I suck at heads-up play, please help

[1C5]

New poker player here, playing on party Poker for play money only right now but by playing smart, I am making it to the final 2 players much more often than at first.

But then here is the problem. I suck at heads up play. I don't know when exactly to raise and by how much. I don't know what is a good hand with 2 people playing. I have no strategy. Please help /images/graemlins/grin.gif

Any advice or books/articles that has helped you in heads up play?

[SpeakEasy]

Hard to gauge your own play for play money. Try some low-$$ heads up play to get your feet wet.

Some basic rules that work for me, and that you can try when real money is at stake:

1. Steal you opponents big blind as much as possible.

2. Don't risk it all pre-flop unless you have a monster (AA-JJ) or you are really short-stacked.

3. Teach yourself to outplay your opponent on the flop. Win the pot on the flop or abandon the hand. Exception: you flop a monster (full house, flush, straight), in which case slowplaying is definitely in order.

4. Pre-flop strategy:

Pre-flop when your are in the SB -- AGGRESSION. I will raise to 2x BB about 60-70% of the hands when I am in the small blind, or fold. This puts pressure on your opponent to defend his big blind, and keeps him guessing as to your hand strength. You might have JJ, you might have 68o. When you hit the flop with the mediocre hands (i.e. 2 small pair that he will not see coming), this is when you can mop up.

Another rule of thumb when in the SB -- don't just call pre-flop if you will fold to a 3xBB raise. If you call and then fold to a moderate raise, this is essentially forcing yourself to play three big blinds in a row. When you are in the SB it is the equivalent of serving in tennis -- you have to hold your serve by pressuring his BB. Don't play in a way that gives up your advantage when serving -- stay aggressive or throw it away.

Pre-flop when you are in the BB -- cautious aggression. I will call any average raise (2-3xBB) with nearly any cards, and try to out-play post-flop. I will fold to the all-in raises pre-flop when I have junk hands, keeping in mind that he is probably trying to pressure my BB, like I am pressuring him.

Watch for your opponents patterns. After about 8-10 hands you will pick up on which of 2 general categories he falls into:

(1) Standard play -- he hits the flops and bets away, and he folds when he doesn't hit the flop. Play when you hit the flop, or fold.
(2) Tricky/aggressive play -- he bluffs a lot when he misses the flop. Play very aggressively when you hit the flop, and sometimes bluff him back when you don't.

The way to finally win:
Wear him down with an overall effective strategy, as described above.
Wait for that key hand where you both hit the flop, but he has second best hand.

[lorinda]

Play some play money heads up and short handed ring games.

If the table fills up, move to another short handed one.

Lori