How to play NLH headsu sng when the blinds reach 50/100 (5-10 dollar)?

[Kamppi69]

I have had trouble adjusting my game to this blind level. Lets say the starting stacks are 1500 and both of the players have just about their 1500. I know this is the stage where the hand values go up, but first of all, how will i adjust my range? I hate to lose with that K7 offsuit crap. Also. In my opinion, its not wise to call all ins in this stage either unless u have like a decent pair or or an high ace (AK-AQ and hope that i have my opponent dominated). I hate to push with weak aces cause usually u get called by a better ace or a pair and then i'm are 2 to 1 underdog. Is it right to start to go all in or raise instead. And if i still raise, is it minraise or 3xbb? theres not much to play if he calls and usually when he does, there not much for me to play well after the flop. If the player is decent, what range of hands will i usually get a call from if i push in these low limits. Winning players, enlight me. Sometimes i find myself in this situation cause the player is weak tight and i dont get any action at first to my strong hands either, but if i get too agressive, he of course starts to call with extremely marginal hands. i prefer agressive opponents but i would also appreciate advice how to beat those weak tights on the long run. Is it just bounce bounce bounce like they say or what. Do i start to play agressive at the beginning
and hope that my opponent gets frustrated?

[jitterbug726]

Hi there,

This is my first post, so you'll have to forgive me for any typos.

I figured this would be a good thread to reply to because Heads up SNGs are an awesome way to play poker and they're my favorite way to play. While i'm certainly not even close to being one of the best HU SNG players, I've compiled a 205-84 record at the moment (I started off at the $2 HU SNGs and have worked my way up to playing $20-$30 sngs) and have been successful at the stakes you’re playing now so I thought I’d take a shot at helping you out.

Having stacks of the same size aren't bad at blinds of 50/100, but you're basically at the beginning of the stage where it’s become a crapshoot.

Unfortunately, your range has to become much wider at this stage of your match.

Since your stacks are 15BB each, you have to start raising with just about everything. Go over the top with ANY pairs (even 22-33-44), and raise with any ace if the pots been limped. You also have to play any hands that contain two face cards fast, and you're certainly going to want to hit your flops by now. It's hard to bluff someone with blinds this high because people become so commited to the pot that they're going to see it through to the end with middle/bottom pair.

At this point in the tournament you're really going to want to have a feel for your opponent, so you know when you can take pots away. With such high blinds it’s not likely that either of you will see any flops that you like, so at times it simply becomes a bet first and win type of game. You’re going to want to avoid getting to this blind stage and higher though, and it’s a better bet to start relying on outplaying your opponent in the earlier stages of the tournament to build a lead (if not win).

The key to winning heads up sit n goes consistently is aggression. You have to constantly bet everything with confidence, and learn your opponent’s betting patterns (this is very easy at the low stakes tables, where few people attempt to mask their betting patterns). Bet with bottom pair, bet with middle pair, bet with an inside straight, bet everything.

You’ve got to know when to put the brakes on though, you can’t just raise 20 pots in a row and expect someone to lay idly by. Players will either start trapping you or start bluff re-raising you. This is when you start waiting for decent hands to raise with.

You have to frustrate your opponent and create a loose table image in the first three blind levels. Don’t be afraid to get caught bluffing. If they start calling you with marginal hands, you’ve succeeded. Once you’ve created the perception that bottom pair is usually good against you, you’re going to start getting paid off in the higher blind levels (hopefully you don’t suddenly become card dead around here :P). Some people even start going all in with like 40BB against your small raises. The weak tight players are the best players to take advantage of with this strategy, because if you continually take pots away from them they’ll eventually do something stupid like try to hit a runner runner draw to beat you. I have had opponents start trying to be Stu Ungar, calling me with ten high and jack high because they were so pissed off at the never-ending betting.

An important thing to remember is to keep the pots small. I normally only raise to 2BB or 3BB. It doesn’t matter what starting hands I’m raising with, it’s always only 2 or 3 big blinds. Half-pot is a good ballpark in terms of post flop bets, as this seems to be what people are comfortable calling (and when you’re bluffing you minimize your losses), however some opponents are perfectly fine with calling full pot bets with their draws. If they hit, well that’s just poker, you’re forcing them to make a huge mistake anyway. With starting stacks of 1500, an opponent who calls your pot sized bets with a draw against your flopped top set is going to commit 420 chips to see you to the end at BLIND LEVEL ONE. These are the morons you want to play with.

Last, never lose heart if you find yourself short stacked at the low blind levels. You don't normally need to start going all in with anything unless you go to 10BB or below. You just have to fight your way through and hope you get some help along the way. If your opponent is very weak, it doesn’t matter if he has a 5-1 chip lead, you can just keep whittling away at it. Personally, I like to see a lot of flops when I’m short stacked if I can just limp in. This strategy might not be optimal for others, but I think it’s effective, especially when you’re playing against people who don’t put enough pressure on you with their big stacks.

