How to Win at Heads Up Poker

Unless you've been hiding in a cave for the past 4-5 years, you would know that poker, especially Texas Hold-em poker, has been sweeping the nation and the world by storm. Many online poker places have emerged, many home games and groups have increased in size, and there are too many poker shows on television nowadays to even count. Between the betting and the many combinations of cards and poker hands, it is no wonder that poker is one of the most popular things today.

In tournaments, when there are only two players left, this is considered "heads up poker." One on one, the last one standing wins! For many inexperienced poker players who do happen to get to "heads up" in home games or in online tournaments, they have no clue how to handle the situation because the standard strategies that you may have used to get that far really don't apply. I am going to show you five great tips to help you to win at heads up poker, and take first place in a lot more tournaments that you are currently taking second place in.

Tip #1 for Heads Up Poker: The Best Hand Doesn't Mean Anything.

Do not worry about who has the best hand and who doesn't. Heads up poker doesn't always rely on having the best hand. With only four of the fifty-two cards being dealt, it is pretty likely that neither of you will have a really great hand. Your main focus should be on how to win with the hand you have. Winning sometimes comes down to which of you doesn't have the worse hand, and who can scare their opponent into folding first.

Tip #2 for Heads Up Poker: Don't Fold a Starting Hand, You Can Play Anything

Usually, that far into a tournament the blinds are really high, and so you definitely don't want to fold any hand. Since you only have one opponent, your odds are increased no matter which set of cards you have. Good times to raise pre-flop are when you have a pair, an Ace in your hand, or when you have two face cards.

Tip #3 for Heads Up Poker: Be Careful Of Your Straight and Flush Draws

Don't chase a flush or a straight, especially with such a high blind level, the stakes are high, and you're playing to win, not to hopefully get lucky and win. If you think your opponent might have a pair or better, then it's no point chasing the straight or flush because we will be able to spot when you got the cards you needed and he will fold right away anyway.

Tip #4 for Heads Up Poker: All-In's Are Your Best Friends

Since, as I said before, the blinds are pretty large at this point, this is a great time to risk all of your chips. If you think that you have the best hand at any point, push all of your chips in the middle (or press the all-in button on your online poker software, less dramatic, but still a great thing to do). This will cause your opponent to either give you the chips he has placed in the middle so far, or to bring you to a point of winning the tournament and since you think you have the best hand, luck is on your side.

Tip #4 for Heads Up Poker: Practice, Practice, Practice

My old hockey coach use to say, "I hate the phrase 'Practice makes perfect' because no one is perfect, so I am going to say 'Practice makes permanent.'" How you play in heads up action when you are practicing is how you will play when you are battling it out for first place and a lot of money is on the line. You can use pretty much any online poker software to practice heads up games for cheap. You meet at a table with one other person, and battle it out for the whole prize. You can find cheap games, for $0.50 per game, so with $20 you can get a lot of practice in. You can also find a buddy to just sit down for a couple of hours and play and play and play and play. These will really help you to best identify some other strategies you may come up with along the way in addition to the ones I have given you.

In heads up poker, most of the hands don't even reach the river (the fifth card) and so learning to get your opponent to be the one to fold his cards before the river is seen saves you from having him catch a lucky card, and helps you to win more chips and to win more poker tournaments. Practice your heads up action and apply these strategies and you will overcome that ceiling that is keeping you in second place.