TexasHoldem-Poker.com Forum

[Kemics]

i play usually play poker twice a week through a society at uni, we play in tables of 6 - 8, follows pretty similar to a tournament structure, we start with 50 equal value chips, blinds are 1 and 2 and double every 20 mins.

i think i've got a fairly solid game, i'm up a little money, but nothing significant.

One problem i have is that i struggle when i go head to head, and for some reason, find it harder if I have the chip lead. Beacuse there are some familar faces at games, people know this is my weakness and will exploit it, hopefully if i can improve my game, i should be able to repay the favour

so if anyone could give me some pointer or strategies for how to play a head to head, especially when playing with a chip lead, i would greatly appricate it.

cheers

[Muck]

Aggressive.

That’s pretty much what everyone is going to say is the key point about heads up play. This doesn’t mean go crazy for no reason, the aggression is a bi-product:

• The blinds are high in relation to you stack. This gives you good odds and motivation to take down these pots.
• Your hands are stronger. Raising with KJo against 10 players is questionable. Raising with KJo against 1 player is fine.
• Your on the button every other hand.

Here’s any easy way to consider hand strength. Against 10 players you’ll have the best hand at the table 1 in 10 times, against 1 player you have the best hand every other time. That’s why you’re making those bets and raises.

If you have the bigger stack bully! Raise from the BB frequently, make him fold his SB’s because he’s afraid his completing calls will be raised and wasted. The only danger is you should be careful not to double him up.

[Kemics]

yeah i definalty think a bit of aggression would help my play alot, i think its beacuse when the blinds get so big, getting called on a couple of heavy raises is enough to loose a chip lead.

i also had a bad experience last week. I had chip lead from knocking a couple people out, we went head to head.

i got 10 and 7 pocket, flop came out (i went for a slow play)

4 9 10

Turn

7

River

9

He checked to the river, so i thought sweet, i play as if i had trash and went for an 'all in' hoping he would think i was bluffing and call me. He did but had

9 10

was not happy about that, we both played the slow game, he just got the slightly better hand. I probably should of used aggression and pushed off on the turn, but just didnt think he had a hand.

[Kemics]

what sort of raise is good as BB as to look realistic and not just a blatant bluff.

[HalfSugar]

What uni?

[jimmer]

Ok, I'll openly admit that what i'm about to write is not structured. Therefore don't read too much into it. However hopefully it'll give you a rought guide to the way I play.

Heads up is an art form all on its's own. What ever you've learnt about poker should now be forgotten.

As muck said, you now either have the best hand.....or you don't.

As a rough guide, I like to raise 90% of all hands preflop (inless i've been raised already). The amount i raise depends on the cards and the guys ability to call. Some times i raise twice the BB and the other guy continuely folds, other times i raise 4xBB and am always called.

Because of this, I tend to be the person controlling the game. I can control the size of the pots and either get out if i'm unsure, or keep pushing if i think i'm winning.

Of course, this only works if the blinds are relitively small compared to the size of the stacks.

The other thing to remember is you need to fight for most pots. If you get dealt 95 offsuit, you don't really want to see a flop. Therefore i'd raise big pre-flop. If i then get called, i'm probably going into the flop in second place.

As i said, all of the above is written pretty losely. I'm sure a couple of the forum regulars will tear apart what i've said.

But anyway, i hope this helps.

[Kemics]

thanks for the responses everyone. it's bristol uni im at

yeah, i guess i just need to get the stones to play those sort of bets, usually by the time its heads up BB is 10 chips, and when there is only a total of 300 in play, to raise that just makes me nervous if im playing trash.

just played a sweet game with two of my flat mates, bluffed with 2 7 , one folded, one called

flop - k 2 7
turn - J
river - 2

he had a pair of kings with a ace kicker, and tried to slow play me into an all in, backfired somewhat for him wish i got cards like that in tourneys, made me giggle as it started as a complete bluff.

i'm going to try and play much more aggressive next week, ill let you guys know how it goes

[Muck]

Another thing to note is that your aggression should be building as the game gets more and more short handed, peaking as you reach heads up.

I'm not very good at changing gear so I have four stages to remind me:
10 (full table)
6 (short handed)
3 (very short handed)
2 (heads up)

[Kemics]

played a 6 player table in the end.

played pretty tight and slow till it was just 3 of us left. Then totally loosened up (a couple times i raised heavy pre-flop, then showed a good hand, to reinforce a tight play) then got a lot of bluffs through. Ended up taking the table down.

thanks for the advice guys! really helped

[corona123]

Realize that the amount your opponent has to bet will figure into his later decisions. For instance, going into later rounds head-tohead with a big-stack opponent can be very dangerous, as he's got
the chips to muscle you out, and also will be able to afford more draws than someone who's down. On the other hand, if a player with a small stack is raising you big on the flop, and everyone else
drops out, you have to take into consideration that he might not have enough chips.

Control The Table

If you constantly take the lead on hands in which you're playing (and fold early on the majority you don't play), and win a big hand or two, you'll soon gain control of the table. Controlling
the pace and betting level of a table is very important. Other players will assume you're holding good cards when you stay in and bet, allowing you to keep pre-flop bets low if you have only a middling pocket (like KQs). This allows you to see more
flops.

What's more, if players bet heavily into your early bets, and you're the one controlling the table, it will be a good sign to get out. Forcing the table to accept your betting structure allows you
to pick up valuable information when other players diverge from it. Controlling the table is akin to being the unspoken authority. It is a difficult skill to learn, but when you're in control, you'll know it-the game will become much easier for you, and you have less chance of being drawn into someone else's web.

[pokerluver333]

play really tight, i think its the best way

[Muck]

play really tight, i think its the best way

Joke?

By the way I’d get rid of the link in you sig before you get a polite pm from the mods.

[ToyMachine22122]

play really tight, i think its the best way

Great idea!

Case 1: Other person is also a tight player. 80% of your hands go to the river and 50% to the showdown, at which point someone wins with a high card or pair. Usually the pot doesnt get much bigger than the blinds. Occaisionally one of you gets a hand, but when you do there's nothing you can do to make it worth very much since the other person will almost certainly fold to any real bet. You play for hours until finally you both get a good hand at the same time. You promptly seize the opportunity and somebody goes all-in, and the game hangs on statistics for who comes out with the best hand.

Case 2: Other person is a loose (smart) player. You get muscled out of your chips very quickly because they know they can force you out of the hand 90% of the time simply by placing a big bet. You'll find yourself rapidly handing them blinds, and then when you finally do get your hand and it's time to go all-in, the other person will easily read that you've got a great hand and fold, or best-case scenario you've created such a gap between the size of your chip stacks that it takes 2 successful all-ins just to get back in the running.