PokerVector;160513 wroteMy heads up is definitely a weak spot in my game. I can get to the final 2 during tournaments pretty good but my 1st place to 2nd place ratio is brutal. I don't know what it is. I'm bad against tight players and I'm bad against loose players... usually your pretty good against one or the other.
I don't mean to hijack this thread but, how do you even begin to analyze your heads up play?
I would take a look at this web-site first -
Heads Up Poker - Heads Up Strategy
Baiscally you want to be aggressive, and a little looser than if you are playing in a tournament. Also understand that starting hands are different. 7 2 offsuit isn't the worst starting hand anymore. 2 3os is a believe.
Anyway, the idea of heads up, in my opinion, is to mix up your play as you play to keep your opponent guessing. If you are going into heads up from a tournament, do a full 180 in your playing style right when you make it to heads up. If you have a chip lead, make sure you double every single blind in hopes to steal some of them, and only raise or call when you hit a hand.
Remember that even bottom pair will win a hand. If you have any pairs, raise. Chances are he has nothing and will fold.
That being said, there are a lot of calling stations out there. If someone calls anything you raise, make sure you see the river with him on your higher pairs and try to check him down. You want to see what he plays like. If he's simply calling because he has an A, but didn't hit it on the flop, you will win against him if you pair up more often than not.
It's also good to find out their limits. See how much you need to raise to get a calling station off of his hand. Then, when you hit a strong hand pre-flop raise it just enough to keep him in, but not too much. Then raise an amount that you think he will be pushed off of his hand with after the flop. Be careful though, and only do this when you have good positioning.
Also, DON'T IGNORE POTITIONING. Positioning in heads up is very very important. A lot of people will ignore it. Make sure you double the blinds every time before the flop when you are small blind. You'll steal more blinds that way.
Last thing I want to say doesn't have to do with heads up, though. It has to do with top three.
What I do, and what seems to work best, is I play very tight until there are 4 or 5 people left in the tournament. From there, I'll start loosening up a bit and start stealing some blinds. I'll only do this if the table tightens up though!! The blinds will be big and you will raise your stack a decent amount by stealing some of them. The other players actually won't care all that much about it, cause they are trying to make it in the money at this point. Your goal is to make it in the money too, but get as many chips as you can while doing so. Also, remember to minimize your losses and don't be afraid to fold if you bluff for a blind.
After this, you'll be in the top 3. From here it's not that hard to make it to top 2, but that's now your goal. Your goal is to be first or third. Think about it, 2nd is usually 30% of and 3rd is usually 20%, or something similar. So, the difference between 2nd and 3rd isn't much. You will be first more if you do the following:
When there are 3 of you left, get very aggressive. Don't be afraid to go all in with your good hands. Take as many chips as you can and lean on weak players. At this point you will have a tight image, so it will hopefully look like you are just getting lucky. If someone calls you all in, hopefully you knock them out. YOU NEED TO BE THE PERSON TO TAKE THE 3RD PLACE PLAYER OUT!!! This will almost guarantee you a 1st place spot if you do it. You should have a huge chip lead at that point, and you can just lean on the final player while you take all the money home.
You will get 2nd sometimes, of course, but most of the time you should be 1st or 3rd. You are either going to bust to 3rd or go in heads up with a big chip lead. Play smart when there are 3 of you left and focus on the player types left at the table. Pay attention to what is going on.
Does that make sense? That's how I play anyway, and I seem to be 1st, 3rd or 4th more often than anything. I play 9 player SnG's for 1.20 buy in right now on stars and I can't remember the last time I finished below 4th.