Mastering Heads Up Play

Hey all,

I've been hanging out and reading this page/forum for a month or so now, and this is my first post. First, I want to say thank you to the web host. This is a great site. Also, thanks to the folks posting the articles and the general discussion in the forum. A bunch of really useful info. Thanks.

Ok, on to my question. How do you master HU play? is it mostly skill or luck? I've taken up SnG in the past several months, really enjoy it and have been doing relatively well, but can't seem to nail down first (I think I have one or two wins, but probably a dozen or so 2nds and thirds).

I've done a bunch of research here and elsewhere on HU play, but I still seem to be missing something.

Help? I know to be extra aggressive, but I seem to get caught w/my hand in the cookie jar too often w like a Q 9 or so--but the blinds are so large, hand selection becomes...well, a bit of a luxury... so where's the balance?

I'd love some suggestions: what works for you, what pitfalls to avoid, etc.

Again, thanks for your input,

beece

HU is really no different than short-hand, or really, even long-handed games. Its just that all the things you do well or poorly in those situations will be magnified. Position is key, use the button. Aggression is much more important. In SS2 JHarmon says that describing a heads-up player as passive is just another way of saying he cant win. HU becomes very personal, since you are playing every hand vs the same opponent. So reads are critical. This can be difficult in an online context, but carefully observe opponents betting patterns so that you can identify traps and weakness, while concealing your own patterns. gl.

Heads up is definitely not luck, except when two opponents are very evenly matched, or the blinds are really, really high relative to both player's stacks. My heads up record against the ocean of Party Poker fish is something like 80-20 in my favor, maybe even higher. Glancing over my SnG records, I've had at least four times as many firsts as seconds. In the past week I've got 10 firsts and 1 second.

If I was going to describe a basic, effective heads up strategy it would be this:

- Raise 80% of the time from the button, i.e. your small blind.

- Raise 50% of the time from the big blind if the other player just completes his small.

- Raise any ace, any king, any pocket pair most of the time. Occasionally don't raise an ace to mix it up, and because if you flop a pair of aces, your opponent won't believe you have it. Don't raise with really big pairs (QQ-AA) about 50% of the time; they are great trapping hands in heads up play.

- Raise some alternative-type hands to keep your aggression high and your play unpredictable. Queens and jacks, suited and unsuited connectors as low as 67, suited gapped cards like T8. Even raise sometimes with garbage. If you're only getting garbage you still need to play like you're not.

- Don't fold on your small blind ever. Complete or raise.

- Don't fold to a min-raise when you're on the big blind usually. If the big is 200 and he raises to 400, that's an auto-call with most hands. Your pot odds are good and implied odds are great, and there's no telling what he's raising with that would make you so big of a dog that it's not worth at least calling.

- If someone slams the pot with all-in bets regularly, realize that they are betting some sub-optimal hands. Call the next one with any ace, any two high cards jack or better, any pocket pair 66 or higher.

- Be cognizant of pot odds. If your opponent has 750 chips left and the pot is already over 2000, you shouldn't think of folding any hand that has a chance to win.

- Don't ever let up on a much shorter stack (less than a third of your chips). Raise into him more, and raise larger amounts.

- When you raise, make it at least 3xBB to go. Unless you find that he's really tight; then a min-raise may suffice to get him to fold a lot. Which brings me to my last point:

- Get a read on him early. What size of raise makes him fold half the time? That's the raise you want to employ. How passive is he? If he's folding a lot, raise more... and respect his raises more, because they mean he has it. Is he playing back at you hard? Most of them won't, but if someone does you may need to switch gears - call a little more, raise a little less, focus on post-flop play. You don't need to trap passive players, which in heads up is most of them, but against aggressive players like you are (or should be), you will need to set some traps and lay back a bit. Don't chip-spew with them and try to run them over; be patient and look for opportunities. At the same time, don't give up your strategy altogether.

You can refer to the SnG FAQ thread, here: http://www.flopturnriver.com/phpBB2/...ic.php?t=15929

for mutiple heads-up threads or any other SnG questions you have.

harrington on holdem volume 2 has a really good HU section.

