Advice On Heads Up Play

[RPatterson]

I'm good at getting to the final 2 but it seems I don't win as much as I should. Or I'd like to. I'm making this post because this guy is folding most of his small blinds, as am I, and completing here and there and I've been letting him. I raise his completion with A9s and he comes back all-in, I call and he has AK. Is he trying to be deceptive on the flop? Does he just know this is the one time I'm going to raise his completion?

I don't get it. This kind of stuff always messes me up. I probably fold too much pre-flop too. It seems like I'm always screwing up pre-flop but outplaying them on the flop. Maybe I should just call alot more.

[RPatterson]

I been playing some headsup matches and just not raising anything and seeing most flops as an experiment and it's going well. I think I've been pushing everything pre-flop too much when I should just be playing on the flop.

[HighStack]

I started off playing nothing but heads up sng's on stars, it has made me a way better finisher, the problem sometimes is getting there. /images/graemlins/grin.gif Keep playing those matches, best thing you can do.

[RPatterson]

I'm not sure if you develop the right style though. Since the blinds are bigger for you at the end of a sit n go as opposed to the beginning of a headsup duel.

[Poolgod32]

I think you def have to be agressive heads up. Any Ace plays huge...you cant worry your opponent always has AK. If the flop is all small rags and you hit the top one or middle one, my experience is that you should go all in esp if you are close in chips. I mean just winning the blinds at the 400-800 level and above is worth it. It also depends on how your opponent played earlier in the tourney.
If he is really loose (as many are at lower levels) and agressive, you can use that against him. Often he will bet or raise with just one face card. When you have two really stick it to him and reraise big or all in.
If hes tight, I would suggest making a big raise if he completes the blind or is in the small blind. He wont catch enough cards to wait for big hands
Hope this helps

[HighStack]

[ QUOTE ]
I'm not sure if you develop the right style though. Since the blinds are bigger for you at the end of a sit n go as opposed to the beginning of a headsup duel.

[/ QUOTE ]

It doesn't really matter that much I would assume; you figure 1000 chips vs 1000 chips with smaller blinds is the same as the end of a tourney where each player has +/- 5000 chips each with bigger blinds. /images/graemlins/crazy.gif

[Sam T.]

When I first started playing SnGs I had the same experience - always the bride's maid, never the bride. After a while, I found a style that works for me, so it may just be a matter of time. What is the break-down of your finishes?

Anyway, my style is:

-I'm very aggressive (remember - half the time you will have the best hand). If I bet PF, it is almost always a push, though if we've been heads-up for a while I will sometimes make a min raise just to throw him off-balance. (Min raises are inevitably followed by a pause, as he tries to figure out what I'm up to.)

-If I have enough chips relative to the blinds, I will sometimes fold the SB a couple of times early, even if I've got a decent (though not extraordinary) hand. The message I want to send is, "I'm tight as a drum. If I don't have rockets, I'm not even going to complete." Then, when I go aggro with J2 in the SB, he's far more likely to fold. By the time he figures out I've changed gears, I've stolen t1500 in blinds, which is a huge advantage.

My 2 cents. But I've not yet hit the 100 SnG mark, so take it with some salt.