[Catt]

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Every Saturday me and my friends get together and have a buy in. I read the "Harrington On Hold 'Em" book last summer. It really has been doing me well. It has really helped my game out. It has taught me many things such as observing your players which has really seperated me from the rest of my buddies at the table. It seems I always make second place to heads up play. But I always lose it there. Im not skilled at heads up and I always seem to have a chip lead and lose it. I haven't gotten a chance to read the 2nd volume to harrington on hold 'em which talks a lot about heads up. I have a poker game tonight. Do you guys have any tips for me? I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

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Well there's really not any time for you to learn and master new skills before tonight's game, so I'd instead try to focus on and improve your established strengths.

You mentioned that one of your advantages over your buddies is your ability to observe the oither players. I'd try and take this one to the next level, so when you get it HU your improved observational skills can carry the day (tells are so important HU).

A good observational exercise is to head into town for the afternoon -- pick a spot where there is a decent amount of foot-traffic, but not so much as to be too distracting (you won't have to deal with that sort of distraction at the poker table). I find a local bank to be a great place; take a seat in the lobby area or just stand at the counter where people complete deposit slips, etc. Focus your attention on one particular employee - I like to start with the security guard before moving on to the assistant manager and then a specific teller. Your task is to observe every single muscle movement of your subject and really get inside their heads. But you also need to maintain enough peripheral perception to monitor the comings and goings of the customers. And of course, you must do all this somewhat furtively without seeming to be the most observant person in the bank (you really don't want your buddies to recognize the extent of your study of them). Be sure to occasionally doodle on blank deposit slips to simulate having to handle cards and chips -- no need to retain the slips of course, just crumple them up and throw them out. After an hour or so of this, when you feel in the groove, try and extend your observation to two individuals at the same time, making sure that they're not in the same general area. I find that selecting the secuirty guard, who is usually out on the floor, perhaps near the doors, and the manager or assistant manager, who is behind the counter and making the occasional trip into the vault, is quite taxing but hugely helpful to your skills development.

If you can get comfortable doing this, you'll be able to sit in your home game and capture every single movement from the 3-seat and 8-seat at the same time, all the while appearing to be more interested in your buddy who is grabbing another bag of chips or a CD or something away from the table. It'll be like your friends are playing with their cards exposed! Hope it goes well and let us know if you get it HU and do better this weekend!