Best way to play heads up!!! Help |
|
Posted Mon Mar 13, 2006 7:33 pm GMT by lash0011
Help, I usually make it to the final 3 when me and my friends play with even chip count all round.
But when it gets down to the final two and I have always lost-when it comes to heads up!!
Has anyone got any suggestions on how to play heads up, or the best way to learn.
Did you know that participating in a poker forum can help you improve your own game? Be it by sharing experiences or simply asking for help, participation in a forum helps you focus and keep 'on topic' which will help you improve your game. You can learn from other players feedback and from their experiences. Why the THP poker forums? We offer one of the best managed texas holdem poker forums available, and the community within is far more friendly than those typicaly found on other sites. We've made a 'lurkers edition' of the poker forum available here on Holdem Poker Online, but we encourage all visitors to register and join in on the conversations on TexasHoldem-Poker.com
Posted Tue Mar 14, 2006 8:05 am GMT by Tadzio
Strategy #1: The deliberate maniac
Go all-in pre-flop every time you hold a hand better than Q8. Your opponent may get frustrated and make the call at a bad time (when you hold a good hand) or he may choose a small pocket pair to call you with, in which case you have a good chance to improve over him. When you hold a hand worse than Q8, call/check to see a flop and then play it depending on your own hand strength. Do not bluff after the flop has come, your opponent thinks you're bluffing non-stop and may be trying to trap you. Just value bet your hand based on it's actual strength.
Personal opinion: This style of heads-up play frustrates me immensely. I almost always fold to it, and when I don't it suprising the number of times I end up losing my chip lead or busting out because of suck-outs or my opponent actually holding a better hand than me when I decide to call. Sometimes I implement this style of heads-up play when I the blinds are high and I want to shake up my opponent and force them to be passive, but I'm not very comfortable with using it. I tend to only use it when I'm desperately behind (5-10 big-blinds left) or have a greater than 3-1 chip lead.
Weaknesses: Playing this way full-time is a good way to go broke. Unless your opponent makes a mistake, you can't win with this strategy. The reason this strategy works at all is because you effectively blind your opponent in all-ins, and so they can't figure out whether they're making a mistake by calling or by folding.
Strategy #2: The positional LAG.
Raise from the small-blind every time. 3x the big blind is sufficient. This won't frustrate your opponent as much as "the deliberate maniac" but you don't use this strategy to frustrate, you use it to pick up the blinds. If you see any flops, assume your opponent has an above average hand, and bet accordingly after the flop. If you get re-raised when you're holding crap go ahead and fold, but if your opponent makes a habit of re-raising you when you're in the small-blind (3 or more times in a row), consider re-re-raising all-in to break him of the tendacy. If you're playing against a stubborn player that likes to control the betting this strategy can quickly turn into dual-maniac play, which is just ugly, so be willing to change up your style of play. When you're in the big blind, play your hand for its value. Good hands should be played for raises or re-raises, bad hands should be checked or folded and iffy hands should be played carefully. Pick your post-flop bluffing spots intellegently. Slow playing a good hand is okay, but try to limit your slow-plays to when you KNOW your opponent has a decent made hand. If you think your opponent has a drawing hand (or no hand at all), play your made hand fast. If you have a drawing hand, play it as though it's a made hand and be prepared to dump it depending on pot odds.
Personal opinion: This is the mode of heads-up play I prefer to use. It's a very powerful strategy against your average player. Two "positional LAGs" playing eachother is a very exciting thing. As each player pokes and prods trying to find a weakness or predictable tendancy in the other's poker-armor.
Weaknesses: "The deliberate maniac" effectively destroys this strategy. You can't re-re-raise your opponent if his re-raise was all-in and you'll lose a lot of money quickly if you consistently payout 3x the big-blind everytime you're in the small-blind's position.
Strategy #3: The nutpeddler.
Play your hand-selection and pre-flop raises as if the game is still 5-handed. Don't bluff unless there's an obvious opportunity. Post flop, play your hand as was described in "The positional LAG," but consider slow-playing a lot more. Using this strategy, you want your opponent to think you're easy money so that he'll bluff more. Give up a lot of blinds so you can bust your opponent with his own bluffs.
Personal opinion: This, in my opinion, is the best way to combat "the deliberate maniac" strategy. I reserve this style of play for when 1) I'm significantly behind in chips but not desperately behind (2-1 underdog to 5 big blinds left), 2) I'm playing a maniac, or 3) I think I can turn my opponent into a maniac by playing this way and I have a significant chip lead. If you use this while playing a maniac, it'll send the message "your short attention-span will be completely exhausted if you don't play me like a sane person," and tends to slow them down a little.
Weaknesses: This style of play gets eaten alive by the blind stealing "positional LAG." If you don't get good hands, you will watch your chips slip away until you're pushing with any two cards. It's very much a situational strategy and I'd never suggest using it as a full-time mode of heads-up play.
Posted Tue Mar 14, 2006 10:35 am GMT by galderon
Heh...strategy #1 beats strategy #2 beats strategy #3 beats strategy #1.
The paper-scissors-rock type pattern appears a lot in poker, I've noticed. Another example of why you should switch up your strategy. :D
Posted Wed Mar 15, 2006 1:40 am GMT by JustinHEMI04
I prefer the deliberate maniac style myself if playing a tourney. The only words out of my mouth are ALL IN or FOLD. Works well in 95% of the games I play in.
Justin
Posted Wed Mar 15, 2006 4:46 am GMT by xDiamond_CutteRx
The mode most successful will depend on your opponent, whom you must know.
1. If he is a weak-tight nit, you start raising very liberally, but not necessarily risking all your chips, because one mistake can get very expensive.
2. If he is a maniac or loose-aggressive type, start coming over the top at opportune moments. You only have to pick up his raises every few hands to stay even. One of my friends, when the blind are 25/50, raises to 250 almost every time he raises... if I re-raise, I only have to do this about once every 4 hands to stay even or close to it.
3. If the stacks are large compared to the blinds and your opponent is a poor player, just play smallball and use leverage to drain his chips slowly and give him a knock-out blow with a big hand. Stay out of big confrontations without a strong hand.
4. If the stacks are small compared to the blinds, be prepared to play all-in Poker and get in there and gamble. Here, remember, first to act is first to bluff.
Posted Wed Mar 15, 2006 5:54 am GMT by Geno
Mix it up a lot heads up and play junk hands. If you nut peddle, you lose, it is that simple 
Posted Wed Mar 15, 2006 7:32 pm GMT by lash0011
Well Guess what... We played again yesterday, and I did it to myself again....god its getting really bad I made FINAL 2 players but still no prize.... 
This time I was on the low stack, (about 3 to 1) in the heads up and I lost again.
Help I need more advice, should I be trying to get a big stack befor I go heads up. So from 10 players to when it gets down to 4 players I should have the Big stack when I'm in the final 4 to have a good crack at the pot.
Posted Wed Mar 15, 2006 8:22 pm GMT by Skribbles
| lash0011 wrote: |
This time I was on the low stack, (about 3 to 1) in the heads up and I lost again.
|
When he has that big of an advantage on you, push - push - push. He will call with lower quality hands because of chip count trying to finish you off.
I've been playing a few heads up SNGs lately and have been trying the "never call" method. Its either bet, raise or fold. Works great against weak players who can't switch it up at all.
|
|
