My heads up play and strategeries...thoughts?
I think we all notice weaknesses in our games and do our best to correct them, I think we also find strengths in our game and try to use them to our best advantage.
I have found that, although I still need lots of work on my postflop play anf my preflop play has been pretty strong, my strength seems to be heads up play. I enjoy heads up time, more then any other. You get into alot of pots and you can really wear down an opponent in these situations.
I have tracked my heads up win % through 40 tourneys and have won 32 of them. I am pretty happy with an 80% winning percentage though I would like to get it up to 85 or above. I would love some imput from you all! Keep in mind that this mainly applies to SnGs. My basic approach:
1) One thing I learned when I was a young pitcher was that the fastest and the nastiest pitches wouldn't do it alone. The success of a pitcher had to do with how he conditioned the hitter, and then dropped the hammer when he needed it. My first goal in heads up play is to condition my opponent. This means I must bet quickly. Give him little time to think and force him to mirror you.
2) Show him how to fold. I find this to be very important. I found that early on, I was turning the game into a crap shoot by getting involved in every pot. Fold one out of every 4 hands and show him that it is OK to do so. He will begin doing the same. It also gives the impression that you are being somewhat selective with your hands and it prevents him from putting too much weight on his mid or bottom pair.
3) Don't raise every ace. I have raised Q5 on one hand and just called with A9 on the next. Make it very hard for him to put you on an ace. Aces are too valuable at this junction to just get the blinds. You want value here.
4) The longer it takes, the more likely it is I will win. Generally, the people who make it to this round are either hyper agressive and caught some great flops or they are tight players who are patient and played good solid poker. If a heads up match takes a long time, it should be against a patyient player and this player is not used to the speed and will begin to wear from the quick action. He will eventually push into you because he knows he is being outplayed. Just wait for my moment and take him out.
5) Don't risk all your chips unless you have the situation won. All in moves are not recommended unless you are sure you have the best holding. This seems so obvious, but it can easily be forgotten in the chaos of heads up play.
6) Stack advantage. I personally think that stack advantage in heads up play is over rated. Unless it is overwhelming, any stack advantage or disadvantage can be reversed in 2 hands. This is especially true if the heads up match takes a while. I really don't play either differently than the other. To me, its about keeping my opponent on the defensive and having him react to me on every pot I play.
So that's about it. I would appreciate any tips or input.