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HEADS UP



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:38 am GMT by theRawtalent
Today I played a turnament and once again I came in second. This trend is growing old. I want to actual win one for once. I went in to heads up the chip leader but I lost it all, again. I seem not to be able to finish the deal. If anyone has some great advice on heads up please help me. Or if there are any good books on playing heads up. Its hard to get practice online since theirs so many people playing.

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Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:51 am GMT by JustinHEMI04
I don't know what you or anyone else does, but here is what I do:

Button: Raise
Blind: Unraised.... Raise
Raised... reraise if strong... fold if not.

Thats about it. I don't give free flops heads up and if I am not raising I am folding. Keep in mind I don't play online poker.

Justin



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 10:08 am GMT by Soup_dog
JustinHEMI04 wrote:
I don't know what you or anyone else does, but here is what I do:

Button: Raise
Blind: Unraised.... Raise
Raised... reraise if strong... fold if not.

Thats about it. I don't give free flops heads up and if I am not raising I am folding. Keep in mind I don't play online poker.

Justin


I do the same thing online. Works like a charm.



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:28 am GMT by TheSalche
heads up, you have two choices as to what to do pre flop

raise

fold

(i guess check in the BB if you have a weak hand and you dont feel like gambling)

its as simple as that ... if you've got a strong hand, get your money in



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 12:59 pm GMT by jonesyb
JustinHEMI04 wrote:
I don't know what you or anyone else does, but here is what I do:

Button: Raise
Blind: Unraised.... Raise
Raised... reraise if strong... fold if not.

Thats about it. I don't give free flops heads up and if I am not raising I am folding. Keep in mind I don't play online poker.

Justin


thanks for that. that is very useful.

do you play all your cards in this fashion though? no matter what they are?
forgive my stupidity here.. (i am only a novice player)

hmm... suppose you would get horribly eaten up in the blinds if you folded too much though in heads up..

i might have answered my own question here.. but lets see what others opinions are..

Smile Smile



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 1:33 pm GMT by golddog
No. Don't get caught playing by rules or your opponent will see the pattern.

Fold the SB if you have truly weak hand once in a while, so your opponent will give more consideration to your raises. For example, if you blindly raise in the SB every hand, instead of playing 150/300, you've simply changed the game to 300/600, and a good opponent will just play it that way.

Do be super-aggressive. Even raise with the real bad hands sometimes; the likelihood is that you have two live cards, and the flop might help. Plus, your opponent has a decent chance of having just as bad of cards as do you.

All that being said, raise-or-fold really isn't that bad a way to play heads-up. Force the opponent to make decisions.



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 1:52 pm GMT by BeerWench13
Quote:
raise-or-fold really isn't that bad a way to play heads-up. Force the opponent to make decisions.

My thoughts in a nutshell.
Always try to put the decision on your opponent. Don't worry too much about the blinds eating you up if you have to fold a few, but don't let your opponent run over you either. It's a tricky part of tournament play, but raise or fold. If I was playing you and you just called from the SB, no matter what I had I'd raise you through the roof.



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 2:25 pm GMT by theRawtalent
What would be considered good hands heads up? It seems to be very different from when there is 4 people in. Would you for instance raise on 67o.


Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 2:36 pm GMT by BeerWench13
Quote:
Would you for instance raise on 67o.

Generally, no. However, as with all poker questions, it depends. Is your opponent being aggressive? Are they playing too tightly for heads-up?
What are the chip stack sizes? These are all variables in heads-up play. If I have a 4:1 chip lead or more, I may raise with 67o. If I'm short-stacked, I may fold or even push all-in with this hand. It depends.
When it gets to heads-up you want to focus more on the opponent than the cards. Any two cards will be live cards most likely, so it can be a race every time. Gauge your opponent and what kind of hands they're playing or, if you're the big stack, make them make all of the decisions. Raise, raise, raise and then fold occasionally to give your raises some merit.
It's tough without actual stack sizes and reads on opponents to say exactly how to play a particular hand.



Posted Fri Jun 03, 2005 11:51 pm GMT by JustinHEMI04
benjones wrote:
JustinHEMI04 wrote:
I don't know what you or anyone else does, but here is what I do:

Button: Raise
Blind: Unraised.... Raise
Raised... reraise if strong... fold if not.

Thats about it. I don't give free flops heads up and if I am not raising I am folding. Keep in mind I don't play online poker.

