Need advice on playing heads up with nearly even chipstacks.

[elnino12]

For all intensive purposes, I'm a greenhorn when it comes to playing heads up. I started playing a few heads up matches for low buy-ins just to get a feel for it, but I never really feel like I'm in control of the game like I can be in a ring game. I've made it down to the final 2 a few times in the last week, and have won one time because I flopped a straight flush and he had an A-high flush. Anywho--I'm just looking for some general tips and pointers on playing heads up. Any and all feedback is much appreciated.

[Iconoclastic]

Well it depends on the type of player your opponent is-Loose Aggressive, Tight Aggressive, Loose Passive, Tight Passive, etc. So the following advice should be taken lightly.

Try raising preflop with Ax, K/QT+, any PP. Do not raise with implied odds hands like T9s. And all hands from 99 on up and AQo are worth calling all in with, depending on blinds and the style of your opponent of course. Try to trap with AA and KK. Change up your gears, play Aggressive, then Passive, etc constantly. Try to outread your opponent (what does he think I have?). And value bet any pair, but be prepared to let it go if you think he's not bluffing.

[zephyr]

I think the thing lacking most in "greenhorn" HU players is an extreme lack of aggresion. If you're playing at Party then by the time its HU the blinds are typically so big that all-in on every hand becomes nearly the optimum strategy. If you're playing where the blinds are still reasonably small once HU then timing the aggresion becomes more of a factor.

Only my Opinion,

Zephyr

[RacersEdge]

Search this forum on "HU Strategy" for a thread that was created about a week ago. There is some good basic advice in there.