from Phil Helmuth

Another fellow poker player posted this on another site. But I thought it significant enough to share with you all here. Of signifcant importance is the 13th paragraph, you just can't give up because you never know. I went into a HU match with another long time poker buddy of mine after 2 hours of MTT play. We were HU with me having 63k in chips to his 7k. He won. It was an hour long HU but he never................gave up.:thumbsup

Heads-Up with E-Dog

I choose the poker tournaments that I play with great care.
I don't miss many WSOP events which means I'm booked
in Vegas from the end of May until the middle of July each
year. I also like to play the major WPT tournaments, so
that's another twenty days per year that I'm away from home.

Add in all the made-for-television games like Poker After
Dark, High Stakes Poker and The Big Game, and man,
that's a lot of poker!

There is one other event that I always try to play, the
$10,000 buy-in heads-up tournament at the Los Angeles
Poker Classic. What's fun about this tourney is that it
features a unique double-elimination format -- lose two
matches and you're toast.

In 2008, with 110 players signed up to play, I got lucky
and randomly drew a first round bye. But in the second
round, I had to face the always-tough and well-respected
pro Erick "E-Dog" Lindgren, that year's WSOP Player of
the Year and an all-around great guy, too.

In the second hand of our match, with the blinds at
$100/$200, I limped in on the button with Q-3 offsuit.
Erick raised $300 and I called.

The flop came K-7-5. Erick fired out $600. Attempting to
bluff E-Dog out of the pot, I made it $2,600 to go. Didn't
work, though, he called.

Another king fell on the turn. Erick checked this time,
probably wary of my raise on the flop. Continuing my
bluff, I bet $1,800 and Erick called again.

The river was a ten and Erick checked. I studied for a
while then decided to check, too.

Wow, good thing I didn't try to bluff on the river as E-Dog
rolled over K-10 for a big full house.

Let's take a closer look at this hand.

I don't mind my pre-flop call for $300. My $2,000 raise
on the flop was a decent play although it certainly didn't
work out as planned. I'm pretty sure that my bluff would
have done the trick if E-Dog was weak, but that just
wasn't the case.

On the turn, I like my $1,800 bluff bet. It was designed
to deliver the deceptive message that I had a king and
wanted a call. Also, it afforded me the opportunity to
continue bluffing on the river.

I love my check on the river. I mean, c'mon, it was the
only move that worked to my benefit in this hand!

E-Dog, you played the match like a true champion.

When I was down to my last $5,000, a less experienced
player might have eased up, or conversely, might have
played recklessly. But Erick never let me back into the
match. He played fiercely until he had the victory in hand.

Of course, I didn't make it easy for him. It's important to
play your best right up until the end because you just
never know when a run of good cards will come your way.

One more tip: You've got to be willing to change your
heads-up tactics depending on how your opponent
plays his cards.

My preference is to play patiently and trap a
super-aggressive opponent by letting them do
the betting. And when I do catch a strong hand, I'll
make a small bet to induce a call. But if my opponent
plays tight, I'll try a few well-timed bluffs. In fact,
I might bluff every single pot until he finally calls
me down.

Heads-up poker requires flexibility, imagination, and
well-timed aggression. Keep that in mind the next
time you get to down to the final two.

-Phil Hellmuth

Tallseas Thanks for sharing the article. I have just started playing heads up cash games. I find just having to beat one other player alittle more rewarding than having to let muptilple players beat themselves. In large mtts you have to do alot of bobbing and weaveing just to make the itm. Freerollbird

No accusation at you Tallseas, but this smells like the person who posted this on the other forum or website liberated this article from the Card Player magazine archives. I've read PH's columns in that magazine and this is very much like them, in tone and format. No doubt a search of CP's online archives would reveal the original source. . .

But, beyond that, not much you can argue with in the final paragraphs. . .

I'm not at all certain what the scource was Steve, since he did not credit the scource in the original post. But the content was worthwhile.

Heads up is volitile. Even if you are way behind, it may only take a couple of double ups to get the lead back. How may times have you thought you put your opponent away because he was all in with, say, Q,3 against your A,10? Then a 3 hits and he doubles up and it happens again and now you're the one behind...It's never easy, cause it aint over till it's over! 😁

Yea heads up really is a tactical game, the cards help A lot but the way u play your hands really can make the difference, (Not Always).
I love tend to feed of my opponent and act accordingly to how they are playing, Difficult sometimes if they are doing the same thing, Then its just a case of getting the right cards in the right spots and playing them the right way.
Lots of min raising heads up is good for several reasons. Your not giving away too much information by min raising, but depending on what ur opponent does u can receive an awful lot.
Also if u min raise many hands, eventually the time will come u get re-raised either because they have good cards or because they are just fed up with all the min raising. once again giving u this information. Only time is when ur not getting the cards andur min raising and and betting and keep getting re min raised then its a real cat and mouse game, more about who got more gumption and willing to keep it up the longest. Anyway thats my 2 cents, i enjoy the heads up play and im considering playing a lot more of it.
What does everyone else think is the best site for playing heads up?