Heads Up vs Tight Player

[KefAAAA]

I play heads up against a buddy of mine most games because we're the only two left. He plays extremely tight and won't play anything but the best hands. Should I simply not play him heads up or is there a way to crack him?

Thank You

[philnewall]

Of course you should play him head up! Try to steal the antes preflopp 3/4 of the time, however don't do it all the time to stop him realizing what you are doing. however, you must realise that when he does play a hand, it will be on average better than yours, so don't bet for value as much. Basically, avoid large pots unless you have the nuts, or close to it, and keep on stealing small pots from him.

[Mikey]

Obviously if he plays too tight, you should just bet into him almost every single time unless you have no chance of winning.

Bet draws, top, middle, bottom pair, over cards to the board, gutshot draws.

Once you meet resistance especially on the turn, then you should use judgement whether you should keep firing or back off.

Also if he limps on the button and you are the BB without position, raise your own BB this has the effect of making him think you have an even more powerful hand and often you can steal on the flop.

As long as you don't meet too much resitance keep firing those bets away. You must win.

If you would like, I often play on Paradise Poker for play money heads up 3-6. If you would like to play sometime shoot me a private message during the times you'd like to play.

[bad beetz]

raise every hand and fold when he shows serious resistance. If he doesn't readjust he will quicly lose all his chips.

[ACBob]

Actually, this is the type of player you want to play head up. You will need to play aggressive and raise preflop with many hands.

The Abdul "Pound, Pound, Pound" is the way to go.

Bob Lewis

[thetman]

Raise,raise,raise...you will win.

[J_V]

Ever try this....I'm sure you have. It's not nearly as quick as one might imagine unless he's a clueless moron who only plays like AJ+....it's still a grind IMO.

[Michael Davis]

If he doesn't adjust, put heat on him with any two cards. The blinds are pretty damn high in a heads up contest.

-Mike

[Mikey]

Basically, avoid large pots unless you have the nuts, or close to it, and keep on stealing small pots from him. –Phlinewall.

Also if he limps on the button and you are the BB without position, raise your own BB this has the effect of making him think you have an even more powerful hand and often you can steal on the flop. – Mikey

raise every hand and fold when he shows serious resistance –bad beetz
*this statement here is somewhat true, you don’t want to raise every single hand, because then I think you actually make him play better*

It's not nearly as quick as one might imagine unless he's a clueless moron who only plays like AJ+....it's still a grind IMO. – JV
*This is most definitely true.*

It is not as easy as it seems when you think that you are playing heads up vs a tight tight player. Tonight I was playing heads up with a very tight tight player and to be honest it was very tough and rather annoying. Every time I raised he would fold, and often times when he showed serious resistance I was shown a big hand. I think when playing a type of player like this when you make mistakes they can be quite costly because it will take you quite a while to make that money back.

It is easy to take pots away from him and I think the best way to do it is to try to get as much money in the pot preflop, by raising raising and raising. If he limps on his small blind I would raise with any decent hand from my BB getting more money in the pot, and if I'm first to act often betting out, and if I'm last to act firing if checked to. (Depends how the SB, BB structure is set up.)

Often times a player will fold on the flop.

I think also when you meet resistance on the flop and you don't have much of anything, I would even consider folding middle and bottom pair as pathetic as it may sound, especially if you bet and are raised or if he bets into you.

Of course everything is situational.

This issue needs to be addressed more, hopefully we can get others to add in more.

We have recieved good responses.

Best of luck.

[Marlow]

I completely agree with this. When you lose a pot, it take much longer to recoup your deficit. That's why you need to play some head games. Let me explain:
Someone earlier said that you should not raise with 100% of your hands. I don't always agree with this. Sometimes you want him to realize that you are always stealing, this way he'll begin to play hands that he's uncomfortable with. Once you get him out of that comfort zone, he's much more vulnerable, and as soon as you realize that he is playing more hands, too, than you can change your game again as you see fit. Poker is a wonderful game of psychology... get into his head by making him feel like a wuss. Then get him when he tries to reassert himself by defending with less-than-premium hands.

[philnewall]

Surely this is the optimal situation for a heads up game. If you are against a tight, unimaginative player, who checks when he is weak, and bets when he is strong, then if you are any player at all you should be able to destroy him.