Online Poker Forum - Need additional advice on HU play

jaejaejae · Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:19 pm Post subject: Need additional advice on HU play

The weakest part of my game by far is HU. I've posted a sim. question about this way back when but I'm looking for additional advice. I just can't seem to finish a game off. I went 4-4 (ITM) last night at 6 man SNG's but couldn't win 1 of them... I even had 8500 +/- chips vs. 500 +/- and still lost. I think I need to open my range of cards to play even more than I do at this point... I'm at a loss...

Any help would be great... Not complaining about 4 cash outs in a row but 1 win would have been nice.

Thanks. Smile

deadmeat82 · Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 1:52 pm Post subject:

I think opening up your ranges a considerable bit is the key to heads up. If you hold something like K 10 at a full table you're likely not looking at the best hand. Head's up, however, you're most likely not beat in this situation pre flop.

Expect your opponents to open up a bit as well. So flops that shouldn't have hit a preflop aggressor sometimes will now.

I try to stay aggressive and take down lots of uncontested pots until my opponents start playing back at me. At which point I tighten up a bit and wait for them to make a mistake.

As for the 8500/500 situation I'm almost always putting him all in here and causing him to make a decision for all his chips. Especially if the blinds are semi-high here. You're opponent just has to double up too many times to have a run at it.

jaejaejae · Posted: Wed Sep 09, 2009 3:02 pm Post subject:

Azonicbh · Pair Joined: 02 Aug 2009 Posts: 44

You must open up your range when you are heads up like mentioned but be carefull on being to reckless if they blinds are still low ... There is no need to shove if both of you have 15+ bb left. A smaller raise or even a limp might be in order sometimes. It really depends on your opponent.

If the stacks are deep (15+bb ) , I would say raise 2.5x or so in position against an opponent that would be tighter. Againts a looser opponent (calling station ) a limp might be in order with any above average hand (especially if 20+bb) but you should raise with your stronger holdings.

If you are the big stack and your opponent is very short (4-5bb or less) I would say just shove with any 2 holdings and try to end it right there. Surprisingly , a lot of weaker opponents may even fold to an all in and be blinded out. Even if they call and you have the worst hand , very rarely will you be worst than a 2 to 1 underdog.

If you both have similar stack yet have 10bb or less then it basically becomes a shoving match. Especially if 2 good players. I would recommend shoving with a very wide range here. Not 100% of the time , but a high %. Basically I would shove with any suited connector , any suited gappers , 78 off + , Any suited face cards , Q7 off + , Any king , any ace , any pocket pair. Avoid shoving with with total trash though (27 , 39 etc ...)

If you are short stacked 5bb or less , shove with any 2 cards. U can not afford to fold here. If you have 25% of your stack in the bb and you have a decent hand , by all means call especially against an aggressive opponent.

If you are not sure what to do when you are short in chips 10bb or less , go all in . You're better of making an aggressive mistake than a passive one imo.

Danduy · Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 3:32 pm Post subject:

There is some usefull advice posted above to keep an eye on the number of big blinds.

Like said before like a 8500/500 situation. Put in any two. If you are behind it should be most 2/1 here. This you can do 4 times until you're stacks are the same and you can (stastisticly) win one of those four times.
If that happens and stacks are about the same with lower blinds i would suggest to raise (no shove) with:

Any pocket pair
Any ace
Any suited hand with a face card
K8o+
Any two face cards + JT + QT (sometimes 9Ts - 89s)

This depends on the situation of course. If he's playing tight, you can raise some more hands. If he is a calling station you always can see a cheap flop.

Suited connectors are fine but HU the high card counts the most preflop.
With suited connectors you are trying to hit a flop with at least two pair or a strong draw or a monsterflop. You like to hit such a hand against multiple opponents because of the implied odds. The equity of these hands go down when the numbers of players drop.
I found out that on a 2-4-7 board with 67s i lost some matches due to kicker problems. Even IF to overcards should call they still roughly win 1 in 4 times to outdraw you.

Try to keep the pot small with these hands, you want to see a cheap flop here. Just call a raise or complete the blind, and see how the flop fits your hand and your oppenents hand because when playing HU you should have a nice read on him.

There is no 'ready to go' advice to play HU. This is the hardest part of playing hold'em due to it looks like a shove festival or playing the lotto. Playing HU needs the most skill. And the one with the most skill, wins most often.

jaejaejae · Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 4:11 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the additional advice guys... I started opening up and pushing a little harder last night and I felt my play was a little better. The end results were:

a 2nd place (just got out played at the end but it went for sometime before I lost)

I did a 50/50 split with a guy after coming from behind 2000 chips to his 7,000... was happy to split the pot tho.

and I didn't place on the 3rd... had computer issues and was short stack by the time I made it back LOL

So I'm going to continue with the advise and see how it plays out. Like I said my big mistake is folding instead of pushing when they have very few chips... afraid to double them up but when you put it in writing that I'm probably a 2 - 1 underdog at worse it seems to make since to push... Smile

I mean how often do we see the underdog hit and win... good advice...

thanks

Azonicbh · Pair Joined: 02 Aug 2009 Posts: 44

What Danduy mentioned should be usefull as well , can't say I disagree with him. Like he mentioned , heads-up play is a crucial part of being a good sit n go player. Those are just guidelines though .

If the stacks are deep , then your post flop abilities will be very important. Here an example how different short stack play vs. deep stack play is heads up. Same hand , both situations against the same player.

Your hand : A5 suited
Your opponent : Tight aggressive regular sit n go player.

#1 Blinds are 120 240 , you both have 6500 in chips. You raise to 700 on the button and he shoves all in. What should you do ? You should fold in this spot.

Why ? A5 suited is a strong hand heads-up , but against a tight aggressive player with a deep stack , you're either a small favorite or a big dog. He's would be shoving a decent range here , but most of the time he'll at least have a pocket pair , which most of them would make you a 2 to 1 underdog. He might have 22 , 33 or 44 but that's very unlikely. He may also have KQ , which would be pretty much the only hand you beat in this spot. He'll most likely have 77+ or a8+ .

#2 Blinds are now 300 600 , you have 6000 chips or so and he has about 7000 chips. You both have been shoving about 75% of your hands since the blinds have gone up to 300 and 600 about 2 mins ago. You are in the bb and he shoves in on you. What do you do ? In this spot you should call.

Again , same hand , same opponent but different situation. When the blinds get this high and you have a solid hand like a5 suited you should call. Your opponent's range is quite wide here. You'll usually see 2 middle cards which would make you about a 60 to 40 % favorite. Sometimes he'll show a pocket pair that is 55 or more and sometimes a bigger ace , but with the blinds this high this is a spot you can't pass. You're just too likely to be a favorite in this spot.

This just gives you an idea how 2 hands can be played completely differently during heads up play against the same opponent.

Online Poker Forum at Full Tilt Poker