[jay_shark]

Fantastic first post jitterbug !!

Welcome aboard .

[jitterbug726]

Thanks jay_shark. I hope I can help contribute to these forums in the future. I will add on some more stuff to my heads up sit n go guide as I get more practice (and hopefully get better too!)

[Sly Selea]

[ QUOTE ]
Fantastic first post jitterbug !!

Welcome aboard .

[/ QUOTE ]


No kidding, very informative, thank you.

[daveT]

No people, that post is all lies!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Very nice. Thank you. I am now swimming in these levels, and my games are going to become harder. Thank you very much.

Very very nice first post, btw.

The only thing I would like to add is that the early strategy reflects a 80/80/3.2. It's up to the the player if they are comfortable playing like that.

The reason this strategy works is because your opponent is, at first, going to play very straight-forward against you. It is during the second and third stage that they will start to bluff back. These are rarely well-timed.

[jitterbug726]

DaveT is correct, the early strategy takes some practice and one really needs to be comfortable with firing bullet after bullet into pots. As for the ill-timed bluffs, here's an example of one such hand:

Full Tilt Poker Game #3640853292: $20 + $1 Heads Up Sit & Go (27777795), Table 1 - 20/40 - No Limit Hold'em - 17:38:34 ET - 2007/09/22
Seat 1: MoMoneyInc (1,910)
Seat 2: jitterbug726 (1,090)
MoMoneyInc posts the small blind of 20
jitterbug726 posts the big blind of 40
The button is in seat #1
*** HOLE CARDS ***
Dealt to jitterbug726 [6c 9h]
MoMoneyInc calls 20
jitterbug726 checks
*** FLOP *** [6s 8s Td]
jitterbug726 bets 40
MoMoneyInc calls 40
*** TURN *** [6s 8s Td] [Jd]
jitterbug726 bets 80
MoMoneyInc raises to 160
jitterbug726 calls 80
*** RIVER *** [6s 8s Td Jd] [Th]
jitterbug726 checks
MoMoneyInc bets 480
jitterbug726 has 15 seconds left to act
jitterbug726 calls 480
*** SHOW DOWN ***
MoMoneyInc shows [7s 3s] a pair of Tens
jitterbug726 shows [6c 9h] two pair, Tens and Sixes
jitterbug726 wins the pot (1,440) with two pair, Tens and Sixes
*** SUMMARY ***
Total pot 1,440 | Rake 0
Board: [6s 8s Td Jd Th]
Seat 1: MoMoneyInc (small blind) showed [7s 3s] and lost with a pair of Tens
Seat 2: jitterbug726 (big blind) showed [6c 9h] and won (1,440) with two pair, Tens and Sixes
-----

As you can see, I had already lost about a third of my stack (not bluffing but got outdrawn in back to back hands). I had not let up with my aggression and I felt as if this would be one of the moments that a confused opponent might try to make a move.

As you see, I flop bottom pair and an inside straight draw, and bet out. The flat call from the opponent shows weakness, and so I'm not afraid to fire again when the J comes on the turn.

His instant min reraise seemed weird because though it made a straight seem possible, I couldn't see him playing Q9 that way. A hand like J9 is out of the question too since he didn't reraise me on the flop.

When another 10 hits the river, I am sure that my opponent has missed a flush draw. I decide its best to let him make a play, and then call it. Why don't I reraise if I'm so sure?

It was mainly because I wanted to show it down and piss off my opponent even more. It helps prevent them from attempting any more big bluffs at you when you're holding a hand that you're not 100% sure about.

[Stealthy]

Welcome Jitterbug and a very good first post. I only play the HU SSNGs for fun but play the $20s mainly and now I have at least 1 name of who NOT to sit with. Although our styles will be almost identical I think.

OP just read and digest jitterbug's post as most of what you need is right there.

[Stan Loh]

It is an okay play is the blinds are 50/100 and both players have 15bb left, that I keep going all-in no matter what I have?

[daveT]

NOOOOOOOOO.

Your equity is not what it seems. I already analyzed that open pushing with 60% of your hands gives you a 55% edge. This may be okay, but it implies that your opponent is willing to call with any two.

Yes, you are stealing the blinds, and when you do this, you may have an over-all expectation of 52%, but you have to consider the rake here. Also mind that you opponent can adjust properly on base intuition.

With shoving 60% of hands, your opponent can call about 40% of his hands and win 58% of the time. None of these are exactly daring calls, mind you. Shoving every hand is going to be a losing proposition. You may get lucky and suck out, but you will be dominated far too often. The limited time-span of husngs do not lend themselves to well to the ICM or SC numbers.