Justin


thanks for that. that is very useful.

do you play all your cards in this fashion though? no matter what they are?
forgive my stupidity here.. (i am only a novice player)

hmm... suppose you would get horribly eaten up in the blinds if you folded too much though in heads up..

i might have answered my own question here.. but lets see what others opinions are..

Smile Smile


I believe in heads up... any two cards are strong... with some exception of course. But you are correct, if you jsut fold fold fold waiting for that monter, you will be gone quickly. You have to be the monster. You have to play the other guy. I love getting people that just fold fold waiting for a monster. Remember, even if your cards aren't that great.. his probably aren't either and if you lean on him just a bit, most of the time he will cave.

Justin



Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:22 am GMT by tame_deuces
It's important to fold an occasional hand. Your opponent must be lead to believe that you (of all people!) do not play mere crap hands pre-flop!

And though I agree with always being aggressive, I disagree with _always_ raising or folding preflop head's up. If you hold a monster-hand you can safely call and reel him in on the flop.

Against very aggressive opponents, you can simply call raises from the BB with ok hands, see if you hit the flop and if so check it to the opponent and go for the old check-push-all-the-chips-in-move.

Ofcourse, it can all be abit dependant on blind size.



Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:25 am GMT by JustinHEMI04
tame_deuces wrote:
It's important to fold an occasional hand. Your opponent must be lead to believe that you (of all people!) do not play mere crap hands pre-flop!

And I disagree with always raising or folding preflop head's up. If you hold a monster-hand you can safely call and reel him in on the flop.

Against very aggressive opponents, you can call from the BB with ok hands, see if you hit the flop and if so check it to the opponent and go for the old check-push-all-the-chips-in-move.

Ofcourse, it can all be abit dependant on blind size.


Yes it depends on a lot of things really. Mine is just a simple break down of what I do. However, I submit to you that people that slow play the big hands when they a get em heads up are incredibly easy to read.

Justin



Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 1:34 am GMT by tame_deuces
JustinHEMI04 wrote:
tame_deuces wrote:
It's important to fold an occasional hand. Your opponent must be lead to believe that you (of all people!) do not play mere crap hands pre-flop!

And I disagree with always raising or folding preflop head's up. If you hold a monster-hand you can safely call and reel him in on the flop.

Against very aggressive opponents, you can call from the BB with ok hands, see if you hit the flop and if so check it to the opponent and go for the old check-push-all-the-chips-in-move.

Ofcourse, it can all be abit dependant on blind size.


Yes it depends on a lot of things really. Mine is just a simple break down of what I do. However, I submit to you that people that slow play the big hands when they a get em heads up are incredibly easy to read.

Justin


Hehe, maybe they are. It was pretty theorethical any way, I can't recall too many head's up matches were I have gotten dealt a monster hand. Smile



Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 2:03 am GMT by theRawtalent
Is there anyway you can practice heads up online. Other then playing lots of tournaments and hoping to get too heads up.


Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 2:52 am GMT by JustinHEMI04
tame_deuces wrote:
JustinHEMI04 wrote:
tame_deuces wrote:
It's important to fold an occasional hand. Your opponent must be lead to believe that you (of all people!) do not play mere crap hands pre-flop!

And I disagree with always raising or folding preflop head's up. If you hold a monster-hand you can safely call and reel him in on the flop.

Against very aggressive opponents, you can call from the BB with ok hands, see if you hit the flop and if so check it to the opponent and go for the old check-push-all-the-chips-in-move.

Ofcourse, it can all be abit dependant on blind size.


Yes it depends on a lot of things really. Mine is just a simple break down of what I do. However, I submit to you that people that slow play the big hands when they a get em heads up are incredibly easy to read.

Justin


Hehe, maybe they are. It was pretty theorethical any way, I can't recall too many head's up matches were I have gotten dealt a monster hand. Smile


Exactly. And your opponent doesn't either. IMHO, being able to play the person becomes overwhelmingly important heads up. A relentless attack. Show the occassional "monster" like AJos and the occassional "crap" like 107os. Keep em guessing... keep him afraid of calling you but not so afraid that he might push with that marginal hand and then you crush him. Either way, it won't take long if he keeps folding and blinds are high.

Justin



Posted Sat Jun 04, 2005 7:26 am GMT by BigJii
theRawtalent wrote:
Is there anyway you can practice heads up online. Other then playing lots of tournaments and hoping to get too heads up.


There is headsup tournaments in Paradise and I think UB has them also






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