If you read the Online Poker leaderboards you will see that time and time again it is the HU players who come out on top.
One of the main reasons is down to pure statistics.
If you manage to have your game mastered so you are consistantly getting an ROI of 4 or 5 % then the way to make money is invest as much as you can while trying to protect your bank.
Clearly if you are able to afford $1000 HU games, on average each one will pay you about $50 (I don't want to get bogged down in the rake here). But in order to protect your bank from variance ( as in statistically how likely you could blow the lot) you would need a huge bank. In order to work this out you should really read a little about the Kelly Criteria and how you can match your edge to stake.
http://www.probabilitytheory.info/topics/how_much_should_stake.htm
But in Essence I wouldnt play a HU game for more that a couple of % of my bank, perhaps 5 at most.
So why HU poker?
HU allows you to in effect minimise your variance and maximise your profit through playing many games. It is quite possible to 4 or 5 table HU, and play a game that should give you 3-5% ROI. If you decide to play each game at a time, you certainly get more reads on you opponent, but you will in effect wash through less money, so depending on how this effects your ROI may mean less profit.
To start with i would concentrate on playing one table at once, try and read your oppo and try and figure out your basic strategy.
Once however you are able to quickly suss out your oppo style of play, move to 2 tables and gradually build up. remember the more games you play with a +ve ROI the more money you make.
If you look at the shear number of games LivB plays, it is clear that he manages to play enough games that his variance is low enough not to lose his bank, yet still play high stakes HU.
Lets say you have a $100 bank, if you play $1 HU and 4 table, you may average say an investment of say $30 an hour, so if your ROI is approx 5% you will earn about $1.50 per hour.
If you think you have a 5% edge and are willing to play $5 HU, 5 tabling you may manage to invest $150 per hour, so would expect to make $7-10 per hour, although not huge should be easily managable.
You have to remember that the higher stakes you play the better in theory your opponents will be on average. With the lower stakes games, an ROI of 15% should be achievable, however from the $22 games upwards a more modest ROI of between 5-10% is more realistic.
HOW TO READ YOUR OPPONENT
A useful place to start is by reading this article:
http://www.heads-up-poker.org/read-your-opponent.htm
I would advise reading the whole site tbh, but take it with a pinch of salt...
So to summarize, the only way to get a real read of your opponent is to analyise his betting patterns.
http://www.heads-up-poker.org/read-your-opponent.htm
I would advise reading the whole site tbh, but take it with a pinch of salt...
So to summarize, the only way to get a real read of your opponent is to analyise his betting patterns.
- Figure out there Pre Flop Criterian - and vary your own
- Try and narrow down there starting hands
- Look at how the position bet
- Analayse how the bet post flop - When they hit...and when they don't
It may cost some chips early on to call or re-raise to try and figure out how your Opponent plays, but it is usually well worth it.
Some sites such as the one above talk of value betting as trying to pump the pot when you know you are ahead, or in effect trying to draw some extra chips out of your oppo by putting out a tempting bet. I would say it is a little more subtle than this, as you need to figure out how good your opponent is before you know the best way to trap him or extract value.
TOP PAIR BLUES
TOP PAIR BLUES
This is pretty self explanitory yet you would be surprised how many heads up players i know are happy to put their life on the line with top pair.
If you have say Q 10 and the flop is 3 7 10, then of course raise, but if you then get reraised or your opponent goes all in, then depending on your relative stack sizes you should think long and hard before calling.
Yes HU top pair is strong, no doubt about it, but there are many stronger hands out there. He could have hit two pair, or could have pocket Jacks etc... just too many outs to put your tournament on the line.
Be patient, fold top pair if you are in any doubt... and you mostly should be in doubt!!
This is pretty self explanitory yet you would be surprised how many heads up players i know are happy to put their life on the line with top pair.
If you have say Q 10 and the flop is 3 7 10, then of course raise, but if you then get reraised or your opponent goes all in, then depending on your relative stack sizes you should think long and hard before calling.
Yes HU top pair is strong, no doubt about it, but there are many stronger hands out there. He could have hit two pair, or could have pocket Jacks etc... just too many outs to put your tournament on the line.
Be patient, fold top pair if you are in any doubt... and you mostly should be in doubt!!
THE TRAP
THE TRAP
The good old bear trap. Traps are fundamental to NL HU Hold'em.
The best and most effective trap is not to keep showing how great you are at bluffing in the hope that they end up calling you when you have a monster. The real skill is getting an opponent to overcommit to a pot that you own and then have them bet into you to try and push you off it, or just have so much pot committment that they feel they have no option but to call.
Let me tell you this, if you are pretty sure you are behind and even if you would only have a couple hundered left if you fold, always fold!!!
You see you want them to think - hell i may as well call this now, i have already committed most of my chips... so F*** it i am all in
But NEVER EVER do this, even if you have a chip and a chair left you are still in with a shout. you only need to double your stack 2 or 3 times and you are back in it.
The good old bear trap. Traps are fundamental to NL HU Hold'em.
