori again was all in the adjustments. His style was ‘TAGish’ which leaves you particularly vulnerable in short-handed and heads-up games.

My plan was an aggressive blitz. Constant aggression allowing me to win the majority of the pots. Chipping away at him until eventually, I’d finish off his dwindling stack.

This is also a very common scenario when heads-up in an MTT.

MTT poker players often lack a heads up poker skill set and are easily exploited since they aren’t used to playing the wide ranges necessary to be competitive heads-up.

Check out the video of the match and then we will discuss the strategy involved:

Heads Up Poker Strategy: Preflop Starting Ranges

I planned to open around 5% wider than I would against a tough opponent. In hindsight, I think opening 100% of hands would have been a reasonable strategy. This would allow me to exploit his tendencies to over-fold preflop, and 3bet at a low frequency. A style which was confirmed in the replay as he made some questionable folds.

Conversely, against his open raises, I didn’t plan on folding much at all.

Versus his 2.5x open raise I was calling more than 5% wider than I would against a tougher player. The pot odds would be 2.3:1 to call. Around 30% ‘straight-up‘ equity required. When considering the all important equity realization, with some of the weakest calls in my range like 63o, I’d need to realize equity as follows;

Heads Up Poker Rules

Equity realization required = pot odds / equity = 0.3 / 0. 334 = 90%.

I was fairly confident I’d be in this vicinity given Akinori’s tendency to be a little passive post flop, especially on the later streets. This is common for a lot of ‘TAGish’ players when they get to heads-up.

They know a good strategy is to open a lot of hands preflop, but this translates to them being out of their comfort-zone on later streets when they’re frequently left with much more marginal holdings then they are used to. Typically resulting in a lot of turn and river checking.

This passivity on later streets would allow me to realize a reasonable share of my equity OOP. Again evident in the replay as some of my weaker out of position floats did get to the river where I was able to steal some nice pots (Q2, J9, etc).

Defending The Blinds Heads Up: 3betting

Part of the HU strategy to defend frequently from the big blind included 3 betting a lot.

A typical strategy might include a mix of:

• weaker suited hands,
• premium hands,
• and a mix of suited connectors mostly for board coverage protection.

All at a frequency.

Equating to around a 15-20% sort of range spread. I planned on pushing this a bit further to 20%+ by including a mix of high-low holdings (as we saw with Q2s, J4o), and some weaker combinations at a low frequency. Aiming to profit from my opponent's over folding ways.

Key Strategies To Beating Heads Up Poker

Overall the adjustments pointed out are not huge. However, they help set the tone of the match, as well as lay the foundation for post-flop play. Increased opens, more defending from the big blind including a lot of 3 betting.

This style makes it really tough for a 'TAGish' type of opponent to get into a rhythm as it keeps them constantly under pressure. Their likely response is to attempt to steal less, which has the profitable result of allowing for more walks from the big blind.

This tough preflop play is then backed up postflop with frequent cbets and barrels, as well as a good mix of raises and floats. Which will be the topic of next article as we continue this heads-up series!

What About VS Loose Heads Up Opponents?

Each type of opponent presents different challenges to overcome. Loose opponents allow you to me more patient with your offense. Reducing your bluffs whilst increasing your value bets - Since your opponent will be doing more calling.

You can 3 bet wider for value if they aren't folding to reraises preflop. Proceed post-flop by cbetting less, but look for 'thinner' value. Especially on the later streets when you have more accurately identified your opponents range.

Floating out of position which works well against tighter opponents, should be used carefully. When calling a flop cbet with a marginal hand, along with some hope of improving to the best hand, the chance to steal the pot on a later street often makes this play profitable. However loose opponents often call the river with a wide range. So bluffing in a lot of spots can be a futile play. Stick to solid holdings and contest the pot more aggressively in position.

