Online Poker Strategy Articles

HU Holdem Part I: Jon Eaton

I think everyone's favorite moment from the movie Rounders was the final heads up match between Matt Damon's character Mike and John Malkovich's Teddy KGB. Mike flops the nuts with 89 suited and sucks Teddy in with checks all the way to the river. KGB pushes on the river, presumably with a set or two pairs, and thinks that Mike can't call.

'Flopped the nut straight,' he says, as he pushes his chips forward. I always liked that he pushed the chips forward, knowing that they weren't going anywhere but in a rack he was going to cash out. I have never done this when playing live' if I am calling a bet and know that I have a cinch or near-cinch, I just keep 'em in front of me.

Anyway, Teddy and Mike's heads up match always kept me interested in that aspect of Hold 'Em. This summer, I spent a great deal of time playing small heads up matches. I won more than my fair share, but I did have quite a bit of experience prior to that.

Ever since I started playing online, I have played a lot of heads-up cash games, heads-up sit and goes, and heads-up tournaments. The reason I like playing heads up so much is related to the reason I always love discussing short-handed play: you can play a high percentage of hands profitably.

First, let's analyze what hands we should be playing. When you have the button, in tournament play you are first to act with the small blind. In some ring games, depending on the site you play on, the SB is first to act and the button is the big blind. Find out which you're going to be playing first, but this article will assume the button is the small blind.

From the button, any two cards are playable. In no-limit tournaments, often the blinds are rather large at this point. Rarely do you have a lot of play, except for big buy-in events like the World Series of Poker. If you're playing a World Poker Tour event, or an online tournament, you'll be rushed to get the heck off of the table by the blinds.

When the blinds are massive, sometimes all-in is the only move. In that case, it should be easy to figure out which hands are worth playing' and that's just about anything. Any two cards above average are worth your whole stack at that point. You just have to beat one hand, and more often than not, that one hand can't even beat queen-high. In fact, queen high is almost a killer hand heads up, considering that you only have to beat one hand.

The key to winning these matches is knowing how often your opponent will call. If you think your opponent is ridiculously tight, all-in every hand isn't a bad option. Let's say that you're opponent will only call all-in pre-flop with a pair of or an A8 or bigger. That's a very small range of hands, and if the blinds are big enough, virtually any two cards are worth moving in with.

The pot size and your stack size are key to determining if just pushing is the only move. If the pot starts out as one-fifth of your stack, and you anticipate your opponent to fold about 80-percent of the time you move all-in, then you don't even need to look at your hand. In fact, even if they call more often than that, your hands will sometimes win when you race against their hand.

When your whole stack is just enough for a bet, then heads up play is simple. Put it in and hope. But if you're in a tournament where you have some room to wiggle and maneuver, then you can start opening with a lot of hands.

Heads up play is less about the hands you choose, however. So, getting the pot odds you are getting (usually three-to-one or greater), literally any hand is worth at least limping. The hands you choose to open with greatly depend on your playing style and what your opponents tendencies pre-flop are. If they will just call with anything to see a flop heads up, then it might not be worth raising every time, like you might against a ridiculously tight player.

I recommend watching a few things on TV to get a good feel for heads up play. Check out the World Poker Tour Season 2 Caribbean Poker Adventure, where Gus Hansen and Hoyt Corkins go heads up for the title. They have a ton of chips and play for a while, and really mix it up.

Also worth watching are the American Poker Championships with Phil Ivey and John D'Agostino heads up for the title. This was a live broadcast over a year ago and Fox Sports shows the unedited version in hour-long broadcasts on occasion. This match is a textbook example of how to play heads up, on both sides of the table. This match is also analyzed hand for hand in Harrington On Hold 'Em Vol. 2. I recommend reading it for a full explanation of every hand.

Finally, if you can find Championship Poker At The Plaza from Fox Sports from over a year ago, you'll find some of the best heads up action ever recorded. One hand from particular shows how to make a successful bluff that is set up on every street. Daniel Negreanu and Freddy Deeb make it look easy, but every single bet, check and fold is meticulously calculated by both players.

Just remember that nothing is definite in heads up play. You have to know your opponent and have a feel for the game. I'll write more about this style of play in future updates.

note by gank: Jon Eaton is a very talented poker player who has had a lot of recent success both in real life and online in No Limit Holdem.