Heads-up poker represents poker's purest form—no table dynamics or multi-way pots, just skill versus skill. Mastering heads-up play requires aggressive adjustment from full-ring thinking.
Hand Value Adjustments: Heads-up, most hands are playable. Any ace, king, queen, or pocket pair warrants action. Suited cards and connected cards gain value. Trash like 72 offsuit remains trash, but J4 suited becomes playable.
Button/Small Blind Aggression: The button/small blind should raise 70-90% of hands. Folding concedes too much equity to the big blind. Raise-first-in with your entire continuing range.
Big Blind Defense: Defend your big blind with roughly 60-80% of hands depending on raise sizing. You're already invested and have position postflop. Folding too much allows opponent to profit by raising any two cards.
Postflop Aggression: Continuation bet extremely frequently—80-100% of flops. Heads-up, one pair often wins, and your range hits most flops roughly equally. Aggressive c-betting maintains initiative.
Floating and Bluffing: Call flop continuation bets with any piece, any draw, or any overcards, then take the pot away on later streets. Heads-up allows creative bluffing lines that fail multi-way.
Value Betting: Value bet thinly—second pair, third pair, or ace-high often win heads-up. Don't slow-play unless opponent is extremely aggressive. Charge opponents for drawing and maximize value from weak holdings.
Opponent Adaptation: Tailor strategy to specific opponents. Against aggressive opponents, trap more and let them bluff. Against passive opponents, bluff frequently and value bet thinly.
Observing Patterns: With only one opponent, patterns emerge quickly. Does he fold too much to aggression? Call too much with weak pairs? Exploit patterns immediately.
Mental Warfare: Heads-up includes psychological components. Maintaining focus, accepting variance, and avoiding tilt matter more than in full games. Mental game separates winners from losers.
Tournament Heads-Up: Tournament heads-up differs from cash due to increasing blinds. Push/fold situations arise quickly. Aggression matters even more as blinds force confrontation.
Cash Game Heads-Up: Deep-stacked cash game heads-up allows for complex postflop play. This format attracts serious players, so ensure you have sufficient edge before playing.
Sit and Go Heads-Up: Heads-up SNGs feature fast structures requiring aggressive preflop play and simplified postflop strategy. These games are beatable but high variance.
Table Selection: Don't play heads-up against unknown players who might be specialists. Heads-up attracts strong players—ensure games are profitable before committing significant time.
Learning Resources: Study heads-up specific content, as multi-way strategies don't transfer directly. Practice against friends or low-stakes online to develop intuition.
Bankroll Requirements: Heads-up features high variance and attracts strong players. Maintain 100+ buy-ins for cash games, 200+ for tournaments. Larger bankrolls prevent pressure and bad decisions.
Responsible Gaming: Heads-up's intensity and fast pace can be addictive. Set clear stop-loss and time limits. If you're playing primarily for the head-to-head competition rather than profit, consider whether your motivations are healthy.