Interesting question....what game to play a pro heads up?

[whiskeytown]

Been thinking about the Pokerstars H/U match with Tom McEvoy they hold every week.

every week, a player plays a WSOP champ H/U - and the TLB winner gets to select the game...NOW, my first instinct would be of course, NL Holdem - but remember, yer talking to a guy who wrote a book on NL Holdem.

What game (stud, omaha, omaha H/L, Holdem) and what limit (limit/pot/NL) would give an amateur the best chance of holding his own with a pro...which one brings the easiest reading skills and forgives dumb mistakes and promises the best chances of victory? -

this week, Mcevoy beat his challenger heads up after 45 minutes...sometimes it takes 7...LOL

RB

[fnord_too]

I think you could get a pretty good all in strategy with NL Omaha or O/8b. I'm not sure which one has the smallest pre-flop differentials between the best and worst hand, but with few exceptions, I don't think any hand is too much the underdog at Omaha High only. (The most notable exception would be something like 3 /images/graemlins/spade.gif4 /images/graemlins/club.gif5 /images/graemlins/heart.gif6 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif drawing dead to a push against 3 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif4 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif5 /images/graemlins/spade.gif6 /images/graemlins/spade.gif).

[whiskeytown]

hmm...I don't THINK they offer NL Omaha as a choice...

Limit/Pot Limit int he case of Omaha and Omaha H/L...and probably only limit Stud...not sure.

[Al_Capone_Junior]

I suppose if I had to play McEvoy heads up I would choose stud. It has extra info with the upcards, plus a higher luck factor than hold'em. In addition, you can't lose the whole match on one hand, he'd have to beat you several times in order to win it. Finally, McEvoy isn't known for his stud playing, tho he may be very good at it (a reasonable guess tho is that he IS going to be good at it, let's not fool ourselves /images/graemlins/grin.gif).

My 2c.

al

[cnfuzzd]

i agree. Stud would, imo, offer the best chance of minimizing the pro's skill. Also, given the hidden nature of your cards, i think this would be a ripe opportunity to employ the gaming theory that D.S. is always on about.

peace

john nickle

[Iceman]

"What game (stud, omaha, omaha H/L, Holdem) and what limit (limit/pot/NL) would give an amateur the best chance of holding his own with a pro...which one brings the easiest reading skills and forgives dumb mistakes and promises the best chances of victory?"

This may sound counterintuitive, but an expert in heads-up limit play has a huge advantage over a weaker player, while NL heads-up play has a very high luck factor unless the money is very deep. Few NL heads-up players win much more than 60% of their matches, as long as their opponents have some clue about NL, since even with relatively small blinds you can't wait for a huge edge before committing your stack. But a limit expert will almost always defeat a weaker player, since individual hands matter much less than overall betting patterns and the ability to detect and exploit those patterns.

[Jaran]

I put in a vote for Razz

-Jaran

[mikewvp]

play him blackjack

[donkeyradish]

Given that my skills are rank amateur I choose NL Holdem for all the opposite reasons! /images/graemlins/wink.gif

He has the least info about what I have.
I could win the whole match in one hand.
I can win simply by being lucky.
/images/graemlins/grin.gif

[Louie Landale]

If you are outmatched then toss a coin.

A game the opponent doesn't play much would be at the top of the list. Also, since these guys read pretty well you need to choose a game that does NOT favor reading. For McEvoy, I'd be tempted to play Razz.

I wonder if they pay these guys or just let them play HU for quite a bit of money against an ametuer.

- Louie

[shadow29]

Second!

Whomever gets a headache first loses!

[whiskeytown]

Mcevoy doesn't get to keep the money and it piles up if he loses (which to be honest, doesn't happen as often as you think)

Razz ain't an official choice...LOL - but thanks anyways.

RB

[lunchmeat]

I heard somewhere that McEvoy claims his worst game is O8. As to limit vs. pot limit you're on your own.

[Sarge85]

Ro-Sham-Bo

Sarge/images/graemlins/diamond.gif

[MrX]

A good game of WAR should minimize the pro's edge.

MrX