Heads Up Play

There seems to be a lot of confusion here on this site by the members concerning how to play heads up, and win. There are no books devoted to this that I can find, and it is only lightly hit on in some of the books I have read, but there are some very basic principles that I want to lay out here, in an effort to help.

#1 When you are on the button heads up, never (ok, hardly ever) Fold !....period, no matter if you have 2,3 off, don't fold, you are giving away positional advantage, and that is almost a crime ! Calling is a sign of weakness, so unless you have a big pair, don't do that either ! A raise is ALWAYS the better play here, don't give your opponent a free chance to catch something !

#2 After the flop, if your opponent has checked, then bet, if he has bet, then raise, without much consideration of the strength of your cards, give your opponent an opportunity to fold, and most of the time they will. It is important to be the one controlling the action !

#3 Manage the pot size compared to the strength of your hand. If you stand a good chance of winning, build it up, if you are an underdog, keep it small. The object here is to win big pots, and only lose small ones.

#4 Be adaptable, if your opponent is too tight, raise more, if they are too loose, then call more, only sometimes re raising them. Whatever type of opponent you have, think of the changes to your style that will take max advantage of their style of play !

#5 Be prepared to fold. If you are putting in a raise, and are getting called, then there has to be a reason for it, think about what they can have, and if you have marginal holdings, keep the pot smaller, and be prepared to fold if suddenly you are raised, or a big bet is thrown at you. Don't try to buy pots after you have been called, this will cost you money in the long run !

#6 Usually, neither of you have a hand in heads up, so look for every opportunity to bluff them out of a pot. If there is a 2 flush on the flopped board, or 3 to a straight, and a "scare card" comes on the turn, then by all means BET ! Bluffing is how you will win more money heads up, usually, than by having good cards ! Even if they THINK you are bluffing at a pot, if they hold nothing, it is all but impossiable for them to call !

#7 Vary your play, or as they say, keep changing gears. Don't let them see you do the same thing twice in a heads up match. If you have a big starting hand and win a decent pot at showdown with it, the next time you get one play it differently, if you slow played it before, fast play it this time. See where I am going here ? Don't become predictable, keep them guessing !

#8 Play within your bankroll ! If you are going to be playing poker, then you need to be able to play with all of your chips, at any time ! If you are sitting there thinking that I have to win this or I am going to be hurting financially, then you will be prone to making mistakes, and probably won't even make it to heads up anyway !

#9 If your opponent is aggressive, then tighten up what you need to get into a hand with. Be prepared to move all of your chips into the middle, on every hand you play. Selective aggression wins more often than just pure balls to the wall aggression ! Set your opponent up, and go in for the kill !

#10 After the match is over, take the time to review the hand history, you will learn more here than anywhere else where the holes in your game are. Recognize where you made a good play, and realize where you messed up, and learn from it ! Heads up play is like anything else, the more experience you have the better you get, but you can improve your game tremendously just by going back later and looking for mistakes you made, finding them, and not repeating them next time !

I hope this helps some of you find success in Heads up play, I am not claiming this is the only way to go about it, but if you use this as a basic outline, and fill in the gaps as your style of play allows, you should see some success !

.....play on ....Tc.....