Strategy for Playing Heads Up Cash Games

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Poker Strategy for Playing Heads Up Cash Games

Almost every single Online Poker site offers Heads Up Cash Games. These are games where there are only two players allowed in the game. There are a number of Heads Up specialists that almost always play in Heads Up games. If you discover that you have a talent for playing in Heads Up games then they may become a very good profit opportunity for you.

The Differences Between Heads Up Games and Full Games

In a regular Full Table game you will find yourself in many situations where you are in a pot with only one other player and this is technically also called being Heads Up. But in a Heads Up game there are many more differences that you do not experience in these situations. In Heads Up games:

  • You are in one of the Blinds every single hand. You will either be the Small or the Big Blind.
  • You will be on the Button when you have the Big Blind. This means that in the Big Blind you will retain position through out the rest of the Hand.
  • The Action is a lot faster. You will be seeing a lot more hands because when either you or your opponent folds a new Hand will be dealt because there are no other players in the game to wait for.
  • You will find that Variances are magnified and the swings to your Bankroll will be wider. This is primarily the result of the fact that you will be playing more hands than you would in a Full game.
  • You are involved in every hand. Being that you are always in one of the blinds you have money invested in every pot.

Aggressive Poker Play is Important in Heads Up Games

A Tight Aggressive playing style has proven to be the most profitable way to play in Full games. In a Heads Up game you need to still be aggressive but somewhere between Loose and Tight when it comes to your Starting Hand selection. Hands in Heads Up games inherently have more value than they do in Full games because since there are less Hands being dealt there is less of a chance of an opponent being dealt a better starting Hand.

Develop Your Heads Up Game Poker Skills at Lower Limits

Because of the differences between a Heads Up game and a Full Game you should start out by playing at a lower limit than you would in the Full Games that you are used to playing in. You may release your poker bonus a little bit slower that way, but at least you reduce your risk of going bankrupt. The reason for this is that there will probably be a learning curve and the cost to you for this learning curve will be a lot less if you start out by playing at lower limits. As you start booking winning sessions you may begin to move up in limits safely. Remember that you may find that you have reached a limit that you can not seem to beat and this happens to most players. If and when this happens you should back down to the previous limits where you were booking winning sessions.