Reads, reads, reads... If your opponent is aggressive, try to trap him with a monster. If he's passive, then push him around with large bets, but be wary of traps. HU play is something that you will get better and better at over time, as your reading skills become better. Dale, I'm not sure if I agree with the "never fold your small blind" statement. If for any reason at all, I will fold a few times to my opponent just so my opponent gives me more credit for my raises... it makes him feel like I'm not playing every single hand, so when I do play, he expects me to have better cards. It also helps with mixing things up a bit... My .o2

Originally Posted by storm75m

Dale, I'm not sure if I agree with the "never fold your small blind" statement.

There's really no compelling reason to fold when you're getting 3:1 with any starting hand & position, although I understand your point about the psychology of it. I should say, I do arbitrarily fold about one hand in ten from the small blind for those reasons in longer (usually live game) heads up matches. I rarely do it online - playing my style, the heads up section rarely lasts long enough for it to be meaningful. My main goal, except on those rare occasions I run into a player as aggressive as I am, is to lean on my opponent; steal a bunch of small to medium pots and get him into a situation of having 1/4 of my chips or less; then start REALLY raising him until he has to pick two and go. With fairly large blinds (at least 150/300, assuming Party's average stack size for heads up play of 4000) this is a ridiculously effective approach.

Back to the "never fold your small blind" thing - there are (rarely) reasons to fold from the small blind, and most of them relate to psychological warfare. But for someone just asking for advice on heads up play, and wondering why they rarely win in it, I'll stick to "never" as a good starting point. Folding even semi-regularly from your small blind is a leak. You have position, you're probably about a 40/60 or 35/65 dog, even holding some of the worst POS hands imaginable... do not make a habit of folding. Make a habit of raising instead, but if that's too scary or it's been getting you in trouble, at least call.

Good points (especially on the math part, you nerd... ), and I guess it really depends a lot on your opponent. And the site. (You're right about it not lasting long enough on Party to really make a difference) Different strokes for different folks... I tend to win most of my HU matches by setting a perfect trap (against other aggro's like you ) Or leaning on a weak/passive player and confusing the heck out of him with raises, re-raises, and check raises. It seems like so much of my HU play is based completely on instinct, it's tough to give advice. (Except for the fact that aggresive is always the way to go)

Originally Posted by storm75m

I tend to win most of my HU matches by setting a perfect trap (against other aggro's like you )

Heh heh. That's why it's of paramount importance to realize, when playing aggressively, when to lay back and let a pot go. Someone's been folding over half the time to you, and conceding a lot of pots on the flop - suddenly he smooth-calls you a couple times? Or min-raises you after calling pre-flop? You have to respect the warning signs of a trap. The typical heads up opponent that I see is at least somewhat tighter and more passive than me, so any signs of aggression or looseness are warnings. The one nice thing though is that players who are determined to trap give away a lot of free cards... and I raise the right kind of hands for taking free cards (suited connectors, etc)

heads up is a test of patience, and hoping he pulls the trigger when you have a hand, or inducing a huge call when you have him beat.

as a rule, I try to whittle away when I'm the chip underdog, and when I'm chip leader, I try to get him to play his entire stack when I have a good hand.

Originally Posted by dalecooper

Or min-raises you after calling pre-flop? You have to respect the warning signs of a trap. The typical heads up opponent that I see is at least somewhat tighter and more passive than me, so any signs of aggression or looseness are warnings.

passive players might get a few wins out of you due to good cards, but heads up play is dominated by aggression, no contest. I had a tight-passive check call then turn a set 3 times in this one sng, I just couldn't believe he'd catch that well and it killed me.

I consider myself an excellent heads-up player, particularly on-line, and I want to throw in my opinion on folding from the SB, particularly in tourney play when the blinds are creeping up on either stack.

I find that a lot of the on-line players in the 5's and 10's are very passive post-flop, but seem to suffer from a "guilt" factor regarding completing their SB in head's up play. Therefore, I will always fold a crap my first crap hand from the SB, thus "reassuring" the other player that it's ok to fold from the SB.

This seems to work every time:

VILLIAN CALLS WITH T8
VILLIAN CALLS WITH J7
HERO FOLDS AND SAYS "MAN, IF I SEE J9 AGAIN, I'M GOING TO KILL SOMEONE"
VILLIAN FOLDS T8
VILLIAN FOLDS J7

After that first fold, I start playing nearly any 2 from the SB agressively again. If I see villian start playing again, I'll start the whole process over again.

To me, the key to head's up is to force your opponent to tighten up. At that point, you can play it blind.

It's mostly luck - IF both players are willing to play as aggresive as they should. Most aren't, which gives you a nice edge.

