Furthermore, as always in No Limit Hold'em, but especially when playing Heads-Up, it is important to adjust to your opponent. An important concept is to not only adjust your 3-bet percentage but.
- Heads Up No Limit Strategy Tactics
- Texas Hold'em No Limit Strategy
- Heads Up No Limit Strategy Tactics
- Heads Up No Limit Strategy Statement
Heads-up NL is less about the cards that you hold, and more about the tendencies of your opponents and their betting patterns.
- If I had to choose one word to describe heads-up sng poker strategy, it would be 'aggression'; but there's more to it than that. Let's take a step back and look at a full 10-handed table.
- Jan 31, 2005 Heads up play poker strategy has become an increasingly popular option in recent years, mainly thanks to the internet where sites like PokerStars offer heads up sit'n'gos with buyins from $1 to $5000.
In the beginning of a heads-up NL game it is good to try and get a read on how your opponent plays. Ask yourself how aggressive he is. How frequently is he willing to bluff? Is he willing to call you down with second pair? With Ace-High?
Once you have established his general style of play you can start to use it against him. For instance, if he is a calling station, you need to decide if he is just calling flop bets and folding on the turn. This will allow you to keep picking up pots even when you don't have a hand. In heads-up play, big hands are rare. You must take advantage of any value that you can. Doing things like betting second pair on the river when you think your opponent will call you down with ace high is a good way to get value out of your hands.
If an opponent is overly aggressive, you can use it against him as well. These types of players will usually hang themselves. If the blinds are low enough you can wait on a hand and let them bet it for you. It can be beneficial to play possum against an extremely aggressive player, because most of these players will fold when you bet. They will pick up every single pot that you don't have a hand, and in heads-up play you are not going to have a hand most of the time.
On the other hand if you are up against a tight opponent you should become the overly aggressive player. One of the biggest mistakes beginning players make when playing heads-up, is that they fold too much. They may be used to ring games where you have to wait for a good hand before playing, because there are eight or nine other players that you have to beat. In heads up play you have to get involved with many hands that would be folded in a ring game. If you fold too much the blinds will eat up your stack, and a good player will take advantage of it. You should be taking advantage of opponents will fold too much by picking up all of the small pots and pounding them with constant bets.
When you are playing the aggressive role however, you shouldn't be playing any big pots without a big hand. When your opponent is tight, and they are willing to play a big pot, chances are they have the nuts, or something close to it. When they show strength you can confidently fold all but the best of hands.
Once you start to gain a psychological edge over your opponents, they will inevitably start making mistakes. If you dictate the action, and the bet sizing, you force your opponents to start playing your game. Since they will not be used to this because you will have taken them out of their comfort zone, you can then start to take advantage of their weaknesses.
Being successful at heads-up NL takes many skills and a lot of experience. If you know your opponent, you can beat him, so from the time the first hand is dealt you should be scrutinizing his play. Try to figure out why he does what he does because chances are he will do it again. By knowing your opponents and formulating a correct strategy to defeat them, you will be able to control the game, and be a successful heads-up player.
In this lesson we’re going to run through a number of heads-up match-ups that will help give you an idea of where you stand in a variety of pre-flop situations when playing hold’em. Be aware that we’re only going to focus on individual hand match-ups. When playing hold’em it’s essential that you put your opponent on a range of hands, rather than specific holdings. However, knowing the odds of common pre-flop match-ups is a good starting point. Pick out and study what will help you. While it’s not essential that these statistics be committed to memory, it won’t hurt you if you do.
Let’s start by looking at hand match-ups when holding a pair:
Pair vs. Pair
The higher pair is an 80 percent favourite. We can get very technical and highlight the fact that if the underpair didn’t have any clean suits and/or the maximum number of straight outs then the high pair’s equity would increases by one or two percent.
Pair vs. Overcards
This is the classic coin flip hand that you’ll see many times late in tournaments with one player being all-in. The term coin flip indicates an even money situation which is really a 55 to 45 percent situation, as the pair is a slight favourite.
