Do you ever practice playing heads up poker? I know i need to work on my heads up game. This kinda relates to my previous post about tournament placement. I believe that i dont really care about 1st place too much because i rarely expect to place 1st. This is largely due to my lack of skill in heads up play.
I like the $0.25 Spin N Go's for that level of practice. You have to play it to win since there is no money for second or third place.
The trouble is, Spins can feed some bad habits if you try to play the same way in a deep tourney as you do in a spin. Obviously, you need to widen your range a bit when you play Spins and heads up games. Otherwise you're going to be bled dry by a severe case of the dwindles, unless you are on a heater.
There are heads up games on Poker Stars for relatively cheap if you're not getting enough practice via MTT's. Another option is playing single table Sit N Go's (SNG). You should be able to reach heads up at least every four games. The 18-45 On demand SNG's are good for getting Final Table experience, but obvs, not as good for heads up practice.
On Poker Stars now, you have
- Heads Up games in the Sit N Go section
- 3 player games in the Spin N Go categroy
- 4 player games in the Kick-Off (Grand Tour) game
- 6-Max
- Full ring (9 players)
- 18-45 player on demand
- 45, 90, 180 and 360 player SNGs
- MTT's with small numbers (like sunday Storm Satties) and large MTTs, like the storm itself.
So pick your poison for whichever type of practice you need.
I think it is good to play a handful of games in each format. You might find that you have just the right balance of plays to make you profitable in one or more of these games.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
ObbleeXY
The trouble is, Spins can feed some bad habits if you try to play the same way in a deep tourney as you do in a spin. Obviously, you need to widen your range a bit when you play Spins and heads up games. Otherwise you're going to be bled dry by a severe case of the dwindles, unless you are on a heater.
There are heads up games on Poker Stars for relatively cheap if you're not getting enough practice via MTT's. Another option is playing single table Sit N Go's (SNG). You should be able to reach heads up at least every four games. The 18-45 On demand SNG's are good for getting Final Table experience, but obvs, not as good for heads up practice.
On Poker Stars now, you have
- Heads Up games in the Sit N Go section
- 3 player games in the Spin N Go categroy
- 4 player games in the Kick-Off (Grand Tour) game
- 6-Max
- Full ring (9 players)
- 18-45 player on demand
- 45, 90, 180 and 360 player SNGs
- MTT's with small numbers (like sunday Storm Satties) and large MTTs, like the storm itself.
So pick your poison for whichever type of practice you need.
I think it is good to play a handful of games in each format. You might find that you have just the right balance of plays to make you profitable in one or more of these games.
Enjoy!
Cheers,
ObbleeXY
from time to time I also play a heads-up tournament, but very rarely, I usually play spin & go which in my opinion are the closest to simulating heads-up and most of the time i am winning 🙂, plus that most of the time, when I get to the last two i win, I don't know if it's luck or not but I get to win the tournament when I'm in this situation🙂
I like HU play, but it is certainly different than 9-player tables in some respects such as opening range for instance 😀
HU isn't only useful in HU events or being the final two in an MTT though. The same HU skill can also be implemented to some degree throughout MTTs - especially later streets in the hand after an isolation play, but also Big Blind vs Small Blind clashes 🙂
HU isn't only useful in HU events or being the final two in an MTT though. The same HU skill can also be implemented to some degree throughout MTTs - especially later streets in the hand after an isolation play, but also Big Blind vs Small Blind clashes 🙂
Tiltmode1987 said:
Headsup is soooo important right?
You use all you luck and skills to get to the final table.
Headsup is where the money is!
I like to practice with headsup sit-and-gos or even headsup cash.
But probably most of my headsup experience is from STTs.
Good luck !
There is very little chance of me getting into this situation.
I don't practice heads up, i think so too is not important to me.
I like almost every sng variation, this is not one of them.
Played a few times and I didn’t have a good experience. It is completely different from the other variations, so you have to play differently, which you can’t practice anywhere.
However, anyone who is very good at it can quickly build a Bankroll with it!
I don't practice heads up, i think so too is not important to me.
I like almost every sng variation, this is not one of them.
Played a few times and I didn’t have a good experience. It is completely different from the other variations, so you have to play differently, which you can’t practice anywhere.
However, anyone who is very good at it can quickly build a Bankroll with it!
Very weak heads-up at the moment. We need to work more on this as well. It will come in handy both in the final stages of tournaments and as an independent game. I believe that it is necessary to develop multilaterally, if there is time and desire
Practicing heads up is a must if you're a tournament player. I will admit, they were scary at first. After a few videos and articles, you'll get the basics down pretty quick. Heads up sit n gos are the best for this in my opinion. Adapting to your opponent is key. If they are aggressive, let them hang themselves and call down lite. If they are a tight player, run them over until they fight back 🙂
If you want to take tournaments and winning them a little more seriously you should practice and work on this. Like stated in one of the posts on here. HU doesn't just happen at the final table and it comes into play more than you'd think. Specially later in a tournament when the blinds can really effect your outcome. But I think it's good you recognize that it is a weak point in your game. Just some friendly advice work on it practice. Even if you got someone that plays poker with you at home this is a great time to try new things out and you don't have to feel like you're doing something wrong or helps you get the heebee jeebees out of ya lol. Good luck to you.Sergei 9417 said:
I also think, that I need to practice HU way more often. It is a important part of the game. There was a HU tournament (play money) on Pokerstars years ago but it has disppeared now. I played this often to practice. It would be cool to see this kind of tournament again, play money or real money.