The best and most effective trap is not to keep showing how great you are at bluffing in the hope that they end up calling you when you have a monster. The real skill is getting an opponent to overcommit to a pot that you own and then have them bet into you to try and push you off it, or just have so much pot committment that they feel they have no option but to call.
Let me tell you this, if you are pretty sure you are behind and even if you would only have a couple hundered left if you fold, always fold!!!
You see you want them to think - hell i may as well call this now, i have already committed most of my chips... so F*** it i am all in
But NEVER EVER do this, even if you have a chip and a chair left you are still in with a shout. you only need to double your stack 2 or 3 times and you are back in it.
NEVER CALL AN ALL-IN
This is an old poker addage- You should be the one GOING all in rather than CALLING the All-IN
This holds true for HU, although it depends on stack size and the size of the blinds relative to your and your opponents stacks.
At the start of the match - if you are both similar stacks, never call an ALL-IN unless you are playing an absolute muppet, who is going all in consistantly (In which case wait for an A and call him
MID Match - if you have lets say twice the number of chips, then is it sometimes worth calling the all-in, but you want to be sure you have at least 50% chance of taking him out of the game. As in you are in a flush or straight draw, or have at least 12 outs.
When the blinds start getting 100-200 calling an all-in becomes a slighlty better move if your opponent has less than half your chips. He will be forced to make a play and you may decide to call if you think you have at least one overcard.
There are clearly some hands where you ALWAYS call an ALL-IN, such as AA and KK, however I would be very wary of calling with QQ unless you have at least twice as many chips. Pocket QQ or less are too open to two overcards.
The odds are as follows:
If your opponent has two overcards to your pocket pair then he wins about 45% of the time, which granted still gives you and edge, but it is marginal. You really want to risk all of your chips when you have at least 70% chance of coming out on top.
That is why by all means go all-in with pocket pair QQ, but call an all-in at your peril.
This is an old poker addage- You should be the one GOING all in rather than CALLING the All-IN
This holds true for HU, although it depends on stack size and the size of the blinds relative to your and your opponents stacks.
At the start of the match - if you are both similar stacks, never call an ALL-IN unless you are playing an absolute muppet, who is going all in consistantly (In which case wait for an A and call him
MID Match - if you have lets say twice the number of chips, then is it sometimes worth calling the all-in, but you want to be sure you have at least 50% chance of taking him out of the game. As in you are in a flush or straight draw, or have at least 12 outs.
When the blinds start getting 100-200 calling an all-in becomes a slighlty better move if your opponent has less than half your chips. He will be forced to make a play and you may decide to call if you think you have at least one overcard.
There are clearly some hands where you ALWAYS call an ALL-IN, such as AA and KK, however I would be very wary of calling with QQ unless you have at least twice as many chips. Pocket QQ or less are too open to two overcards.
The odds are as follows:
If your opponent has two overcards to your pocket pair then he wins about 45% of the time, which granted still gives you and edge, but it is marginal. You really want to risk all of your chips when you have at least 70% chance of coming out on top.
That is why by all means go all-in with pocket pair QQ, but call an all-in at your peril.
HOW TO WIN - HEADS UP POKER
So who makes the most money consistantly at POKER ONLINE?
Don't take my word- Go to one of the many sites that show profit for online players and you will see the same thing.
For example http://www.sharkscope.com/
Go to leaderboard- and look at who is winning- and by how much. You can usually sort by game.
You will see that if you search by Hold'em Heads Up- the result will look remarkably similar to that of the overall leaderboard. In other words the
GOOD HEADS UP PLAYERS ARE THE BIG WINNERS
The next question i hear you ask, is (or should be) so how do i become a good heads-up player?
And the answer to that is the reason for this blog:
Don't take my word- Go to one of the many sites that show profit for online players and you will see the same thing.
For example http://www.sharkscope.com/
Go to leaderboard- and look at who is winning- and by how much. You can usually sort by game.
You will see that if you search by Hold'em Heads Up- the result will look remarkably similar to that of the overall leaderboard. In other words the
GOOD HEADS UP PLAYERS ARE THE BIG WINNERS
The next question i hear you ask, is (or should be) so how do i become a good heads-up player?
And the answer to that is the reason for this blog:
AGGRESSION
The main point here is that you need to RAISE PRE-FLOP any good starting hands
The theory behind this is like any other poker strategy is based on statistics. If pre flop you pump money into the pot with hands that you are more likely to win with, then over time you win on more valuable pots.
You then need to CONTINUATION BET if you have position - In other words if your opponent checks you should raise, and represent having a strong hand.
You may get check raised occasionally, and then you put it down. But long term you win, and this is really the key.
You may well ask - what is a good hand? And this is really where HU varys significantly from normal ring games.
Any A or K with even a low kicker is a "good hand"
If you get reraised pre-flop - take a view or fold
Does you opponent reraise often, how strong is your kicker, is it suited...etc
You will play significantly more hands than regular ring games, and this is normal. If you fold, fold fold until you get AK then raise, your opponent will fold and you will not get paid. Or worse he has pocket pair and then you are behind anyhow.
So AGGRESSION is key. Your aim is to pyscologically grind down your opponent and get a chip lead.
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