It's most certainly not mostly luck. Did you read the entire post of excellent information about how it's not? I agree with most of the info above and felt that it was right on. Of course luck is involved especially if you are dealing with a player who is close to you in skill level but if you have them completely outskilled and follow the advice on top you will come out on top most of the time.

Originally Posted by drmcboy

It's mostly luck - IF both players are willing to play as aggresive as they should. Most aren't, which gives you a nice edge.

It's mostly luck when bad players win head's up.

HU play in general has a lot of skill, HU play with shallow money, not so much. 66 plays like TT and JJ plays like AA and A9 plays like AK.

If an opp is unwilling to call a raise without a big A or a pair, you'll beat them unless they pick 2-3 up. If they are a SS and just start pushing every hand, you'll usually pick up a few flip hands and have one win. If they have a comparable stack, they can just push pretty much any two and mostly negate any skill advantage you have.

If they, like you, are raising most hands, widening their call ranges, and playing almost any piece of the flop... it comes down to who holds over who. Again, you won't run into those players very often.
Most people do not understand the points mentioned in this thread. They suck.

Hey all,

Thanks for all of the replies and comments, and especially for the in depth and extended explainations, suggestions, common pitfall, etc. w/a special thanks to dale for the great overal tutorial and game plan. Much appreciated.

This is a great forum with great people.
Kudos and thanks again.

beecee

Originally Posted by jstrope

I find that a lot of the on-line players in the 5's and 10's are very passive post-flop, but seem to suffer from a "guilt" factor regarding completing their SB in head's up play. Therefore, I will always fold a crap my first crap hand from the SB, thus "reassuring" the other player that it's ok to fold from the SB.

HAHA i do this also, and it does work

hu is about to skill and I got crush a few times and more often than not, alot of players don't want to play you. They want to make it a rat race so that you can't outplay them. All aces become raising hands and if you're really agressive Kings as well. Always raise as the small blind regardless of the hand because you have position as the button. Remember that just even buttom pair is good when you're opponent has nothing. I also raise with any pairs, big suited big suited connectors, paint, and big gappers (q/10, j/9). There is no mixing up play heads-up if you've been playing in a SNG. You don't have time for image or anything and remember to play the player and not the cards. O and, if the person is really shirt-stacked. Push him all in with any decent hand.

Originally Posted by jstrope

Originally Posted by drmcboy

It's mostly luck - IF both players are willing to play as aggresive as they should. Most aren't, which gives you a nice edge.

It's mostly luck when bad players win head's up.

No it's mostly luck with big blinds and short stakes. The most fearless (and in some ways creative) preflop player has the bigger edge.

-'rilla

Over the past rather meager sample of around 100 SNGs Ive ended up hu I've won 75% of them. Mainly due to the advice on aggression on this site. The second thing I'd add is: don't be afraid to call raises with semi junk. In the games I play people are really aggressive, so if u catch with ur 74s, u'll probably win big since the other player thinks his ace is good. There are some wonderful final table videos where u can c the pros battle it out and you'll notice that they'll take a flop with just about any 2.
Btw...I disaggree about never folding the small blind in position. As soon as the opponent reaches a desperate stack size--where u think he'd call/shove with just about any 2 (Say with a stack of 1500 and blinds 300), u need to start folding the SB unless u have 2 cards over 8 or a Q K or A (or a pp ofcourse!). That's my thoughts anyhow. Remember that if he grows a bit u have to pick up aggression again though...

Originally Posted by Aquinas

As soon as the opponent reaches a desperate stack size--where u think he'd call/shove with just about any 2 (Say with a stack of 1500 and blinds 300), u need to start folding the SB unless u have 2 cards over 8 or a Q K or A (or a pp ofcourse!).

Depends on if the opp is willing to push with any two. If he's willing to check to your completion of the blind, then it's ALWAYS worth it to complete - you're always getting good odds. Moreover, there's something to be said for putting him to a decision for all his chips with any two. Sure, he may call, but your 75o might just catch something (again, you're never THAT much of an underdog) and if he's calling with any two, he might even have something worse!

if opp always raises when you complete from the SB then I would fold your very worst hands to him. Alternatively I raise these hands as well on the chance that he has garbage.

I thoroughly disagree with the posted statement:
"Don't fold on your small blind ever. Complete or raise." Harrington says the same thing, but he also pushes his Ms a little too easily....

