AJo heads up even stacks

Heres what I thoought were key hands up to that point.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (2 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

BB (t6838)
Hero (t6662)

Preflop: Hero is Button with Q:spade:, 9:spade:.
Hero raises to t625, BB raises to t6838, Hero folds.

Final Pot: t7463

Results in white below:
No showdown. BB wins t7463.

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t200 (2 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

BB (t6388)
Hero (t7112)

Preflop: Hero is Button with K:spade:, 9:club:.
Hero raises to t600, BB raises to t1000, Hero calls t400.

Flop: (t2000) K:diamond:, A:diamond:, 6:diamond: (2 players)
BB bets t5363 (All-In), Hero folds.

Final Pot: t7363

Results in white below:
No showdown. BB wins t7363.


And then this is the hand. Are you guys willing to risk the tourney on AJo?

PokerStars No-Limit Hold'em Tourney, Big Blind is t400 (2 handed) FTR converter on zerodivide.cx

BB (t6588)
Hero (t6912)

Preflop: Hero is Button with A:spade:, J:diamond:.
Hero raises to t1200, BB raises to t6563, Hero ???

I call that last hand (esp. because you already put 1/5 of your stack in the pot)

I can't imagine you'll win heads up without pushing at some point. What better hand are you going to wait for to do that? Worst case scenario you're dominated, there's a chance it's a coin flip, but most likely you're way in front. AJ is a hand that can win unimproved, so I'd be pushing there. (Disclaimer: I just came second in an SnG pushing my A9s vs AK to end up outkicked, so my advice may be flawed)

As for 'risking the tourney', remember at this stage you're playing for the difference between 1st and 2nd. Of course it's significant, but I'd still consider 2nd a successful tourney.

Well I figure I must be doing something wrong because in the past 74 tourneys I have 7 firsts 14 seconds and 12 thirds. I called he had 77 and won the hand.

Yeah, you've gotta call that last hand.


You're getting 12 thirds and 21 heads up situations - you're doing alright there.

More seconds than firsts usually means playing too passively during heads up, although your sample size might be too small and variance is taking its toll.

Generally, heads up comes down to getting a quick handle on your opponent and reacting with aggression.

Check this sticky for a few good threads on heads up play. They really helped me.

AJ is a strong hand heads up, and it seems your opponent is agressive, I would call

Easy call. You have to pick a hand against this guy and AJ is more than enough.

AJ is a monster HU. I insta call this. There are some great posts on this site for HU play and reading them helped me improve my game. But, how healthy your stack is arriving at HU is also important to look at.