Bad heads up . . . need advice

[DrPhysic]

I was given good advice a year or two ago about learning to play short or HU. Get on PokerStars and play $5.50 HU SNGs until you win at them, then move up. I played 4-6 HU SNGs a day for 6 months. Seemed to help a bit.

To answer your specific question:

Here are some heads up or shorthanded references that may help.

Brunson SS NLHE “Short Handed play” p510.
Brunson SS NLHE “Short Handed play” p618
Ciaffone, Improve Your Poker, “Shorthanded Poker”, p36.
Ciaffone, Middle Limit Holdem Poker, “Shorthanded Play”, p306.
Sklansky, Theorey of Poker, ch 21 “Heads Up on the End”, p199 (Only partially applicable to HU play, read in context),
Sklansky & Malmuth, HEPFAP, Part 5, “Playing Short Handed”, p183.
Sklansky, HEP, “Head Up vs Multi-Way”, p70 (this is really about multi-way, you have to invert his logic).
Suzuki, Poker Tournament Strategies, “Playing Short-Handed Poker”, p103.
Sklansky, TPFAP, “Down to 2 Players”, p86.
Malmuth, Poker Essays, “Playing Shorthanded, Part 1&2, p151.
There is a reference in Vorhaus, Killer Poker, but I can’t find it.
King Yao, Weighing the Odds in Holdem Poker, p250 (this is a limit holdem book)
Harrington, Harrington on Holdem Vol II, Part 11 Short tables, p275
Harrington, Harrington on Holdem Vol II, Part 12 Heads Up, p363

Some of these are short references on HU, not worth the investment just for the HU information. Read if you have it. The one I would buy just for the HU section is HOH Vol II.

The other comments on this thread simply amount to "Your sample size is too small, come back with real stats on your SECOND thousand SNG's.

Doc [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[kitaristi0]

While I really enjoy Heads UP SNGs, I find that they have very little in common with say playing HU at the end of a Party 10 man SNG. At Party you either go AI or fold, whereas in HU SNGs you actually have to "play poker".

[Degen]

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Bad heads up . . . need advice

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push more

[valenzuela]

first of all, Irie was being sarcastic. he always does the same thing with noobs.
75% is too low for the 11s, specially if youre not placing first enough. i would seriously recomend fixing some leaks, Heads-up you should always fold to those donks who raise all-in, once u get a hand like AT u can call them, to ure surprise those idiots will have somehting like Q5.
EDIT: I just woke up so this post doesnt make sense,, I still kinda like it so I wont delete it.

[Sabrazack]

This advice is really great, however sometimes when your opponent has pushed alot you need to show that you have the guts to call him, so sometimes when you pick up hands like 74s or 93o you should call just to discourage him from pushing so much.

(As for some serious advice, push allin almost every hand if your stack is less than 10xBB. You can't really go wrong)

[SonnyJay]

Just a couple general statements:

One, your guess that
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I have taken the money I have won over the last month...maybe that isnt a big enough time period to be accurate at all

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is completely true. If you've played enough SNGs, most players have months with results that would seem to make them the greatest player alive, and other months that would make it seem like they should just quit before they lose any more money. I'm glad you're doing well over the last month, but the general standard before your stats mean anything is 1000 SNGs. Get the SNG tracker program (there's a link in the FAQ) so that it will track your stats accurately for you. If 1000 SNGs go by and you're running better than 40% ITM and 25% ROI, then you've done very, very well.

Second, splashpot's suggestion to post specific hands is probably the best idea right now. I've read a lot of the books out there and there's definitely value to them in understanding concepts, but getting solid advice from people familiar with the games you play is more valuable for your specific circumstance. If there's a HU hand or series of HU hands that you weren't sure about, post and let people weigh in.

Third, while it's hard to come up with any really meaningful insights without actually knowing how you play, in general people with a good number of money finishes but no 1sts tend to not be aggressive enough once it gets shorthanded. I suspect this may be an issue because of statements like
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I think I should be playing it (especially when they raise every hand)

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At these low levels it isn't difficult to double up and watch most of the table lose on all in's that they shouldnt be in.

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Believe me, I'm aware that plenty of low stakes players make bad all ins, but one of the things that a lot of relatively new players don't realize is how certain situations make it correct to push with hands usually considered trash. This is especially true when the blinds get large. While you may not need to push every hand heads up, you should be very aggressive with hands you wouldn't usually be aggressive with. In general, if you're going to play a hand and either you or your opponent has <10 BB, you should be open pushing. The higher the blinds are, the worse hands you'll need to be pushing with (obviously since the blinds will eat your stack if you just sit there). Don't be afraid of pushing less than optimal hands because someone may call with a better hand. You will often fold hands better than yours and win the blinds uncontested, you're rarely a huge dog when you get called, and you get the additional bonus of having someone flip out at you and call you a fish when your T8 sucks out on their AQ. Hours of entertainment.

I know this advice is broad, but post hands and the forum can give you better advice.

-SonnyJay

[SonnyJay]

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(As for some serious advice, push allin almost every hand if your stack is less than 10xBB. You can't really go wrong)

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OP: I know that there have been sarcastic responses, but this isn't a horrible rule of thumb strategy.

-SonnyJay

[DrPhysic]

Other than the obvious, uneven initial stacks, would you like to expound on why that should be true?

Doc

[bball904]

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I'll keep out of your forum then Irie. Perhaps I am wrong, but it feels like I am placing much more often than I am not. I've made enough money (by my standards) playing them, that I am certainly winning more than losing. At these low levels it isn't difficult to double up and watch most of the table lose on all in's that they shouldnt be in. If I am over estimating my win percentage it is simply because I have taken the money I have won over the last month and estimated the number of games I've played. I took that at about a 75% win. Maybe I am completely wrong . . . maybe that isnt a big enough time period to be accurate at all. I didn't really see the need for the way you respoded to the post. So if I am wrong, and I am placing less than 50 % of the time, and most of that being second or third place, would I be ok with asking this forum about improving on heads up play?

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I think I can help here. It's all about daily affirmations. Twice a day, look in the mirror and repeat the following until it sinks in....

I AM WE TODD DID.
I AM SOFA KING WE TODD DID.

Seriously now, if you don't have the competency to take a few notes recording your results, there is no point in giving you information you can do nothing with.

[Lori]

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Saying that you finish ITM 75% of the time and then asking for help is like going to a track coach and telling him you can run 100mph but you would like him to help you run over hurdles

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FYP