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...in particular e vorba de HU SNG and sounds like this:
"The strategy for these tournaments relies completely on three interlinked factors: position, aggression, and bet sizes.
The first and most important of these factors is position. You should be raising an extremely large range of hands when you are in the small blind and have the button (there are a few exceptions if playing habitual bluffers of calling stations – just let these player’s massive mistakes give you the chips). Pre-flop I typically pot raise any two suited cards, any connector with two gaps or less (7s-10c for example), any two cards above ten, any pair, and any Ace.
Your cards are actually quite irrelevant when you are on the button (hence the huge variety of hands) - your opponents simply cannot win by constantly calling raises and playing big pots out of position. By raising so many hands you also disguise your holdings well; your opponents never really know where they stand and can often be trapped on safe looking flops for all of their chips.
Your opponent is also in trouble if they start folding their big blind too frequently – you can just grind them down by constantly stealing their big blind. Walking the line between these two unpalatable options is avoidable - mastering the strategy of stealing and defending the blinds will instantly improve your game.
The key to defending your big blind to a player frequently raising it is to either fold or re-raise. The re-raise must be large enough that it takes much of the advantage of position away (position means much less if one player only has enough chips for one or two bets – all you get to see is one all-in or check). I typically raise about 25% more than pot when defending (this figure seems to roughly negate position) although use your own judgement if you are short stacked or playing an odd player type.
This play does not have to be done too often to be effective, re-stealing typically buys you four free big blinds (pot raise = three big blinds the blind you put in and have defended). The only problem with this play is if your opponent puts you all-in after your re-raise. In this situation your own judgement must come in, look at the odds and try and make a good decision – don’t be afraid to gamble especially if you are short stacked.
Aggression is the next important feature of your game heads-up. You must be frequently betting with poor quality hands. We have already seen the importance of being aggressive pre flop in position – what we will cover next is how important aggression is after the flop.
The reason your opponent cannot win playing lots of raised pots out of position is because of your aggression on subsequent streets. Raising weak hands pre flop and then checking them down is not an effective heads-up style. You simply must be betting regularly on flops where your opponent checks. Most of the time your opponent will have missed – get out there and get the chips.
This point is totally dependent on a good selection of bet sizes. Pot betting the whole way through a hand will leave you wide open to trap calls and check raises. Try and bet between half and three quarters of the pot on the flop and turn. This will get your opponents to fold if they have nothing and will limit the damage if they are trying to trap you. Remember to be consistent with this – don’t bet below the pot with nothing but bet pot or more with a real hand.
A final point about bet sizes is to try and remember that big bets nearly always mean big hands. Top pair is frequently foldable heads-up to a large bet from your opponent (especially if your opponent has been leaking chips from their blind play and can be ground down in other ways), try and be the player betting, not the player calling (I try and fold any hand where I think “maybe I’m ahead here” when confronted with a big bet).
Once your opponent is low on chips really put the pressure on. If they only have 5 or 6 big blinds left start just putting them all-in pre flop with any raising hand – there is no point playing flops against a stack that short (calling is a bad plan here – if your hand is really bad just fold). Conversely, if you are short start going all-in frequently, do not let the blinds eat you up, just get in there and gamble and try and get a stack back (this also applies to calling – if your opponent is regularly putting you all-in drastically lower your calling requirements).
On a slightly different note try and be mentally strong - many players lose a quarter or a third of their chips early in a heads-up tournament and seem to just give up. DO NOT fall-into this trap. If you have lost chips early look at why; this information is priceless.
Is your opponent a habitual bluffer? Are they a calling station? Frequently when I lose chips early it turns out I’m playing a very low calibre of player who can easily be beaten by adopting a slightly different strategy. Any heads-up tournament with a good structure (PokerStars has a particularly good one) will leave you with plenty of time if you lose chips early – just stay strong and keep attacking. Good luck at the tables and remember to stay aggressive and composed."
eee? cum e asta? se putea spune mai loud&clear d-atat?
