Head-UP SitNGos Part 1-4 Below

I wrote a series of articles on playing HU sngs at my site on merge back in October and November of 09 on another blog, I wanted to repost those here:

I'll try to give out a few ideas and tips ive been working on.

Lesson 1 - split the tourney up into 4 quarters. you should always be on the tab that shows hand counts so you know when blinds are about to go up. (Every 10 hands in the lower buyin levels, and every 15 hands in 100.00 buyin and up). 1st Qtr Hands 1-10, 2nd Qtr 11-20, 3rd qtr 21-30, and 4th qtr 31-40 anything over 40 is sudden death overtime. Get to know the blind structure for each, make notes of your chip stacks in each. These tournaments are as much about knowing where u are in the tourney, and knowing your players style than they are about poker or your cards..trust me.

If you're going to play the hand on the button, Raise, you want more money in the pot when you have position, if you're raisng every button and he isnt, you have a huge advantage. If you miss the flop but he checks, dont be afraid to fire a C bet (continuation) out, usually half to 60% of pot is enough to take it down. If he calls.. you have the option to slow down, or fire another bullet on the turn or slow down and wait for a better opportunity. If I think he is drawing, or if I have a strong draw or 2 over cards, ill probably fire another half pot bet on the turn.

My raising suggestions for each quarter:

1- 3x (to 45)

2 2.5x (to 75)

3 2.5x (to 125)

4 2- 2.5x (to 100-150)

5-and up ALL IN or FOLD.. Raise with every hand that isnt dirt because this is luck time unfortunately.. if you don't win before this round.. you are at the mercy of the poker gods.

Remember.. an effective stack is the size of the smallest stack.. if you or your opponent is less than 10% of the blind, push it all in if youre going to commit to the hand.

Aggressiveness is the key.. push till they push back and then decide if you'll call, fold, or push.

Gentle pressure applied relentlessly is my key. Find out what type of opponent your playing against and make notes.

Loose aggressive, tight aggressive, loose passive, tight passive is your matrix.

Then you want to find the ideal strategy for beating that style. I'll get into that in a later blog when i have more time.
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PART 2 PLAYER MATRIX

Ok.. been thinking alot about this part of my game, also reading and watching a video or 2.

I wanted to give some credit to Collin Moshman, some of the information I am passing along in this blog came out of his book, Heads-up Nolimit Holdem.

In Pt 1 I mentioned the 4 player type Matrix, it looks kind of like this:



Loose Aggressive : Loose Passive

(LAG) (LOP)

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Tight Aggressive : Tight Passive

(TAG) (TIP)



Characteristics and Approach

Loose Aggressive - The Maniac

*Raises any two cards preflop

*Raises and bets unusually high amounts

*Will usually shoot at least 2 large bets after the flop

APPROACH

Lose alot of smaller pots and "WAIT TO WIN" the big one

Sometimes you have to be willing to put your chips at risk with less than premium holding

Raise less often on the button

Limp Connect and let him hang himself

Do not semi bluff your draws on this guy


Tight Aggressive

When a TAG rais preflop you can usuaully put them on A7 and up, QTs and up, KT and up or a pair. Bet a low flop like 223 and they'll usually fold.

APPROACH

Play Loose Aggressive Style vs the Tight Aggressive

Bet and Raise often

Raise most buttons and C bet Frequently

Give up if played back at



Tight Passive (TIP) - Easiest to play


Takes and above ave hand for him to call and stronger hand for him to bet



APPROACH

Play a loose Aggressive style vs this opponent

Win lots of small pots but don't get in a big pot with him unless you are very strong

Bet and raise and win hand after hand

Raise and bet bet most hands



Loose Passive - The Calling Station



Exploitable but be careful

Play tight aggressive vs this opponent

They will call bet after bet and can be very frustrating

APPROACH

Wait for above ave hand and bet for value

Preflop tighten your hand ranges

If your opponent raises, FOLD unless very strong

Try to check down post flop if missed
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PART Trey Take me to the River

Crucial part of HU sng strategy is your river play..

So.. the hand is still alive and you're looking at that river card...

These are all of the things that I am thinking during a hand and what I think about when I reach the river A-How can I win this hand? or B- How can I get as much value as possible from this hand?

***Most Importantly***

** What was the story he told with his betting/calling pattern?***

Should you Bet, Call, Fold, Bluff, Raise, checkraise



A - How strong is your hand? Always remember the theory of poker, you always want to bet and gain as much value as if you can see the other players cards:

Some considerations

1- Are you putting him on a hand? Did he catch a draw?

2-How strong is he? How much should I bet to make him laydown a worse hand? Will he?

3- Do you have him crushed or Marginally beat? Then How much will he call? Or should I check?

4-Was he drawing? Will he call a bet, or should you check?



B- Your strength obviously is the starting point.. always bet for value when you are sure you have the lead, but don't ever bet a hand that will only be called by a better hand: for example, you have top set, but there are 4 to a straight or a flush on the board. What would you do if your opponent reraised you? If you would have to fold, you're better off check calling or check folding depending on your strength.

Winning Move

C- One tip I will offer from my experience.. if the hand is kind of lagging, or if you raised PF but small flop hit and there were no real bets or raises, then a face card hits the turn or river that you don't have, but its checked to you, feel free to take a stab at it 1/2-3/4 pot bet, you'll be surprised how many times you can take it down right there. Those xtra chips can add up to 50 increase over the course of 40 hands and that can be the difference for you.

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Part IV FINISH HIM



The key to finishing HU sit and gos are the relative stack. the relative stack is the smallest stack. If a player has 500 and you have 2500, you literally are playing with 500 chips, if you double him up, you can reload 1000 but he can't if he loses. You have to think about the smallest stack vs the big blind. If you have your opponent down to 500 chips and the blinds are 3rd or 4th quarter ( 25/50) or (50/100) then its all in time. If you're going to play, then ship them all in. I usually use 10% as a rule of thumb. Of course, if you're in the big blind with a bad hand, say 48 or something similar and he calls, by all means see a flop, you can always fire a min bet at the flop to see if he folds, generally if he misses he will fold because his stack is so short and he showed no real strength preflop. Remember.. If you're in this situation a good hand is anything from 67suited and any suited connectors higher, 2 cards over 9, or any K or any A. If you're on the other end and the player has pushed in on you, if he is an aggressive opponent don't be afraid to call with any of these if you're in for more than 10% of your stack. Its crucial to keep your foot on the pedal when you got him on the roaps.. when you're down, don't blind yourself out, fight back, you have no other option. If you lose, you lose, but like my dad told me when I was a kid playing baseball, 'Son, I don't mind if you strike out, but just don't go down Looking". Make sure you go down fighting and not folding all your chips away until you have no ammo left.


Thanks for Reading hope this helps you out


Wizardmickey

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