I need help, BADLY!

[ZManODS]

anyone have some good advice on playing NL heads up?
What starting hands require a raise? How many X the BB would you raise? What hands wouldnt you call a raise with?
Can somebody point me in the right direction please!

p.s. I mostly play against an aggressive player.


Thanks!!

[Robk]

Way too opponent/situation/structure dependent question to have a general answer. It's all about how your opponent will react to your various actions. Ray Zee made a post about heads up NL awhile ago that was along the lines of "the more aggressive player must win", so keep that in mind.

[CrisBrown]

ZMan,

Heads-up play, especially no-limit, rewards loose-aggressive play. Remember that there are ONLY two hands being dealt, so here it really is a matter of "any two cards can win." If I'm in the small blind, I will call with absolute trash, and raise with any pair, any A or K, or any two cards which, in Blackjack, would total 18 or higher. I will bet at the flop even if I have only a tiny piece of it ... and if I raised pre-flop I'll bet at it regardless.

The way I figure it, I'm going to win all the pots on which we're both dealt garbage and you fold. I'm going to win all the pots where I have a good hand and you don't. I'm going to win all the pots where I catch a piece of the flop and you don't. And I'm going to win some of the pots where you catch a piece of the flop, but I catch or represent a bigger piece.

That leaves you ONLY the pots where you have a monster hand to start, or the flop runs you over. And that's not very many pots.

That's why I say if I can get to heads-up, I almost always win. I rarely, RARELY finish second.

Cris