Pair vs. Undercards
In this situation the pair is normally about a 5-to-1 favourite and can vary depending on whether the two undercards are suited and/or connectors.
Pair vs. Overcard and an undercard
The pair is about a 70 percent favourite. Another example of this holding would be J-J against A-9. The underdog non-paired hand has three outs while the favourite has redraws.
Heads Up No Limit Strategy Tactics
Pair vs. Overcard and one of that pair
The classic example of this situation is the confrontation between a pair of cowboys and big slick. The A-K has three outs and it becomes a 70-30 percent situation or a 2.3-to-1 dog for the cowboys. This is a far cry from the next situation where even though one of the pair is matched the other card is lower.
Pair vs. Undercard and one of that pair
Texas Hold'em No Limit Strategy
The non pair has to hit its undercard twice or make a straight or flush to prevail. The pair is better than a 90 percent favourite or slightly better than 10-to-1 odds. I’ll take those odds anytime.
Pair vs. Lower suited connectors
You see this match-up late in tournaments when a player is getting desperate and pushes all-in with middle suited connectors. A hand such as Q-Q against 7-6 suited would be a prime example. The pair is a strong favourite to win.
Pair vs. Higher suited connectors
Here is the real coin flip situation. A pair of eights heads-up against a suited Q-J is a fifty-fifty proposition. The higher suited cards would have an edge against a lower pair, such as 2’s or 3’s, since the board itself can sometimes destroy little pairs.
Common Pre-Flop Match-Ups (Non Pairs)
The following heads-up confrontations contain no pairs.
Two high cards vs. Two undercards
The two higher cards are usually a 65% favourite to win, but it can vary depending on whether any of the cards are suited and/or connectors.
High card, low card vs. Two middle cards
In this match-up the high card gives it the edge. But it’s only a marginal winner, approximately 57% to the hand containing the high card.
High card, middle card vs. Second highest, low card
The edge is increased by around 5% when the low card becomes the third highest card, as shown in this example, which gives approx 62% to 38% for high card/middle card combination.
High card, same card vs. Same card, low card
In this example the A-J is in a very strong position. If we discount any flush or straight possibilities, it only leaves the player holding J-8 with three outs (the three remaining 8’s).
Same high card, high kicker vs. Same card, low kicker
The high kicker gives this hand a fairly big edge. It’s very common for A-K run into A-Q, A-J, and lower, and it’s why Ace-King is such a powerful hand, particularly at the business end of no-limit hold’em tournaments when people move all-in with any sort of Ace.
Statistical Variations
Heads Up No Limit Strategy Tactics
For any math maniacs reading this who do not find these odds precise enough, I acknowledge that the math is rounded and for the most part does not take into account the possibilities of ties and back door straights and flushes. What players need to be equipped with is the general statistical match-up – not the fact that in the example of a pair of eights against a suited Q-J the percents are exactly 50.61 for the eights to 48.99 for the suited connectors with the balance going to potential ties. I call that a fifty-fifty proposition.
Of greater importance than quibbling over tenths of a percent is the fact that in most heads-up confrontations you can never be a prohibitive underdog. That is one reason why poker is so challenging and fun. Of course, while true, I’m not attempting to embolden the reader to ignore the odds and become a maniac. Math is the underpinning of poker and if you regularly get your money into the middle with the worst of it you will go broke.
One statistic that hasn’t been mentioned, and it’s one that I particularly like is this – the odds of both players being dealt Aces when playing heads up (one on one) is 270,724-to-1. It’s my favourite statistic because it provides me with almost total confidence when I’m playing heads up and receive pocket Aces that I’m the boss! That confident feeling lasts right up to the river when my Aces get cracked by some rotten piece of cheese which my opponent elected to play. As mentioned already, rarely are you a prohibitive underdog – so remember that to keep those losing hands in perspective.
Related Lessons
By Tom 'TIME' Leonard
Tom has been writing about poker since 1994 and has played across the USA for over 40 years, playing every game in almost every card room in Atlantic City, California and Las Vegas.
Heads Up No Limit Strategy Statement
Share: