Help with Heads Up!

BigJohn043 · #1 08-21-2004, 10:31 AM

I am having a really hard time with heads up. I probably only win ~35% of my heads up opportunities which is killing my ROI.

Below is a heads up I lost with a big lead. Let me know what you think of my play.... Comments on all hands appreciated.

Hand 1

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed)

BB (t2140)
Hero (t5860)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
Hero calls t200, BB raises to t800, Hero calls t400.

Flop: (t1600) K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], Q[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
BB bets t1340 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: t2940

Hand 2

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed)

Button (t2940)
Hero (t5060)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img], J[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img].
Button folds.

Final Pot: t600

Hand 3

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed)

BB (t2740)
Hero (t5260)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 6[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
Hero raises to t800, BB folds.

Final Pot: t1200

Hand 4

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t500 (2 handed)

Button (t2340)
Hero (t5660)

Preflop: Hero is BB with 4[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 2[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img].
Button calls t250, Hero checks.

Flop: (t1000) 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 5[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players)
Hero checks, Button bets t500, Hero raises to t1700, Button raises to t1840 (All-In), Hero calls t140.

Turn: (t4680) 5[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t4680) 2[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t4680

He showed me QQ and took down the pot to take the chip lead.

Hand 5

Party Poker No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t500 (2 handed)

BB (t4680)
Hero (t3320)

Preflop: Hero is Button with 9[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], A[img]/images/graemlins/diamond.gif[/img].
Hero calls t250, BB raises to t1500, Hero raises to t3320 (All-In), BB calls t1820.

Flop: (t6640) K[img]/images/graemlins/heart.gif[/img], 4[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img], 8[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Turn: (t6640) Q[img]/images/graemlins/spade.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

River: (t6640) K[img]/images/graemlins/club.gif[/img] (2 players, 1 all-in)

Final Pot: t6640

He showed me KQ for a full house and I took second...

Virox · #2 08-21-2004, 10:52 AM

You should be aggressive heads-up but you have taken the concept too far.
Hand 1 is a fold under normal circumstances. That the cards are suited doesn't mean much heads-up.
Hand 3 FOLD FOLD FOLD!
Hand 4 is good I think if you know he's a habitual bluffer. If he never bluff this is a fold.
Hand 5 is good.

parappa · #3 08-21-2004, 10:57 AM

Disclaimer: I regard myself as fairly weak headsup.

These aren't very good cards, to be fair to you.
Hand 1: I fold preflop.
Hand 2: I would've pushed.
Hand 3: I would've folded preflop.
Hand 4: I re-raise preflop, but would've folded on the flop. My general rule of thumb here is to ignore the top card, so middle pair is top pair and bottom pair is middle pair. So this is middle pair and any two cards bigger than 5 have at least 6 outs against you. Nothing you can do about him having qq, imo, except remember it for next time and run and hide when he limps.
Hand 5: Easy push.

I don't think you did anything too bad here.

Navers · #4 08-21-2004, 11:11 AM

suited cards lose a lot of their value heads-up, so don't exclusively try to pick those up

anatta · #5 08-21-2004, 12:14 PM

Heads up play is very very situational. I didn't read your hands with much detail, but you could probably justify your play depending on the player, but your play could be wrong if against the wrong guy. Maybe not, maybe you made some basic errors but thats not my point...For example, 96o, you call on button, I can't say this is a mistake without knowing your opponent. The pair of fours, I would normally be hesitant to put a lot of chips in here, but flop raise is okay.

The point is, you need to look for weaknesses in your opponents play. When its Four handed, sometimes the play lasts a long time. Begin to get a read here. When its three handed, guys have relaxed a bit, and are now playing even more like they will headsup.