Imagine the situation…. You have beaten off eight other players in your 10-seater Single Table Tournament. You have made the money (the first aim of any STT) and now you are heads up, with a similar stack size (about 5000 chips each) as your opponent. Blinds are getting expensive by this stage, 500/1000 is not uncommon. How do you tackle this situation, given that 1st prize is significantly more than 2nd?
"The blinds are making the game like a lottery – and in truth it's not so much about the cards but about 'Chip Management'"
in truth it’s not so much about the cards but about “Chip Management”.
Chip Management:
Lets say the blinds have reached 300/600 and you’ve got 5000 in chips. We can’t let ourselves get below a level where it is impossible to make our opponent fold. I would suggest we need at least 2.5 times the BB – so in this scenario we will not let ourselves go below 1800 chips. We should anticipate if and when this is going to happen and be pro-active in maintaining this chip level. This might mean making a move with any two cards. I would much rather make a raise with 2 7 off-suit, than be forced to call with it later because our stack has dwindled.
So, what cards should we be raising with if we have a bit of room to play?
Truthfully, anything that can make hand, anything from Ace high, connectors, two face cards etc… What about when we are facing a raise? I prefer to either fold or re-raise here. I will re-raise with all pairs above 7, Ace with a kicker above 7, KQ and occasionally KJ. I rarely just flat call in these situations, if I do flat call it will be because I’ve built an image as very tight. The plan then will be to go all in irrelevant of the flop and my cards.
One final tip for STT heads up play – Never show your cards on a bluff unless you have a huge chip lead. Remember, you mostly want your opponent fold, showing a bluff will just increase the chances of you getting called next time.
Heads up games
Most, if not all Internet poker sites offer heads up games. Apart from being a great way to learn the skills involved in HU play, they can prove to be very profitable if you’re willing to think “outside the box”. The structure is usually the same as STT’s, with the blinds starting off very small compared to stack size, then increasing at regular intervals.
"The aggressor will be raising nearly all hands pre-flop that have some potential."
As the game is structured, we too should approach the game in a structured way. We need firstly to decide a style – there are two main ones to choose from – “Aggressor” or “Trapper”.
Aggressor:
The aggressor will be raising nearly all hands pre-flop that have some potential. I would make it a standard sort of raise (3 X BB) so your opponent cannot start to get a read on your likely starting holdings. Sooner or later your opponent is going to find a hand he likes and re-raise you. If the re-raise is a really significant amount and your holding is weak, let the hand go, but not immediately, put in a little dwell before folding. Hopefully the time the re-raise comes you’re holding a monster hand like Aces or Kings and you can put all your chips in confident of getting a call.
Trapper:
The trapper will be playing a really passive game – hoping to get his opponent pot committed when he has the nuts. The trapper will want to appear easy to push around and may give a few chips away to keep up this appearance. The trapper will hope to get all these chips back when hitting a strong hand and his continues to bet at him with a marginal holding.
"It is vital to build up information on how your opponent plays."
General tips for Heads Up matches:
- It is vital to build up information on how your opponent plays. If the opponent bluffs – on what street does this usually occur (flop, turn, river). This information can prove vital when deciding whether to chuck in a steal re-raise etc…
- Paying for information (calling when you think your beat), especially early in a game is good to build up a picture of your opponents style – obviously don’t pay too much!!!
- If you meet solid resistance to your bets when you’ve got top pair – you are likely to be behind (I’ve seen lots of players call for all their chips with top pair only to be miles behind)
- Never put a lot of chips at risk on a bluff – or semi bluff – unless your convinced your opponent will fold - sometimes a small bet is all you need to convince your opponent to fold.
- Don’t try to gain revenge on an opponent if they continue to hit miracle cards against you – take a break or change opponent!
Whichever style you choose to adopt – you should always throw in some opposites to your known style. If you are the Aggressor it is a good idea on a very rare occasion to appear weak when holding the monster hand, this can pay massive dividends if your opponent takes the view that your holding is weak. Similarly for the Trapper – the odd semi-bluff comes in useful to pick back a few of those “lost” chips.
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