Don't waste your chips with crap hands at first - give up the small blind occasionally so Opp will believe you only play good cards. That allows you to throw out some good raises with crap later on and take it pre-flop. Also, this stops Opp from just pushing everytime you complete, which he/she will do if you complete sb every time.

I'd rather lose the sb than complete w something like 62 offsuit (unless you're down to <2 bb). I look at completing the sb or calling a push or pushing w something like 62 offsuit the same as giving up. Never give up.

Originally Posted by konahead

I'd rather lose the sb than complete w something like 62 offsuit (unless you're down to <2 bb). I look at completing the sb or calling a push or pushing w something like 62 offsuit the same as giving up. Never give up.

You're not giving up by completing with a crappy hand. You're playing the odds. You're getting 3:1 on your call (depending on if the opp will let you see the flop). You're almost never behind by 3:1 or more (an exception would be something like AA v 22, but obviously that's just an academic thought).

By folding when you have the chips to play and the odds on your side, you're giving up. Never give up.

The only reason I fold my SB is for psychological impact against my opp and/or if the opp is raising every time I limp (in which case I find a spot to limp-raise him).

I believe you're just giving the opp chips when you complete with total crap. I'd rather fold it and take the next hand. It's a waste of chips, odds or not. Save them for something decent or to raise w crap a couple of hands later. Odds don't do you any good if the opp raises and you have to fold your completed sb.

Everyone has their own way to play HU. I'm around 75% in HU play and so I'll stick to what works for me. I've played where I got 72, 82, 63, etc for 5 or 6 hands in a row and folded them. And come back from the grave by folding a couple and then getting aggressive - sometimes with crap but usually with something better than 62 offsuit.

Give your Opp the min amount of chips if your hand really sucks.

You give your opponents too much credit. Up to at least the $30 SnG level, your average heads up opponent will be neither smart enough nor aggressive enough to take advantage of the fact that you are quite obviously playing (and raising) with any two.

Additionally, you don't really need to worry about this against smarter, more aggressive opponents, anyway. They'll understand you're playing and raising with bad cards a lot of the time, but they'll also see that they have bad cards; and the frequent mix-ups in your play (raising with crap, limping with monsters, min-raising at times, pushing at others) will keep them off the scent. Against bad tight/passive opponents I don't even bother mixing it up, but against better players that's almost all you need to do.

To put it another way, if we start playing heads up with even stacks and significant blinds (say a BB of 1/20th of the average stack size, or higher), and you fold a couple early hands from the small blind, it's not going to give you the edge you seek. Quite the contrary - it means I'm going to start pushing you around immediately, and take a chip edge that you really can't afford to give away to a demonstrably more aggressive opponent. When you decide to get frisky later I may fold - or you may get frisky at exactly the wrong time. That's the beauty of establishing myself as the looser and more aggressive player early; it tends to result in some gorgeous collisions between a bluff from someone who's sick of my crap, and the first really good hand I've had.

Originally Posted by konahead

I believe you're just giving the opp chips when you complete with total crap. I'd rather fold it and take the next hand. It's a waste of chips, odds or not. Save them for something decent or to raise w crap a couple of hands later. Odds don't do you any good if the opp raises and you have to fold your completed sb.

Give up the min chips if your hand really sucks.

It's not a waste of chips if 1) you can afford it and 2) you have the odds. It's typical pot odds.

If you have a nutflush draw and are going to have to call 10% of the pot to see the next card, do you call? Yes! The majority of the time, you are losing chips. However, the times that you hit make you more than you lose when you miss. The same is true here.

As I said, this doesn't apply if your opp is liable to raise any time you complete. Also, as I said, you can use such a tendency against your opponent once you spot it, making up for the losses you suffered when you had to fold.

I agree that you want to lose the least with your bad hands. HU, you can't know that your hand completely sucks preflop.

Originally Posted by konahead

I believe you're just giving the opp chips when you complete with total crap. I'd rather fold it and take the next hand. It's a waste of chips, odds or not. Save them for something decent or to raise w crap a couple of hands later. Odds don't do you any good if the opp raises and you have to fold your completed sb.

You act like you're playing poker with the cards face up.

I understand you guys are the "masters" of aggression, but I don't believe completing the sb every time is a good path. Yes - mix it up, yes - raise w some crap and limp/min raise w some monsters. I agree with all of that. But completing the sb with total crap is IMHO a leak that's just giving your Opp chips, especially if he's raising almost every hand (which you guys love to do, i'm sure.)
I have a different style but my results speak for themselves. We just approach the end result (winning) differently.

