Alex Helby Optimal Blind Strategy HU
 

I was reading through old rec.gambling archives and came across a series of posts on optimal HU blind play.

I'm not going to copy and paste the whole thing (I tried, it doesn't work well) but I will post a summary of BB defense:



[ QUOTE ]
F 82-83 72-73 62-63 52 42-43 32
C 22 T2s-T4s 92s-94s 82s-85s 72s-76s 62s-65s 52s-54s 42s-43s 32s
J2-K3 Q2-Q4 J2-J4 T2-T5 92-96 84-87 74-76 64-65 53-54
R1 33-66 A2s-A9s K2s-K9s Q2s-QJs J2s-JTs T4s-T9s 95s-98s 86s-87s
A2-A9 K4-KT Q5-QJ J6-JT T6-T9 97-98
R2 77-QQ ATs-AKs AK AJ
R3 AA
CR1 KTs-KQs AQ KQ
*1 KK
*2 KJ
*3 AT
*4 J5

> *1 => (KK) 60.0% R3, 40.0% CR2
> *2 => (KJo) 62.7% R1, 37.3% CR1
> *3 => (ATo) 73.0% R2, 27.0% CR1
> *4 => (J5o) 64.3% C , 35.7% R1

[/ QUOTE ]

Can any of the serious heads-up players on the forum comment on this pre-flop strategy and talk about it? I am tweaking my HU strategy and it is slightly different from this. For instance, I fold hands like 92o-94o in the big blind. I also fold a few more hands in SB.

I would really love to hear input from posters at much higher levels than I play (i.e. 30/60 and above). And I know pre-flop hand charts are lame, but it's a big adjustment from six-max (or even 3-4 handed) and I am still getting used to it.

Thanks,
Zach

Re: Alex Helby Optimal Blind Strategy HU
 

Funny that we just posted similar questions at the same time. As I explained in my thread, I am calling and folding about that range and find it good against weaker players. I try not to play against good players HU, so I don't know if they would be able to counter the strategy effectively.

I don't reraise as much as this chart recommends, but since I've been unsure of how much to do so I'm going to try increasing it. I hope some more experienced posters can chime in with their thoughts.

Re: Alex Helby Optimal Blind Strategy HU
 

Two things are bad about these:
1 (more important) - There is no betting postflop. Obviously, a hand like T2 is going to be a lot better when you don't have to fold the flop to K6 on a AQ6 flop and can catch your ten on the river.
2 (less) - There is no rake in this hypothetical game. At lower stakes games where 5% is getting taken out as soon as you continue past the flop, obviously you're going to need to have a bigger edge.
With that said, I hardly ever fold the BB to a SB raiser HU and love playing against people who will actually fold their BB to my SB raises. Even if you only called to flop a pair or draw (which is what I do when I defend with bad hands that aren't strong enough to 3-bet) (and you should 3-bet a lot) you're still usually making money by calling.

Re: Alex Helby Optimal Blind Strategy HU
 

Some players will raise u with any 2 if they got position headsup. Others will only raise top10hands.

Having a chart headsup is not good.