heads up NL holdem - what to raise with

[montechristo]

so I am starting to play a lot more heads up NL poker and am interested in how badly I am playing. It seems I am raising alternately too much and not enough depending on the weather or some other ridiculousness. Maybe I don't understand reverse domination? Heads up how low do your raising standards go? A2o? K9o? Of course opponent dependent, but assuming a decent opponent who will play back at you, how much do I open up vs. six handed?

thanks in advance from a donkey

[xdmanx007]

Well the cards don't really matter as much headsup till either you or your opponent get shortstacked and it is time to go for the knockout shot. What does come into much more so is the type of opponent you are up against. Calling station= play relatively tight and hammer away when you have a hand. Maniacs=simply wait for the best opportunities and trap him Rocks=hammer away EVERY hand unless you get some resistance then simply get out of the way. One rule I pretty much live by headsup is NO LIMPING he limps I raise no matter what I have. SB if you are gonna play the hand you RAISE unless trying to trap. Very difficult to actually put percentages on how much to loosen up because you will be playing most if not all of your hands to the flop. Most important to me is effective aggression and proper evaluation of your opponent so you can adjust accordingly. Hope that helps

[Forbillz]

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One rule I pretty much live by headsup is NO LIMPING he limps I raise no matter what I have. SB if you are gonna play the hand you RAISE unless trying to trap.

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Interesting, because I follow a very different philosophy. If my opponent will let me, I will try to see a lot of flops for the minimum, especially early on heads-up. I will try to do much of my outplaying after the flop.

This is obviously read-dependent, because if my opponent will raise many of my limps from the button, I'll quickly stop that approach. Similarly, if my opponent will frequently enough fold to my raises, I'll switch to a more raise/fold line. But I don't usually auto-raise a limper, because I'm out of position the rest of the hand.

Not saying mine is better/worse than yours, but you have to play how you feel most comfortable. If you feel comfortable with your heads-up post flop play, you may want to play more flops. If you're not comfortable here, then you really need to raise much more often preflop when you have an above-avg hand.

[elmitchbo]

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But I don't usually auto-raise a limper, because I'm out of position the rest of the hand.

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the fact that your out of postion is precisely why you auto raise.

i agree with the first response... very little limping from me heads up. i always raise with the button, and i'd say raise about 75% of the time in the BB. no hand requirements really, you're going to play basically every hand you get dealt. everything is worth at least a limp.... if you get raised or reraised with a truly awful hand you can let it go.

[Forbillz]

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But I don't usually auto-raise a limper, because I'm out of position the rest of the hand.

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the fact that your out of postion is precisely why you auto raise.


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Yes and no. Like I said, this is still read-dependent. What % of the time will the button fold to my auto-raise? How much of my stack do I have to commit?

Again, I wasn't trying to say MY way is the RIGHT way, I'm just saying my playing preference is to out-play my opponent post-flop. I've had pretty good success playing this way. It lets me trap very effectively and buy a lot of pots after the flop.

[primetimenole]

I play quite a few Heads Up SnG's and my main preflop strategy is to not give my opponent a read - or better yet to give them a false read on what cards I have.

Most people will just raise with their good cards and limp with their bad ones. That is a very important read to have on an opponent because if someone raises me and the flop comes out 863 rainbow then I pound it because I figure they've missed it.

I try to mix it up all the time. I raise with 27o as much as I would with AJ. Actually, sometimes more if I know my opponent folds alot to pre-flop raises. I figure the best way to win a hand with 27o is to aviod playing the hand.

On the other hand, I'll limp with 27o as much as AJ. I don't auto-raise from any position. Of course, auto-raising is a good way to not give your opponent a read but I feel I can be more effective limping and raising because it gives my opponents false reads.

As for general strategy, I try to figure my opponent out as quickly as possible within the first few levels. If he is betting small amounts, I'll often call down to the river just to see what he is betting with. I also try to find out how often my opponent folds to a preflop raise. If they fold in this situation often, of course I will raise more often to exploit it. If they dont fold as often, then I'll rethink my strategy of raising alot with garbage. Also, I think a couple signs of a weak opponent is one who folds in the SB or one who severely overbets a pot - say, betting 150 into a 40 chip pot.

Another thing I do is try to negate the effect of position by betting out alot on the flop from the BB. I know that if the BB checks the flop to me I will bet it about 95% of the time unless I'm trying to slowplay a hand, therefore I like to bet out from the BB to prevent this from happening.

Anyways, those are just a few of my thoughts. I appreciate all the previous input, there's not much info out there about playing heads up matches so I try to read whatever I can get. I also think that the fact that there is not much info available on Heads Up matches makes them profitable.

Take care,

PTN