And don't get me wrong - I limp and raise with some shitty hands - but not regularly. I'll usually fold crap cards and beat the hyper-aggro that thinks his cards can't be beat.... And HU, yes, 62offsuit really sucks, whether I can see opps cards or not.

And dale - if we played HU and I folded several pre-flop and you started pushing me around, you may push at the wrong time and I'd take your stack instead of visa-versa. Thats the beauty of NL HU - stacks can change hands at the flip of a card....

Originally Posted by konahead

I understand you guys are the "masters" of aggression, but I don't believe completing the sb every time is a good path. Yes - mix it up, yes - raise w some crap and limp/min raise w some monsters. I agree with all of that. But completing the sb with total crap is IMHO a leak that's just giving your Opp chips, especially if he's raising almost every hand (which you guys love to do, i'm sure.)

What I'm describing is a good generic approach to heads up play, which you have to at least try at some point. It's highly effective against the majority of online players, especially at the lower buyin SnGs. You can certainly get away with a less aggressive approach and still do fine. You also at times HAVE TO scale back your aggression. On the rare occasion I meet a player more aggressive than me, I'm happy to lay some traps for him and play more cautiously - concede a little ground. But I don't think it's good to start off conceding ground. There are so many players who will give you half their chips willingly because they haven't seen a premium hand yet... why not take those chips instead of folding your garbage cards and patiently waiting to outplay them..?

Then raise the sb - don't complete. Completing is weak unless you can stand to be raised and see a flop. If I'm bb and sb completes, I'm throwin in 3x raise to see if he's serious. If i'm sb and just completed w 62 offsuit, i'm not gonna call another 2bb cuz it's a losing proposition. That's why I don't complete w crap. Cuz I'm not willing to put anymore in unless I get to see the flop, and most opps won't let me limp from the sb. I know i won't...

Originally Posted by konahead

And dale - if we played HU and I folded several pre-flop and you started pushing me around, you'd push the wrong time and I'd take your stack - simple as that... (no offense intended)

None taken, because I don't believe you. This isn't internet smack talk hour, so I'll keep it short and say only that I stand by my record. I've been burned before by being over-aggressive, which is how I learned to sniff out the traps. As I believe I said in this thread already - but if I didn't, I should have - when a player who has been fairly tight and fairly passive suddenly decides to call a raise of mine, or re-raise me after the flop, there's usually a reason for it. And it's not because he's got his panties in a wad (that's usually more of a "big pre-flop re-raise" scenario). I respect it when the tighties get less tight. I keep my feet out of those beartraps. You may run into plenty of aggro idiots who willingly push their whole stack at you just at the right time, but believe me, I am not that guy. I'd rather drain you with lots of mid-size raises and fold when appropriate than just push every hand. That's a sure recipe for disaster.

I also have to emphasize again, what I've outlined here is a good basic approach for online, low buy-in SnG's. In live games, higher buy-in games, or against players I know are thinking and decent, I *will* change gears. Sometimes you have to. If I get a sense someone is spending a lot of energy trying to trap me and bait me, I'll slow down a lot. Still take the chips that are up for grabs, but I'm not going to give them a lot of opportunities to check-raise me and so forth.

Originally Posted by konahead

Then raise the sb - don't complete. Completing is weak unless you can stand to be raised and see a flop.

This is the reason you sometimes raise garbage, and sometimes limp monsters. Again - they can't actually see what you're holding. Deception plays a large role in heads up. If you just complete with crap, and always raise with good hands, you'll get destroyed. I start off aggressive and tricky-tricky to avoid this. If I get a sense that a heads up match will last a while (low blinds or a good opponent) I may limp my first couple aces just to see if I can connect with one and advertise that way. They stop raising your limp-ins when you've shown that you're willing to limp good cards. I'm also quite willing to limp-reraise with A2 or any pocket pair. That's another way to make them respect your completions.

Yeah - I wasnt "smack-talking" - I was responding to your statement "if we start playing heads up with even stacks and significant blinds (say a BB of 1/20th of the average stack size, or higher), and you fold a couple early hands from the small blind, it's not going to give you the edge you seek. Quite the contrary - it means I'm going to start pushing you around immediately, and take a chip edge that you really can't afford to give away to a demonstrably more aggressive opponent". (sorry - I don't know how to do the quote thing you guys do...)

