The Poker Player's Survival Guide
A Survival Guide for the Heads Up Poker Jungle
By Thomas Froslev
Forget the machete. What you need to conquer the world of heads up poker is this short strategy guide to Heads Up No Limit Texas Hold’em Cash games.
No limit Hold’em Heads Up (abbreviated in this article as HU NL), is a battle of two: Two individuals, two egos, two people. They are like card-playing warriors who are prepared to do whatever it takes to win on the battlefield.
Does that sound like you? Do you want that person to be you? You could be on your way to becoming that poker player by following a just few simple steps…
Find a poker site where you feel comfortable and like the level of play from your opponents. Personally I think that Everest Poker is a great place to start out, since you can often find people who want to play and where there are many rooms that will match your starting level of play.
Step 2: Sleepy Poker Is Forbidden!
Never play poker when you are tired! Never play when you are distracted by other things! You should never play if you are tired or have other things to think about. This is very important, especially when it comes to HU NL, since you need to be in control of your emotions and feelings constantly when playing against an opponent. Because often the winner of a HU match is the person who Tilts (loses control of their emotions) the least. Therefore make sure to only play poker when you really want to play poker.
Step 3: Flexibility Is Not Just for Gymnasts
One of the most important tips to remember while playing HU NL is to not just play your own game at all times, but being able to adjust to the person you are playing against and thereby maximizing your own value. This also gives you the bonus of being able to play a lot of different styles and becoming better at playing different styles. Thus being able to mix up your game more often, without losing value. Practice playing the game aggressively at times, and more tight (or reserved) at others. Vary your play based on cues you pick up from your opponents.
Flexibility Tips and Strategy:
If your opponent is folding too much Pre-Flop from his BB, then you should attack his BB Pre-Flop at all times and therefore it will often be a good idea to play close to 100% of your hands from the Button. And why do you need to do that? Because when he folds too much from his BB, he is basically handing you his money – So why not take it?
Another example is that if your opponent is continuation betting too much, then you should amp up your aggression. By this I mean that you should begin Check/Raising and floating (calling) more hands out of position, since his Hand Range for continuation betting is weaker than the norm.
When you start adjusting to his game, you also need to pay attention to if your opponent is also making adjustments to your game. Because if he is, you need to start re-adjusting. And the only way of getting good at adjusting and re-adjusting is to just try it out, and keep doing it until you are awesome at it.
For example take my second example, where he was Continuation betting too much. If he starts Continuation betting less, because you are Check/Raising and floating him constantly, you should simply just go back to your normal game and Check/Raise less again. It is that simple!
I hope you enjoyed my short strategy segment about Heads Up cash games. I wish you all the best at the tables in 2011.
