Marginalpoker

If you plan on winning poker tournaments you are going to have to be a fairly decent heads-up poker player. Just watch how Phil Ivey plays a final table and you will notice a significant difference between how he played the rest of the tournament. Poker tournaments are played in stages. You have a beginning, middle, late and Heads-Up stages. Obviously you want to get to the heads-up stage to play for all the marbles and we are going to show you what to do when you get there.

Hand Ranges
Typically hand ranges will vary from player to player based on the stage of the tournament you are in and how the table is playing. However, if you are heads-up with another player all of that goes out of the window. You must open up your hand ranges from the typical play range most good poker players are used to. That means [A][x] is a very strong hand and should not instantly be discarded simply because of a weak kicker. Small and middle pairs take on significantly more value during a heads-up scenario because you are now willing to race for the prize against a strong un-paired hand like Ace King or Ace Queen. Many players still hold on to the mantra that you must play good hands to be a good player even when they are heads-up. If you believe that then you won’t be winning many tournaments.

Chip Count
Believe it or not your chip count affects the risk you are willing to take heads-up. Let’s face it. There are only 3 scenarios you are going to see chip wise when you are heads-up: 1. You have a big chip lead over your opponent and are very likely to win the tournament. 2. You are even in chips. 3. You are significantly behind in chips.

If you are sitting on a mountain of chips then you are going to call or push with just about any small or medium pair in hopes that your opponents desperation will result in a marginal hand at best to push with. Conversely, if you are even in chips each of you will be nickel and diming waiting for the opportunity to strike a meaningful blow to the others stack. Lastly, if you are short you are simply looking for a hand to get your chips in with hoping for the best. This is why when you are in the money you are looking for a big hand or pot so that you can double up again assuring that you get to the final table within the top five or six players at the table in chips. If you can do that then you will increase your chances of getting heads-up significantly.

Know Thy Opponent
By the time you are heads-up with your opponent you have been playing at the same table for a relatively significant amount of time. You need to be able to draw from information you gathered on previous hands even if you were not involved. That’s why you need to be paying attention during every hand on every player because you never know when you will be able to use that information. Heads-up play is one of the most interesting and some say even pure forms of poker. Why? Because it is more about the player than it is the cards. You are more likely to see big bluffs and power players than at any time in the tournament due to the prize money at stake.
The good thing about poker online today is that you actually can logon and play heads-up and work on your game. True, it is not the same as playing live but the fundamentals are and it would behoove you to put in some work for when you do get there.
Good luck!