Playing Heads-up game in an online poker competition is challenging, thanks to its best and lucrative format. Here are a few tips to follow when playing against your challenger in heads-up play:
Aggressive Play
Tight play is regarded the ideal play in many poker types but it is considered as the worst playing trend in heads-up game. In heads-up play, players cannot wait around to get paid back with strong hands. Therefore, you ought to play aggressively if participating in heads-up game in the competition. You must put up a blind every hand; even if your challenger gives you actions when you are holding strong hands, i.e., you ought to play numerous hands when you have position on every post-flop playing round. Imagine if you are having suited connectors and low off-suit connectors, you ought to always get into the pot with a raise.
Plan your Moves
It is wise to make semi-bluff in heads-up competition play instead of making pure bluffs on numerous streets. Additionally, you ought to play aggressively with drawing hands as it forces challenger to fold their ‘not so good’ poker hands. Therefore, you should evaluate the options available to make smart and tactical moves in the game. For example, you were dealt K-8 off suit, and raised on button. After that, your challenger calls and the flop comes A-K-Q. In this case, you ought to check after the flop or the turn as few players, if holding a hand awful than your one 2nd pair, bet three streets on such a game table.
Play your challenger
When playing heads-up play, you ought to know about playing styles of your challengers to take advantage of them to the best. For instance, you ought to play very loose-aggressive against a tight poker player and rarely bluff against a loose player. Similarly, you ought to play poker at its best against loose-aggressive players to discover and exploit their weak spots when they guard with weak hands out of position. Remember the best challenger to play against is the one who is passive and tight, as it is the most basic style in heads-up play, and the difficult challenger is the one who is aggressive as it is the good and tough playing style in heads-up.
Control your Bankroll
In the poker competition play, a player ought to at least hold a minimal stack of 30 buy-ins for the blind level, he is using. But, it is great to hold 50 buy-ins rather than 30 to handle the worst downturns. In the heads-up game with only two players left and 50 % of the field already paid, the game turns into less varying than other poker types. But don’t disregard long downswings are likely in all game types, also in heads-up.
Happy playing!