Is it just me or is heads-up poker just a total crap shoot?

That guy · #1 03-07-2005, 11:34 AM

When blinds are rising, doesn't it just come down to who is dealt a good but 2nd best hand (bad luck) and then does the 2nd best hand suck-out or not?

I don't play enough heads-up to know but when I am at the end of online tourneys 1-1, it just seems to come down to AT going all in and AQ/99 calling --- whoever is the lucky one to get dealt AQ when the opponent is also dealt a good but 2nd best hand -- wins.

Is this skillful or a coin-flipping contest??

__Q__ · #2 03-07-2005, 11:44 AM

Heads up poker isn't necessarily a coin flipping contest, but it can be if the blinds are big enough.

toots · #3 03-07-2005, 11:47 AM

Yah, I don't know if I'd call it a crap shoot, but as a spectator, I do find it rather boring.

Prolly a lot more interesting if you're one of the contestants and the blinds are small enough to let skill trump luck.

alittle · #4 03-07-2005, 04:53 PM

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Heads up poker isn't necessarily a coin flipping contest, but it can be if the blinds are big enough.

[/ QUOTE ]
When the blinds are big or both players constantly raise, then it does come down to the cards and luck. But when you have some time to play, then there is a lot of skill involved. For some reason I'm a very good HU player (in my genes I guess), and you really need to mix up your game and change gears constantly. Showing any kind of pattern at all is deadly (to you). I think it is kind of an innate thing rather that something that you can learn, although if you get enough time HU, I'm sure it can be learned.

How I play any given hand, be it KK or 72o, is totally dependent on the way the previous hands have gone down and how my opponent is playing.

FrankLu99 · #5 03-07-2005, 04:55 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Is it just me or is heads-up poker just a total crap shoot?

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dont ask tj - he wouldnt know the difference if there was one

willie · #6 03-07-2005, 05:03 PM

not this tournament i don't think

the blinds were small enough to allow for plenty of wiggle room

this wasn't the typical level 5 headsup on party with sub 10 bb for the smallstack.

betgo · #7 03-07-2005, 05:13 PM

I don't think so. I play a lot of it online. Eventually, if no one takes control, the blinds rise, and it becomes somewhat of one.

You have to play real poker with a lot of bluffing and reads in these things.

At the end of a tournament of SNG, by the time it becomes heads up, the blinds may be big enough so that there is a lot of chance.