Positional advantage offers you the opportunity to take more free cards, value bet confidently, and fire small ball bluffs. Remembers a loose opponents range will often be wide, so timely bluffs should be an important part of your strategy. Attack when their range consists of numerous weak holdings, and the board heavily favors your range. Don't push the aggression but rather look for boards that develop favorably when firing multiple bullet bluffs. Moves like this can be quite risky against a loose opponent!

Summary: Strategical adjustments made this match

Having played against my opponent previously, I'd gained a good feel for the way Akinori was playing. Overall a little too tight, in, and out of position. This provided me with an opportunity to make some adjustments to gain an edge in the match.

Starting with preflop. Raising more on the button and defending more aggressively from the big blind. Setting the tempo of the match, I kept my opponent under pressure and was clearly winning the majority of the pots. By adjusting and gaining an edge in the game, I was again able to claim a 2-1 victory in this heads up poker match.

Make sure you check out the video below for some more heads up poker strategies:

Get Access to Lesson 5.8 From the Road to Success Course which is a 45 minute video covering important heads up strategies.

Want more videos like the ones in this blog post? Check out the PokerNerve Road to Success Course where we have almost 100 videos like this to help take your game to the next level.

Poker has become one of most popular games ever. Some beginners dream about participating in a large poker tournament. If you are a professional poker player you will dream about the next big win. Both dreams could come true with a lot of hard work, training and learning every single rule, winning strategy or tip and practicing the game. And when the moment of your final-table tournament play comes, except all other things, you should know what to do when you remain with only one opponent.

Heads Up

How To Play Heads Up Poker Reddit

Heads Up play is determined as a game, in which there are only two players remaining at the table. A bad thing is that you should play more aggressively than ever, because there is only one player who can beat you. The structure of a Heads Up tournament is different from the regular event’s structure. There are three types of Heads Up tournaments – single-elimination, double-elimination and round-robin.

The most easiest Heads Up tournament is the single-elimination one. In the beginning there are 16 poker players, later they decrease to 8, 4 and finally two players remain. If you want to calculate the number of matches that will be played, experiencing tilt in poker the total number of players and subtract one. The other Heads Up tournaments type is the double-elimination. In such event you are eliminated in case you lose all your chips for the second time. So each players can participate in at least two matches. If you want to know how many matches can be played, multiply the number of players by two, and then subtract one. The most difficult is the round-robin Heads Up tournament. In such event each player competes against different Heads up poker and then all of them are ranked by their wins and losses. After the ranking, all competitors play single or double-elimination playoff. Finally the top 8 or 16 players compete in a double-elimination tournament to decide who is the winner.

Heads Up Poker App

How To Play Heads Up Poker Card Game

Actually there are several tips that you should know when you play in Heads up tournament. First of all, you should know that the starting hands in Head Up play are lower than in a full ring game. In case you have J-7 offsuit, you should be 50% sure about your winning against unknown hand. But if you have J-9, Q-3, or K-2, you should play them even against a small raise. In a Heads Up tournaments as bad cards are considered Ace, any pair, or certain other hands such as K-Q and Q-J suited. If you have two unsuited connectors your chance to win against two unsuited overs is about 38-39%.

During the play you have two ways to win the pot – to show your best hand, or your opponent folds. The best way for you to win is to be very aggressive. Take down a lot of small uncontested pots, because later this will give you bigger opportunity to win. Make it by keeping the pressure on your opponent, do your best to make him fold when it is his turn to play. Always bet, if you have a good cheating in poker. When the other competitor has bet in front of you, raise as if you have a better hand. You should do it often enough to win more pots. You should make your opponent fold more often than you, in order to win most of the pots.

When you already have 75% of the chips, test your opponent with every single pot you win. Even with good hands he won’t dare to call your raise, so you will keep winning the needed chips. As in every poker game, bluffing is one of the most used ways to steal the pot. Poker tells will also help you to predict your opponents future acts. Watch carefully his eyes, his face changings, every muscle of his body.

Heads Up Poker Tips

Heads Up poker play is one of the most easiest and entertaining kinds of poker gaming. So if you want to relax without using too much energy, this is the most suitable game for you.