Nothing tests the true skill of a player more than a heads-up poker tournament. Here, there are no other fish to pick on (unless your opponent is one), no playing to the left of weaker players, and no checking and calling just to survive to the next round. You are one-on-one with your opponent, and you must beat that person to move on. So, in the spirit of you beating your heads-up adversary, let’s look at some tips for how to do so.
Look at the starting chip stacks
Your early strategy, as well as your overall tournament strategy, should be based on how many chips you start out with. Most heads-up tournaments will give you a decent amount of chips, which will enable you to utilize a more conservative strategy. However, other tourneys give you a small starting stack and force you to play much more aggressively in the early going. In addition to starting chip stacks, also note how quickly the blind levels increase so you don’t get blinded out.
Loosen your starting hand requirements
Your starting hand requirements should be vastly different from what you’d use at a full table, or even a short-handed table. You are only matched against one player, and so you need to play a broad range of hands. Suited connectors, two face cards, any pair, and a single ace all warrant staying in the hand.
Trap aggressive players
As is the case in heads-up play, some people will become maniacs thinking they can get you to fold almost anything. If you’re playing against this kind of opponent, look for opportunities where you can trap them. Getting a straight or a flush on the turn provides an excellent chance to let an opponent bet into you before hitting them with a huge re-raise.
Make opponents pay to see cards
One huge mistake players make against a heads-up opponent is not making them pay to see cards. Even if you have a small pair, don’t be afraid to bet out and make your opponent call to what hits on the flop.
One bit of poker strategy that could definitely use a little more coverage is the concept of time management. After all, you don’t hear too many people talking about how long a person should stay at a certain limit, how long a player should continue on before logging out during a losing session, or when a person should quit after a huge winning session.
When most players have pocket jacks in late position, they’re willing to at least make a call. And why not since pocket jacks is one of the best hands you can have before the flop is turned over. But there are times when this decision doesn’t turn out to be the best one as a raise, and re-raise hit the table.
One advantage online poker will always have over live poker is the fact that people can play multiple tables at once. By playing several tables at the same time, people can play a large amount of hands per hour.
The concept of managing a poker bankroll is usually reserved for those who are really serious about the game. In fact, most poker strategy books and articles focus solely on semi-pro and professional players when giving out bankroll advice. The casual player is always looked at as an afterthought in this discussion since they mostly play for fun anyways.
Let’s say you’ve just made it through a good size field to get to the money. Now let’s say you’re a medium stack. How should you play that stack? Under what circumstances should you click your chips to the middle of the table?
Pot odds are certainly very useful in poker since they give players a good idea of whether or not they should call. However, pot odds only get you so far because you also have to know what your chances are of winning a hand; this is where equity comes in. Here is a very simple way to calculate your equity, and avoid lots of detailed math.
This isn’t the early 2000’s – or even the mid-2000’s. You can’t just jump onto any online poker table, and start dominating the competition like you could several years ago.
If you’re like most of the poker world then you spend a lot of time playing Texas Hold’em. And like most of the poker world, you probably light up when you have pocket aces in a Hold’em game. However, pocket aces don’t play as big of a part in other poker variations. So it is definitely worth taking a look at how having two pocket aces plays in other poker games.
