Playing heads up is exactly like playing a cash game. The blinds are $0.5 and $1.0, the standard raise is 3x the big blind, and the normal bet is 10% of the big blind. Everything in heads up poker is the same as what you would do in a cash game. The only difference is that the blinds are gone and you have to put up 1.5 or 2 dollars in chips to stay in the game. Sometimes, for some crazy and crazy reasons, you would see a wild variation of this. With almost all poker sites offering 0.25 and 0.5 blinds, heads up play has lots of action.
I can’t tell you how many times I have seen 8 or 9 players in a row call a raise before the flop. You are essentially playing for stacks, especially in play money games. PFR is kind of the opposite of normal ring games. Players are being very aggressive in these games to build their stacks for the later stages. I notice a lot of players like to get into a heads up situation early, especially if they are used to playing shorthanded Sit and Go tournaments. I also notice a tendency for players to sit back on big hands and surprisingly, win these heads up pots against the full tables.
To make it easy to build your stack in the early stages, you can play more aggressively preflop. Since the blinds are so low in heads up play, you can call with a wide range of hands and win small pots or win big pots. For example, in the early stages, you are sitting on a good pocket pair. It is a much better decision to play small pots and win these, than it is to get involved in a multiway pot and have your Texas hold em odds on the line with 6 other players. When you play as an aggressive heads up player, you will win more pots than your opponents do. This means you can build your stack without as much risk. In the early stages, the blinds are low, so you are getting the right opportunity to build your stack without being forced to risk your chips.
Another advantage in heads up poker is the fact that the winner can take the blinds. In normal no limit hold em games, if a player has won the blinds, he takes the chips that were in the pot before the blinds. Not so in heads up. If you win the blinds, you can take the chips that were in the pot before the flop. This allows you to be a much stronger player, since basically you have the unchecked advantage of being up more often than not. I’ve heard a lot of frustrated poker players say that playing heads up is the hardest thing to master. Although it’s easy because the decisions are so easy, it takes a lot of aggression to profit from this strategy.
Since you can play heads up at your convenience, you don’t mind playing a lot of poker, especially if you can transfer the hands over the internet to a poker calculator that does not affect your playing. This will also allow you to play as long as you want and do anything you would do in a full ring game. In addition, playing heads up games is a great way to redeem your points that you have earned from playing other pokerace99 games. Scratch all those nices offs off your cards and earn yourself free money by playing properly!
