HU Stud8/b

[DeadMoneyOC]

So I played some HU tonight and I ran great. I obvouisly really enjoyed it and I plan on doing it again sometime soon. I need some direction so that the next time I play I dont need to get super lucky to win. Here are my thoughts...

Playing the good hands you would normally play in a full game are easy. I dont need help with those.

I played any pair bigger than 5s very hard and fast. Especially hands like 77(5) or 47(4).

I wasnt dealt any three flushes but I assume I would play those fast as well. I think the same goes for a hand like QJT.

I also found that hands like K3(2) or 3Q(4) also worked very well in defending the BI and raising the BI. These hands worked great for me because if a baby was my door card and I caught good I could usually pick up on the pot right there. I could also pair my big card and make a pair of Ks or whatever. I think this only really applies to hands with two cards below 5 or maybe six. I think a hand like 3d2h(Td) is very playable while a hand like Jh7d(6c) is only marginal in a defending siutation.

I found playing your opponents board to be VERY VERY important. Whoever had the better board would usually take down the pot.

Should I be raising the BI everytime I have a baby. For example if a trey brings it in should I be raising everytime if I have a 4,5,6,7, or 8 as my door card?

I know there are a lot more aspects of HU 8/b that I am not thinking about but I was woundering if I am on the right track. This was my first time playing HU tonight and I only played for about 15 minutes with this guy until someone else showed up. The deck hit me in the face. It was awesome.

If anyone has any comments or suggestions they would be much appreciated. Adios amigos.

Edit: This is not tourney play. It was 2-4 with a .25 ante

Not sure if this qualifies as an "obvious" statement, but I find when I'm playing HU, that I need to vary my play more. I'll let myself get "caught" stealing a bring in. I know you can't read too much into response times, but pauses when you have been playing lightning quick seem like a good idea.

Of course, I'll admit that I avoid HU play. I recall threads talking about the risk/reward and how you need to make aggressive moves to counter-act the bring-in frequency. I'm not sure I am experienced enough to change gears so quickly. Maybe it's the "lemming" factor, but it seems that most of the solid party 8/b players avoid HU. Yet another factor for the resistance to starting new tables.

[DeadMoneyOC]

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Not sure if this qualifies as an "obvious" statement, but I find when I'm playing HU, that I need to vary my play more. I'll let myself get "caught" stealing a bring in. I know you can't read too much into response times, but pauses when you have been playing lightning quick seem like a good idea.


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This would probably be somewhat effective if I knew I was playing an opponent HU for a long period of time, but I think a vast majority of the time I will only be HU for a short period of tiem until some else shows up.

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Of course, I'll admit that I avoid HU play. I recall threads talking about the risk/reward and how you need to make aggressive moves to counter-act the bring-in frequency. I'm not sure I am experienced enough to change gears so quickly. Maybe it's the "lemming" factor, but it seems that most of the solid party 8/b players avoid HU. Yet another factor for the resistance to starting new tables

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I knew that when I decided to play HU I was gambling. If I only played HU the variance in my BR would be huge. I beat this guy last night for 25 BBs in no time. It easily could have gone the other way. I think a lot of the 'better' players are actually 'smarter' in that they want to reduce their variance by not playing HU. There are however a couple of guys who regularly play inthe 30 game on PS though who love playing HU and probably love gambling! They just sit there all day waiting for someone to play HU. So while the swings are probably brutal, it is also most likely a winning proposition for them.

[lane mcbride]

heads up is a wonderful wonderful game /images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'm no expert, but I do okay for myself. I realize that I have a lot to learn, but I'll pass on information that I've found useful and you take it for what it's worth.

if you played just like you were playing stud hi, you wouldn't lose out on too much.

a hand like jjk is a favorite over 345.

DO NOT get trapped into playing for the low. It's very costly heads up.

also don't forget how valuable aces are since they are both high and low. heads up this gets magnified by ten times.

heads up play also is very opponent-dependent. if you can run over your opponent by raising and betting frequently do it. passivity is a severe weakness in heads up play... take advantage of any passive opponents.

[Wu36]

HU stud8 is fun, that is all. If anyone wants to work on their game you can find me on stars fairly often, I'm always down for a 5$ sng.

[Andy B]

Take this for what it's worth. I think that stud and stud/8 are my two best games, but I have had much more success playing short-handed hold'em than short-handed stud games, even though my hold'em game is nothing special. I did beat Carlos Chadha out of $2 heads-up, though.

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I wasnt dealt any three flushes but I assume I would play those fast as well. I think the same goes for a hand like QJT.

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I think this would be applicable only if your opponent folded way too much.

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Should I be raising the BI everytime I have a baby. For example if a trey brings it in should I be raising everytime if I have a 4,5,6,7, or 8 as my door card?

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Almost certainly not.

[Beavis68]

I don't want to post too much about my developing theory, because I have a continuing match going on with somone that reads these forums.

3 flushes and QJT.

If the flush is 3 to a wheel, play it fast, if it is two lows and a high. Or spread out, I don't want to get to involved until 4th, because if you brick on fourth you have nothing.

Say you start with 2 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif T /images/graemlins/diamond.gif 5 /images/graemlins/diamond.gif

and on fourth hit a J /images/graemlins/spade.gif

Your hand is pretty worthless in my opinion.

Same thing for QJT. If you dont pair or hit a K or 9 on you have nothing, and even if you do pair you can be behind if there was a lot of action - even if you opponent has A246 you are behind.