HU Strategy. . .

[SammyKid11]

So...right now I'm pretty much only playing the 11's seriously (trying to play 40 a day 4-tabling in sets). I'm doing pretty well so far -- though my sample set is still low. Nonetheless, when I get heads up, I'm pretty much playing a push/fold strategy (unless my opponent just calls the BB and I don't have anything I wanna push him in with). I really haven't varied from this, because on my fairly marginal hands, I want to steal blinds and force my opponent (who is more than likely a bad player) to make the tough calling decisions that determine 1st and 2nd. Thus far it seems to be working well, as I have as many 1st place finishes as I do 2nd and 3rd combined. What I'm wondering is two-fold:

1) Is a more sophisticated HU strategy useful at this limit (or the 22's)?

2) Whose literature is best for learning more sophisticated HU strategy? I just got and am working my way through HOHE Vol. 1. I hear Vol. 2 is supposed to have more information on HU play. Is this the way to go to develop a better strategy for HU play?

Or is this how most of you play HU? Thanks in advance for all replies. I'm learning lots and will keep contributing however I can.

[pergesu]

If you've got double the 1sts as you do 2+3, then you're playing really well ITM. It'll be a pretty high variance style, but really profitable. Hopefully it's not double just because you're not getting ITM enough.

What's your 1/2/3 % finishes?

As for basic strategy, that's about right. Blinds are so big heads up that push/fold is pretty much always the best way to play. Sounds like you're doing well though. Keep it up.

[SammyKid11]

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What's your 1/2/3 % finishes?


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Right now (and again, I am early days...only played ~100 so far) my percentages of total are:
1st - 20.6%
2nd - 11.8%
3rd - 8.8%

...for a total ROI of 41.71. I realize the cards are probably running really good right now, but it seems like a nice start to trying to be a serious SnG'er. Thanks for your input.

[pergesu]

Well then you're kickin ass. Probably won't keep it up...but I hope you do.

[Nottom]

The only time you really need to ditch the push/fold strategy HU is on the rare times when you get HU with small blinds (basically 100/200 or lower, 150/300 is usually fine as long as you are careful when the stacks are close). Even then you can still run it as long as you adjust, but you are losing some EV in the process since pushing hands like Q9s isn't really a great idea with 15BBs but it is certainly worth playing.

[ZeroPointMachine]

I don't think these times are that rare(especially at the 10/20 level). I've seen quite a few ITM at the 50/100 level and sometimes lower.

But your right-adjusting to a standard raise HU strategy is imperative when this happens. Otherwise the donk may fold ten hands in a row, but he will get one that hurts you with enough chips to do it.

[SammyKid11]

Yeah, good tip guys.

One thing I do hate about push/fold is when I get AA or KK in the SB. I feel like I ought to call to see if opponent will give me some action, but at that point I feel like calling would be just like announcing, "I've got aces." What do you do in situations like that...push and hope for a call? That's what I've done to now, and you know, occasionally it will be the time that villain has KJ or something and calls. Just wondering if limping has any advantages given the typical p/f strategy.

[lastchance]

If you're playing push/fold, play push/fold. Push and hope for a call.

[checkers777]

Push/Fold is definately the way to go. If you start playing 8-tables or more you will enjoy the simplicity of this strategy.

I just had a 17 heads-up win streak snapped today. :-(

[SammyKid11]

Yeah, I figured...alright guys -- thanks for a helpful thread.

[HesseJam]

I sometimes put in around half of the opponents stack when I have aces. This looks like bad strategy to them.

[EasilyFound]

What range of hands are you folding in your push/fold strategy? How often do you fold?

[SammyKid11]

Well, sometimes it depends on the situation. But typically, HU I push:
22+, A2+, K2+, Q2+, J9+ (is this too much in people's opinions?)

I fold to a push if I don't have a hand quite a bit better than the ones I'll push with.

How does this sound generally? Remember I'm playing primarily the 11's, and this assumes the blinds are pretty high.

[pergesu]

I'm gonna go ahead and say that's WAY too tight. I honestly wish I could give you a number, but I don't really think of it that way. Just after playin it enough, I say, "Aight, this should be good enough to push here" and it's done.

[HesseJam]

I think I push 75% of my hands. But that's what I think. If I looked at my PT headsup stats I wouldn't be surprised to find out that I pushed only 50%.

[SammyKid11]

Hmm...so maybe I ought to be playing any jack plus suited connectors?

Also, how does your strategy change (if at all) when you're BB and SB calls the blind (and you have a lower-end pushing hand)?

[Freudian]

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Hmm...so maybe I ought to be playing any jack plus suited connectors?

Also, how does your strategy change (if at all) when you're BB and SB calls the blind (and you have a lower-end pushing hand)?

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It depends on how much your opponent is calling. Against some people pushing any two is the correct strategy. Against most top 70% or so is fine. Against some you have to tighten up a bit and use the range you mentioned previously.

[Ixnert]

For many opponents (in the 10s/20s), completing from the SB is exactly and simply what it looks like -- he has a hand he wouldn't mind playing, but it's not very strong. These people will mostly fold to a push, so if I'm sure I've got one of these, I'll push almost any two (probably top 90%), which is a wider range than I'll push from the SB (probably top 60-75%).

The trick is that some people complete to trap instead. So I'll usually let people get away with completing a couple times early on -- just enough to verify that they are very unlikely to have monsters every time they did it. Then start with the pushing.

(I'll also tighten up my range a bit if I've been pushing virtually every hand for a while -- you don't want them to think that you are actually pushing every hand, because you want their calling range to stay relatively tight.)

[tricolore]

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The trick is that some people complete to trap instead. So I'll usually let people get away with completing a couple times early on -- just enough to verify that they are very unlikely to have monsters every time they did it. Then start with the pushing.



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Funny. I usually complete a couple time early with junk to induce an all-in next time I have a monster and complete. It's been working fairly well so far.

[45suited]

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Funny. I usually complete a couple time early with junk to induce an all-in next time I have a monster and complete. It's been working fairly well so far.

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You usually don't have enough time to execute this strategy when the blinds are high. Or do you get dealt monsters more often than everyone else?

[Bluff Daddy]

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Funny. I usually complete a couple time early with junk to induce an all-in next time I have a monster and complete. It's been working fairly well so far.

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You usually don't have enough time to execute this strategy when the blinds are high. Or do you get dealt monsters more often than everyone else?

[/ QUOTE ]

not a good strategy

[tricolore]

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You usually don't have enough time to execute this strategy when the blinds are high. Or do you get dealt monsters more often than everyone else?

[/ QUOTE ]

By monster (i should have stated HU monster maybe) I mean any hand which is roughly 65% against a random range of pushing hands. In this case the opponent is likely to push any two cards so more often than not you get to call an all-in with a good advantage.

It's not really the focus of my HU strategy, but it's something I've used some times and all it worked well so far.