"The strategy for these tournaments relies completely on three interlinked factors: position, aggression, and bet sizes.
The first and most important of these factors is position. You should be raising an extremely large range of hands when you are in the small blind and have the button (there are a few exceptions if playing habitual bluffers of calling stations – just let these player’s massive mistakes give you the chips). Pre-flop I typically pot raise any two suited cards, any connector with two gaps or less (7s-10c for example), any two cards above ten, any pair, and any Ace.
Your cards are actually quite irrelevant when you are on the button (hence the huge variety of hands) - your opponents simply cannot win by constantly calling raises and playing big pots out of position. By raising so many hands you also disguise your holdings well; your opponents never really know where they stand and can often be trapped on safe looking flops for all of their chips.
Your opponent is also in trouble if they start folding their big blind too frequently – you can just grind them down by constantly stealing their big blind. Walking the line between these two unpalatable options is avoidable - mastering the strategy of stealing and defending the blinds will instantly improve your game.
The key to defending your big blind to a player frequently raising it is to either fold or re-raise. The re-raise must be large enough that it takes much of the advantage of position away (position means much less if one player only has enough chips for one or two bets – all you get to see is one all-in or check). I typically raise about 25% more than pot when defending (this figure seems to roughly negate position) although use your own judgement if you are short stacked or playing an odd player type.
This play does not have to be done too often to be effective, re-stealing typically buys you four free big blinds (pot raise = three big blinds the blind you put in and have defended). The only problem with this play is if your opponent puts you all-in after your re-raise. In this situation your own judgement must come in, look at the odds and try and make a good decision – don’t be afraid to gamble especially if you are short stacked.
Aggression is the next important feature of your game heads-up. You must be frequently betting with poor quality hands. We have already seen the importance of being aggressive pre flop in position – what we will cover next is how important aggression is after the flop.
The reason your opponent cannot win playing lots of raised pots out of position is because of your aggression on subsequent streets. Raising weak hands pre flop and then checking them down is not an effective heads-up style. You simply must be betting regularly on flops where your opponent checks. Most of the time your opponent will have missed – get out there and get the chips.
This point is totally dependent on a good selection of bet sizes. Pot betting the whole way through a hand will leave you wide open to trap calls and check raises. Try and bet between half and three quarters of the pot on the flop and turn. This will get your opponents to fold if they have nothing and will limit the damage if they are trying to trap you. Remember to be consistent with this – don’t bet below the pot with nothing but bet pot or more with a real hand.
A final point about bet sizes is to try and remember that big bets nearly always mean big hands. Top pair is frequently foldable heads-up to a large bet from your opponent (especially if your opponent has been leaking chips from their blind play and can be ground down in other ways), try and be the player betting, not the player calling (I try and fold any hand where I think “maybe I’m ahead here” when confronted with a big bet).
Once your opponent is low on chips really put the pressure on. If they only have 5 or 6 big blinds left start just putting them all-in pre flop with any raising hand – there is no point playing flops against a stack that short (calling is a bad plan here – if your hand is really bad just fold). Conversely, if you are short start going all-in frequently, do not let the blinds eat you up, just get in there and gamble and try and get a stack back (this also applies to calling – if your opponent is regularly putting you all-in drastically lower your calling requirements).
On a slightly different note try and be mentally strong - many players lose a quarter or a third of their chips early in a heads-up tournament and seem to just give up. DO NOT fall-into this trap. If you have lost chips early look at why; this information is priceless.
Is your opponent a habitual bluffer? Are they a calling station? Frequently when I lose chips early it turns out I’m playing a very low calibre of player who can easily be beaten by adopting a slightly different strategy. Any heads-up tournament with a good structure (PokerStars has a particularly good one) will leave you with plenty of time if you lose chips early – just stay strong and keep attacking. Good luck at the tables and remember to stay aggressive and composed."
eee? cum e asta? se putea spune mai loud&clear d-atat?
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