And I understand your methods and that you stand by your record.. as I stand by mine, which is about the same as yours (75% vs 80%). And I'm sure we've both been playing a long time - years. But almost all the opps I end up HU with are very aggro and will raise from the bb if I complete. So I don't. I wait for something decent - not great, but decent (any 2-gapper, face card w 8+, etc.) and play it hard. BTW - if I'm playing someone weak/passive, I will raise with crap. I'm not saying this is the only way I play - but since most of my opps are very aggro, I play the opposite as them...

And yes - I'll limp monsters (AA,KK, etc), get raised, and beat the hell out of opp. All I'm saying is I won't complete the sb with total garbage like 62offsuit. That's what started this big debate between us. I'll limp and raise with a lot of things, but some cards are not even worth it. Thats all I meant. (62o, 72o,73o, etc)

Let us just agree that we have different styles. I think it's presumptuous for either one of us to say that our style is better than the other... And the readers here need to hear more than one style of play.

by the way, I agree with everything you have said in all these posts - except ALWAYS complete your sb. Again, some cards just aren't worth the extra chips.

Originally Posted by konahead

BTW - if I'm playing someone weak/passive, I will raise with crap. I'm not saying this is the only way I play - but since most of my opps are very aggro, I play the opposite as them...

This is where we differ, I think. The majority of the players I'm concerned with are not that aggressive, in my experience. On what site and at what stakes do you play? Most of my comments here are geared toward the games I believe that most of us play.

Let us just agree that we have different styles. I think it's presumptuous for either one of us to say that our style is better than the other... And the readers here need to hear more than one style of play.

Totally agree on that paragraph. Well met, sir.

Originally Posted by konahead

by the way, I agree with everything you have said in all these posts - except ALWAYS complete your sb. Again, some cards just aren't worth the extra chips.

The context of that statement was that you are against an opponent who will not automatically raise with any two if you just complete.

I too agree that different strokes work for different people. I'll definitely grant that sometimes it's correct to fold against an aggro opponent. It's definitely also correct against a passive oppoent to complete with any 2.

i think you two are arguing over a minute aspect of this. whether or not you complete or fold with total crap from your sb is really not very important to heads up imo. i tend to come from dale's point of view, where mostly everyone online i play heads up is very passive, but if i run into a really aggro person i'd have to change.

heads up more comes down to doing what is necessary to confuse the other person such that they will fold to you more often than not, but still think you're constantly bullshitting them, until your stack edge is so great, or you get goods cards, that you can get them ai.

agreed. sorry it seemed like arguing. dale made very valid points and I just wanted to show another side depending on your opponent. didnt mean to make it a huge issue. my bad.

my little tip on HU play
do not be afraid to check the best hand, whether it be a set, tp, a straight whateva.
remember that in HU you want the opp to commit too many chips when he thinks hes ahead. so look weak at times with good hands whether preflop or postflop. you probably only have to trap your opp once to win.

btw kona you do the quotes by clicking the Quote button in the top right hand corner of the persons post, it will bring you to the reply screen with the persons quote there. you can erase some of the other stuff they said that you dont want in the quote.

and i play at pacific, but do most of my playing at $5/10 short handed SNGs.

so this may only be applicable there, but i try to find out the other player's comfort zone. many of the above postings are things i've found at this level; they are:

-> if you're always raising the SB, my opponents tend to get threatened, and will always call, and then start doing it back to me. i dunno...so, i'll fold a few hands early if they're trash, or even just call with some non-trash, so it seems more friendly.
-> if the first hand, he min-raises, i will ALWAYS call. no matter what cards i have. i don't want him to think i'll flop to raises. and if he checks the flop, i'll bet 1/3-1/2 pot. again, no matter what 2 hands.
-> i try to find their comfort zone early so i can take advantage of it later in HU. find out how big a raise to get an auto-fold, do they always call a re-raise, etc. my ideal situation is to have them offbalance and then flop a near-nut hand or great drawing hand, and then switch gears.

for example...
if i call on flop, check on turn and he overbets all the time when i check - well, the one time i HAVE hit my hand, i'll do the same actions. he'll overbet, i'll have him pot committed, and either get back into things or cripple him.

it's either take a little, take a little, take a little and/or hit the big hands, while avoiding the traps he sets for you.