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Heads-up poker championship puts players in the trenches
Published: 2006-04-26
 Daniel Negreanu / Special to The Detroit News
It's that time of year again -- time for one of the most prestigious events in the poker world, the National Heads-Up Poker Championship.
The event aired on NBC for the first time last year, and the ratings were phenomenal. This season's first episode aired recently, and new shows will be broadcast every Sunday until the championship final on May 21.
There are some significant differences between playing heads-up poker and more common poker games where six to nine players compete at a table. The type of hands you should play, and the way you should play them, are very different from a standard game. Here are a few things to look for when you watch the show in the coming weeks.
Who is the aggressor? In heads-up play, the player who employs a more aggressive style will generally come out on top in the long-run. The reason is rather simple. Because it's so difficult to hit a flop, true heads-up poker skills are shown when both players have absolutely nothing after the first three community cards are dealt. The player who consistently wins this trench warfare is the one who will usually win the overall battle.
Who is the caller? When you continue to put yourself in situations where you're facing an opponent's bet, it becomes increasingly more difficult to make correct decisions. For that reason, you want to be the bettor -- not the caller.
Checking and calling can be a viable strategy to trap a player. However, if you're always in a situation where you're guessing the power of an opponent's hand, guess what, you'll end up guessing wrong too often.
Who is the trapper? Trapping an opponent is an art form. It can be done many different ways using a number of poker tools. One notable method is to slow play a hand. Slow playing can be dangerous, though, because you might give your opponent a chance to catch a lucky card on the river to beat you.
The key to being a successful trapper is to not get caught in the trap yourself! If your trap fails, you have to be willing to abort the mission and change strategies quickly.
Let's say, for example, in a heads-up match, you just call before the flop holding a pair of kings. Now the flop comes As 7h 4c. You started with a very powerful hand, but this flop is dangerous and puts your cowboys in peril. If your opponent holds an ace, only two cards left in the deck can save you.
While you tried to set a trap, it didn't spring as you hoped. Proceed with caution.
Don't let yourself lose a big pot after that flop. The other important element you should look for during the heads-up telecasts are the escalating blinds. As the blinds continue to increase, the quality of hands that players go all-in with will diminish.
In the first round of play, for example, if two players go all-in before the flop, you'll likely see a confrontation like K-K versus Q-Q, or even A-A facing K-K. However, after about level five, the blinds become so large that both players will gamble more loosely in defense of their blinds. By that point, it's common to see all-in pots where one player may hold a hand as weak as A-3 and the opponent calls all-in with K-10.
In my opinion, heads-up poker is the wave of the future. More and more people are playing it today than ever before. You can even qualify for the National Heads-Up Poker Championship by playing online at nbcheadsup.com. That's exactly what Josh Lochner did, beating out 30,000 other hopefuls to win his spot in this year's exclusive 64-player field.
Playing poker Questions for Daniel Negreanu should be directed to www.card sharkcomments.com.
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Online Poker Fraud Hits Unsuspecting Shop-Goers in Sweden
Published: 2006-04-24
 Although there has been increased talk of bolstering security measures at online poker rooms, a recent case of fraud has highlighted the fact that the online poker industry still has a ways to go in this respect. In the Swedish town on Skövde, nine people were victims of a new version of internet fraud, in which they lost money at online poker sites, which they claimed they never visited.
Each of the nine Swedes lost on average 10,000 kronor at the online poker sites. Every one of them claimed that they had never visited, let alone deposited at those sites. The fraud victims were not online poker players, but this is not the only thing in common. They also all shopped in the same store using credit cards, and police believe that this is how they were duped into shelling out money at online poker sites. Police suspect that a shop employee recorded their credit card information in the shop and later used it to register at online poker sites. The suspect fabricated the other personal details during registration. All nine of the fraud victims have had their money returned to them.
Source: Poker777 Staff
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