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Protips from Mike Sexton, 10 Tips on Heads up Play (Part One of 2)

March 18, 2010 on 9:00 am | In Uncategorized | Comments Off

In a recent interview Heads-up poker superstar Mike Sexton revealed ten secrets that he plays by when playing a match of Hold ‘Em heads-up.

1.) Stacks are important. Evaluate the chip sizes of you and your opponent. When you consider stack sizes in conjunction with the skill of your poker online opponent, you can more readily identify your chances of winning or outplaying your opponent. But Sexton warns, don’t over- or underestimate your opponent. Be honest with yourself about your level of play, and what you know about his. In this rare occasion, honesty really is the best policy. Don’t fool yourself with fake odds just to make yourself feel better in heads-up play

2.) Have a plan; stick to it. Sexton advises not to try to outplay someone who is better than you if you have a low stack. If you’re big stack, you’ll probably be bullying a lot. That’s just the calculus of the game and the two positions. If you are small stack, however, what you’re going to want to look into, says Sexton, is to make the game as short as possible. You’ll want to get in on big pots that you have equity in and a likely chance to hit even if you’re not quite getting pot odds. Your goal here is to “flip the odds” so to speak.

3.) That leads right into tip three. If you’re the favorite, draw out the match. If you’re more skilled, and have a chip lead on your opponent, you’ll want to make them have to outplay you to win. Get into a lot small pots and avoid the big ones. In this position, you’re basically being patient and waiting for the prime opportunity to strike and take down his stack with yours. If you lose the showdown, see tip #2.

4.) On Position: While it’s true there are only two position in heads-up poker, it’s always good to know how to play the two positions. When you’re in position (On the button) you already have to put a big blind out, which makes nearly every hand playable. Your starting range can be huge compared to full ring, and even six-max games.

5.) Finally, Don’t be the playground bully’s target. Most of the time, the player on the button will make a raise simply because he has a bigger stack than you and he’s in position. At some point, says Sexton, you have to go over the top and see a few flops. Otherwise, the other player is going to expect to simply take your blinds every time. If you protect your blinds, there’s a strong possibility that this will slow the player in the better position table wise AND chip wise down and let you have a little breating room.

Tips 6 through 10 will appear in the next article, so stay tuned!