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[spacemonkey]

I've been playing a lot of Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Sit-n-go's ($5/$10) on Full Tilt over the last few weeks and thought I might actually contribute a bit here. First off playing heads-up is a great way to relax and actually _play_ some poker since you never have to take a hand off. It's also a great training ground to learn how to play after the flop. You start with 1500 in chips and blinds of only 10-20 so I tailor my play before the flop to put myself in good position after the flop. Blinds go up every 6 minutes which usually translates to 10-16 hands per level for me but I make fairly quick decisions. Here are some general strategic observations that you may find of use:#1 - Adjust your playing style to your opponent. There is simply no single correct way to play No-Limit, particularly heads-up. As T.J. Cloutier says your long term poker profits are equal to your opponents mistakes minus your mistakes. But you have to figure out what kind of mistakes your opponent is going to make. Will they let you take down pot after pot or will they stick all their chips in on a bluff? Are they every going to lay down top pair? After about 10 or 20 hands I take a moment and try to visualize how I'm going to beat the guy sitting across from me. Grind him down, let him put all his chips in drawing dead, get him to pay me off with a good hand, whatever mistake he's going to make find a way to let him make it.#2 - The power of position. Position is absolutely crucial so be careful about where you choose to play pots. When I first started playing I thought that since it's heads-up I could call a raise on the big blind with 8-4 offsuit because his hand probably isn't that much better. Playing big pots out of position with trash just got me into a lot of trouble. One day I decided to try to not play out of position and since then my results have improved tremendously. I'll still call the nuisance (minimum) raise with anything just based on pot odds but if the make the standard 3x the BB raise I need a fairly decent hand to call with and I'll reraise with a fair number of hands to try to end it right there.#3 - The big bluff is a big risk. We all love the bluff. I'll admit that Chris Moneymaker's river bluff against Sam Faraha in 2003 got me interested in poker. But he was very close to letting Farha take control of the match with just one word - "call' - that never came out. I like to take small stabs at small pots rather than risk it all with a big push. When the pots get big, people have a tendency to hang on for dear life rather than risk getting bluffed out. My advice is to avoid making repeated bluffs out of position (betting the flop, turn, and river) and make sure that you've got a very good idea of what you're trying to get him to lay down before you put all the chips in the middle. #4 - Don't be afraid to lay down a hand. Even though it's heads-up sometimes people will pick up a hand. Full houses, flushes and straights - especially straights - all happen somewhat regularly so don't treat top pair like the nuts. #5 - Play to learn your opponent. When the blinds are low try to test your opponent to get a read on how he plays. Most people don't significantly alter their strategy during a match so be willing to make a somewhat bad call on the end just to see his hand and how he played it. I like to raise the first 3-5 times I'm on the button to get a feel for how they respond to aggression when it's cheapest. It's also important to play each hand in a way that gives you information about your opponent's hand. For example if you have A-3 offsuit in the big blind early in a match. Your opponent who'd played fairly aggressively raises to 60 (from 20) and you reraise to 180. He calls and the flop comes down A-J-5 with two to a flush you can't make. There's 360 in the pot and you check he bets 200 and you raise to 800. If he doesn't have an ace you probably picked up an extra bet but now are committed to playing for all your chips with top pair, no kicker. (This was an actual hand played against me; I had AJ and moved in for the win.) But if you'd followed up your preflop raise you'd be able to get a feel for where you stood in the hand without going broke.#6 - Be aware of your image. Heads-up your opponent has nothing else to do than watch you and his cards. In a full game most players simply can't track everyone at the table and make most decisions based on their template of how people play certain hands. But heads up they will make adjustments - you need to make better adjustments. For instance early in a match I had been playing aggressively and won the first five pots without showing a hand. I had 8-4 and checked in the big blind. Flop came down J-8-4 and I bet out the size of the pot (40) he raised to 160 and I moved all-in over the top. This was significant overbet I normally wouldn't make but based on my previous play I was representing a maniac style that refuses to lose a hand. He called with JT and the match was over.#7 - Feel their fatigue. A lot of players get tired of playing every hand fairly quick. A player that was playing fairly tight might start moving it in after 40 or 50 hands - particularly if he thinks he's been run over a few times. There's not much defense against this the first time they make it (unless you have a big hand) but watch for it and be willing to call with more marginal hands. Also beware of when they're ready to make this move and don't bet your draws or hands that can't call the all-in. #8 - The gap concept turned on its head. This is a recent idea that occurred to me after watching Phil Hellmuth in the Heads-Up Championship. Most of us know the gap concept, you can bet with more hands than you can call with because by betting you give them the chance to fold and give you the pot. But if you actually have a hand and are playing someone who knows this you stand a much better chance of getting paid off by letting them bet for you. The obvious downside is that you allow them the chance to take free cards (which is why it should almost never be used in multi-way pots) and make your own decision making-process much more difficult. This is something I'm not entirely sure of but I find very interesting. It seems most applicable in a situation where you hold T5 in an unraised pot. The flop is K-2-T. Your hand is somewhat strong but almost no hand you can beat will call a bet. So let them bluff at it once or twice and pick up some chips. Of course you need to be able to judge when they have a king or if a jack comes off that might beat you. As I said this is a fairly undeveloped concept but I think it merits some consideration.

[Balloon guy]

Good postEspecially #4 and #6